Vaccination is a necessary procedure. It is thanks to prevention that many epidemics have been overcome. However, due to voluntary refusals and inattention to vaccinations, diseases are beginning to return.
Young parents are often afraid of possible complications after receiving the vaccine. However, following simple preventive measures will help avoid deterioration in the child’s well-being. One of the cornerstone questions in this matter is: “Is it possible to bathe a child after vaccination?”
Why is swimming prohibited?
Often, getting a few drops of water on an injection wound causes parents to panic. It’s worth figuring out why you can’t get the vaccine wet, and whether accidental getting wet is really that scary.
Harm of water procedures:
- A common reaction to any vaccine is fever. This is how the body reacts to the introduction of prophylactic doses of viruses and bacteria; this is a normal manifestation of a working immune system. When it is hot, pediatricians strongly discourage water treatments during the first 24 hours. This is due to the fact that hot water will cause an even greater increase in temperature, and cold water can cause vasospasm, which will lead to overheating of the internal organs.
- Another negative effect of the bath is the development of skin reactions: after getting wet, the injection site may turn red and begin to itch. This is due to local effects: tap water contains various impurities that irritate damaged skin. An injection is a microtrauma, a small wound, and it must be allowed to heal. Scratching and rubbing can trigger inflammation. And then a long-term deterioration of the condition and a severe reaction are guaranteed.
- Exciting effect. When swimming in warm water for a long time, the child may become overexcited and restless, and it is not recommended to create unnecessary stress on the nervous system.
- After vaccination, the baby is weakened, this in itself is a big burden. And bathing makes it worse; even slight hypothermia can cause illness.
- Water, especially in open water, may contain harmful bacteria that can cause infection to the baby or cause allergic reactions.
For these reasons, doctors recommend completely avoiding swimming on the first day.
Whether it is possible to wash after vaccination in the following days will be decided by the parents. It all depends on the baby’s well-being. If he is healthy, cheerful and active, it means that his body easily coped with the load and is able to endure swimming without problems.
Is it possible to walk outside after immunization?
Walking in the fresh air is part of the post-vaccination regimen if the child is healthy and weather conditions permit.
When going outside with your child, adhere to the following recommendations:
- to protect against infection with respiratory infections, avoid crowded places - choose parks for exercise rather than playgrounds, do not visit stores with it;
- in children's clothing, preference is given to things made from natural fabrics;
- do not allow active sweating - dress the child according to the weather, do not allow him to run around a lot;
- provide sufficient drinking regime, especially in the hot season.
Pediatricians recommend avoiding walks in case of severe general reactions to immunization, accompanied by hyperthermia.
Bathing rules
In order not to worsen the child’s condition, you should follow simple rules when washing:
- You should not force your baby to take water procedures if he does not like them or does not show a desire to splash around;
- if washing helps to calm and relax the child, you can leave it as a daily routine, just do not keep the baby in the water;
- if parents have doubts, it is better to replace the bath with a light warm shower or wiping with a towel;
- Temperature changes should be avoided;
- Do not rub the child with a washcloth, as this can further injure the skin at the injection site;
- You can add decoctions of chamomile or oak bark to the water; they have antiseptic properties and will soothe irritation;
- avoid hypothermia after swimming;
- if redness appears on the skin near the area, lumps have formed, you should not swim;
- You should not wet your child if he is not feeling well: he has become lethargic, drowsy, or has a fever.
Complications after bathing occur due to improper preparation for water procedures or mistakes after taking a bath. The task of parents is to create a safe environment, monitor the baby’s behavior and prevent scratching.
Doctors' opinion
Many therapists and pediatricians advise refraining from water procedures after vaccinations. But now such advice is given by doctors less and less, since there are no negative consequences for the child’s body from contact with water. If you do not bathe children for too long, avoid hypothermia, and immediately wrap them in a towel after bathing procedures, the risk of catching a cold is very small. Doctors recommend not bathing your child after vaccination in order to further prevent and avoid fever, cough and runny nose.
Dr. Komarovsky believes that if the baby feels well after vaccination, then there is no need to introduce restrictions. You can continue to live as usual, go for walks and swim.
Conclusion: swimming after vaccination does not pose any threat to the baby’s health and swimming is possible. The main thing is the baby’s normal body temperature, just monitor his well-being and avoid hypothermia. By following simple precautions, you can continue to carry out water procedures as usual.
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When should you not swim?
In general, water procedures are useful for the baby, because they help strengthen, increase immunity, help calm him down after a hard day, and restore energy balance.
However, there are a number of cases when you should refrain from taking a bath after vaccination.
All of them are associated with a deterioration in the child’s well-being and the appearance of any side effects:
- drowsiness, lethargy;
- itching at the injection site, redness;
- nausea, diarrhea;
- headache;
- aches in muscles and joints;
- runny nose, cough;
- rash;
- sweating
Bathing can be resumed only after the condition has stabilized. The weak condition is caused by decreased immunity and resistance to the acquired disease.
Sometimes lumps appear at the injection site. This is not a dangerous condition. The nodules are caused by the product getting into the subcutaneous fatty tissue. As the drug is absorbed, the seals will decrease.
Do pediatricians allow you to bathe your child?
Most pediatricians agree that there is no vaccine that is incompatible with soap and water. When an infant receives one of the required vaccines on the schedule, he or she can continue to live a normal life, including bathing.
Important! Pediatricians usually recommend that parents monitor their child for several hours after vaccination.
Baby takes a bath
What kind of water should you not swim in?
Bathing in a home bath can be started from the second day after vaccination, provided that the child feels well.
You cannot visit public baths and swimming pools for up to 5 days. A large number of people and, accordingly, viruses gather in these places. A child can easily become infected. For the same reason, you should not attend physiotherapy: there are many sick people in the clinic.
Swimming in open water is contraindicated for 5 days after vaccination: in addition to the high content of pathogenic microorganisms in the water and crowds of people, there is a risk of overheating or hypothermia. Trips to lakes and rivers will have to be postponed.
Swimming pool and vaccination
If a child or adult does not have pronounced general or local reactions to vaccination, specialists allow resuming use of the pool from the fourth day after vaccination.
For two to three weeks, parents watch the child especially closely to prevent hypothermia and the addition of a cold, which can weaken the tension of the developing immunity.
If the post-vaccination period occurs with pronounced systemic and local manifestations, refrain from visiting the pool until the symptoms disappear completely.
Bathing rules by type of vaccination
Depending on the type of vaccination, behavior during the post-vaccination period will be slightly different. Some types of injections allow you to immerse yourself in the bath almost immediately, while others require a longer quarantine.
Vaccination against measles, rubella, mumps
Since one vaccine contains components of 3 diseases, it is difficult to predict how it will affect the baby’s condition. Usually the first 24 hours are difficult: the child becomes capricious, feels unwell, sleeps and eats poorly. Therefore, you should refrain from swimming in the first 24 hours.
Also, to avoid scratching and false reactions to the vaccine, do not get the injection site wet. There are quite a lot of impurities in water that can cause itching on the skin.
After Mantoux vaccination
How long can you keep the Mantoux vaccine wet? The injection site must be protected from water for 3 days. There's no need to swim anymore. It is believed that water reacts with the components of the vaccine, which leads to a distortion of the result. Actually this is not true.
Tap water is chlorinated, which leads to irritation of the injection site. The skin will itch after water, the child will scratch it, which will lead to inflammation. And because of this, the reaction will be distorted.
After DTP
DTP is one of the most difficult vaccinations for a child’s body. Almost every child develops a fever in the first day or two after it. This is a reaction of a properly functioning immune system: it begins to develop protection against 3 diseases at once.
You need to monitor your baby for 48 hours: a delayed reaction to the injection may develop. It is better not to swim during this period. This will create an increased burden, and it will be very difficult for the baby to tolerate the vaccination. If there was no reaction initially, then after the bath procedures the temperature may rise.
If after 2 days the baby feels well, then you can go to the bath and resume evening bathing. Is it possible to wet the vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough? There will be no catastrophic consequences, but the injection site may itch.
Another question that young parents have is: “Is it possible to go for a walk after the DTP vaccination?” If the child feels well and the weather is good outside, then fresh air will not hurt.
However, you should avoid close contact with other children or attending matinees: at first the immune system is weakened, the baby can easily catch any infection.
After BCG vaccination
After this vaccine, you only need to focus on the baby’s condition. If he feels well, then the evening bath can not be cancelled. The child tolerated the injection well. Bathing will no longer be stressful.
If the child does not feel well, then you will have to postpone visiting the bath until the condition stabilizes. Some children recover in 1-2 days, others need a week.
To maintain hygiene, you can use the shower or switch to wiping with a damp towel.
After hepatitis vaccination
Strict quarantine is not required. Water treatments are not prohibited even on the first day. You can safely swim in the evening of the same day, if there are no side effects, or the next day, when the condition has leveled out.
However, you need to choose the water temperature. The optimal setting is considered to be up to 39 °C.
After polio vaccination
The question here is what kind of vaccine was it? After the oral drug, you can swim almost immediately: there are no injuries on the skin, which means there will be no local reaction. The oral vaccine does not cause much worsening of the condition.
If you were given an injection, the reaction will be more complex. In this case, you need to monitor the child's condition. It is better to wait a day before bath procedures. Then there will definitely be no complications.
Is it possible to wash after getting vaccinated against coronavirus?
When asked whether it is possible to swim after being vaccinated against coronavirus, most doctors give an affirmative answer. Vaccination is not a contraindication to personal hygiene. Even the document sent to vaccination centers by the Ministry of Health does not say that washing is prohibited.
Medical practitioners consider the recommendation not to wet the vaccination site to be outdated, and its mention in an official document is an attempt by officials to play it safe. The coronavirus vaccine is injected deep into the muscle with a very thin needle. The skin is slightly damaged during the injection, so the likelihood that pathogenic microorganisms enter the wound with water is minimal.
Why is rubella dangerous?
Most often, rubella is relatively mild, does not cause complications and goes away on its own.
The typical course of the disease is as follows. 11–24 days after infection (occurs by airborne droplets), subcutaneous lymph nodes enlarge, primarily in the neck and suboccipital region. Symptoms reminiscent of ARVI occur: runny nose, sore throat, cough, lacrimation. In adults, rubella is more severe than in children: body temperature rises to 38–39 degrees, appetite decreases, and headaches and muscle pain bother them.
Most patients develop a skin rash within the first 24–48 hours. It looks like small red spots of round or oval shape. At first they appear in the face, neck, behind the ears, on the scalp, and the next day they spread throughout the body, except for the soles and palms. Sometimes a small rash appears on the mucous membrane.
After 2–3 days, the rashes usually disappear.
Rubella is a self-limiting infection. There are no antiviral drugs against it. Most often, patients do not need any treatment; they only need bed rest and isolation from others, especially from people with reduced immunity and pregnant women. To bring down a high temperature, antipyretics are used.
Complications develop rarely, as a rule, in people with immunodeficiency conditions, but they can be dangerous. The rubella virus can cause arthritis (inflammation of the joints), otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear - tympanic cavity), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
Rubella is especially dangerous for expectant mothers. If a woman becomes ill in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, there is an 80% chance that the baby will be born with congenital rubella syndrome. Symptoms of this condition:
- cataract - clouding of the lens;
- glaucoma - increased intraocular pressure;
- strabismus;
- growth retardation;
- deafness;
- heart defects;
- mental retardation;
- defects of internal organs.
The risks are highest when infected in the first trimester, but rubella is dangerous at any stage of pregnancy. The virus can cause miscarriage and intrauterine fetal death. For the expectant mother herself, the infection does not pose any particular danger.
