[Vaccination in paediatric oncohaematology]

Abstract

One of the most important elements in prophylaxis of infectious diseases of children, is vaccination. It is essential that vaccination should be used correctly and safely in children in immunosupression, including the patients suffering from haematological malignancies. Oncological diseases as well as anticancer therapy disturb the functioning of the immunological system. Particulary deep immunosupression is observed in patients who have undergone stem cell transplantation. For this reason most vaccinations should be temporarily suspended during the period of oncological treatment. After completing the therapy, vaccination can be restarted in accordance with modified schedules. More and more children are now cured of malignancies. Therefore, the vaccination issue is gaining importance. Although we continually broaden our knowledge in this field there still remain several unanswered questions. Moreover, vaccination schedules are different in various countries and oncohaematological centres. This article is an attempt to analyse the data from current Polish and foreign literature on vaccination in children after standard chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation. The following obligatory and recommended vaccinations have been considered: antiviral (measles, mumps, rubella, polio virus, hepatitis B virus, influenza, varicella - zoster virus, human papilloma virus) and antibacterial (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae b, meningococcial and pneumococcal infections, tuberculosis).