Transcript: Immunisation - What it does and why you need it
Chapter 1: Immunisation - What it does and why you need it
Duane and Hinetaapora are trying to get their camera to work – kids are playing
soccer in the background.
[Duane] Alright, are we going to do this camera thing?
[Hinetaapora] Well OK, but how does it work?
[Duane] Well you just mount the camera on this pod and boom! There you have it!
[Hinetaapora] That is so cool.
[Duane] Hey I’m Duane.
[Hinetaapora] And I’m Hinetaapora.
[Hinetaapora] Did you know that like a soccer ball, diseases can get passed around
from person to person?
[Duane] Diseases? Gross.
[Hinetaapora] They are so nasty, that we are going to tell you how to avoid getting
them… and passing them on.
A soccer player runs by and takes the camera from Duane and Hinetaapora.
[Hinetaapora & Duane] HEY – COME BACK HERE!
[Duane] Give my camera back!
[Hinetaapora] Because diseases can get passed around, it’s important that you get
immunised to protect yourself and to stop diseases spreading.
Duane yells at the kids playing soccer.
[Duane] Pass it man! You should have passed it.
[Duane] My Mum and Dad said I was immunised when I was a baby.
[Hinetaapora] True, but around year 7 you need a top-up just to make sure. It’s
called Boostrix.
[Duane] So if you have missed out on any shots as a baby, now is a great time to
catch up, right?
[Hinetaapora] Right.
[Duane] What does immunisation do, exactly?
[Hinetaapora] It does two important things: it protects us and it protects everyone
else.
[Duane] Ok, I get it how it protects me…but how does it help to protect other people?
Goalie on the soccer field appears to be unwell.
[Hinetaapora] Well, look at the goalie - he’s really unwell. He is so sick right now that
he can’t be immunised. This makes him vulnerable.
[Hinetaapora] Now imagine that the soccer ball is a nasty disease. The blue team
can protect the goalie and keep the disease away – stop it from scoring - because
they’re all immunised.
[Duane] Ahhh, I get it! They protect the goalie, because they stop the disease from
spreading.
[Hinetaapora] Right. The more people who get immunised, the less chance of these
diseases getting passed on.
So we shouldn’t get immunised just for our own sakes, but for everybody’s.
[Hinetaapora] Immunisation is how they got rid of lots of nasty diseases in the old
days.
[Hinetaapora] People are much healthier in New Zealand now than when our nanas
and granddads were kids or even our mums and dads.
[Duane] But we can’t be too careful. That’s why we’re going to get ourselves
immunised.
[Duane] So, these days, what do we need to get immunised for?
Chapter 2: What are the immunisations for?
Hinetaapora grabs a tablet computer showing pictures of diseases.
[Hinetaapora] OK Duane, take a look at these diseases, but I’m warning you they’re
really gross.
[Hinetaapora] This is diphtheria, see?
[Duane] Gross all right.
[Hinetaapora] It attacks the throat. It can even cause someone to be paralysed or
suffocate.
Those orange things are what diphtheria germs look like.
[Duane] How about this?
[Hinetaapora] It’s tetanus. It gets into your body through cuts and grazes and makes
your muscles seize up.
[Duane] Oh wow, no soccer for them. What about this one?
[Hinetaapora] That’s the germ that gives you pertussis.
[Duane] Whooping cough?
[Hinetaapora] Yip. It’s still quite common and for older people mostly it’s just a bad
cough. But it’s very contagious and if a baby gets it, it can be deadly.
[Duane] I’d rather have an injection than risk passing that on to them, I reckon.
Chapter 3: How does immunisation work?
[Duane] This immunisation stuff sounds really cool. The only thing is ….
[Hinetaapora] What?
[Duane] Nothing.
[Hinetaapora] Come on!
[Duane] I don’t like injections.
[Hinetaapora] You scared?
[Duane] Nuh, course not. Not me. You ask anybody.
[Hinetaapora] Well the nurses know what they’re doing. They’ll make it easy as. All it
is, is one injection that can help us and everyone else from these three serious
diseases.
[Duane] And it’s better than getting one of them, eh?
[Hinetaapora] Definitely. Do you know how that injection works?
[Duane] I know it helps your immune system. The immune system makes special
blood cells and antibodies that attack any harmful bugs that get into your body.
What I don’t know is, how does that little injection help?
[Hinetaapora] So, when you’re immunised, the nurse injects a tiny amount of the bug
into your arm.
[Duane] But that would make you ill!
[Hinetaapora] No Duane. It’s like soccer.
[Duane] What?
[Hinetaapora] Each team wears a different coloured shirt, so you know who’s on your
side and who isn’t. You can recognise an opponent right away and deal with them.
That little bit of the bug you get from the nurse has been specially treated so it’s too
small and harmless to give you the disease. But it’s just like the team yellow shirt.
It’s all your immune system needs to recognise the opposition.
If you ever get the germ for real, your immune system already knows what it is and
can kill it before it can harm you.
[Duane] Wow! That’s amazing. Tell you what, let’s go and see the school nurse now.
[Hinetaapora] Good idea, she can tell us more about it. Oh grab this.
Duane and Hinetaapora grab their camera.
Chapter 4: What to expect when you get immunised
Duane and Hinetaapora walk into the Nurse’s room with their camera.
[Duane] Hi nurse.
[Ella - Nurse] Hey guys, how’s it going?
Both Good.
[Ella] What you got there?
[Hinetaapora] It’s our camera.
[Ella] Can I have a go? Cool, what do I do with it?
[Hinetaapora] Just move around.
Ella grabs the camera and moves it around
[Ella] Whoa – it makes you feel sick.
[Duane] We hoped you’d tell us a bit more about immunisation.
[Hinetaapora] So we can boost our immune systems.
[Duane] To protect against diphtheria, tetanus and…per…per…
[Hinetaapora] Pertussis, you know, whooping cough.
[Ella] Sounds like you know a fair bit already! But sure, I can give you some tips for
when you come back next time.
[Hinetaapora] Thanks.
[Hinetaapora] I’ve heard some kids can react badly to an injection.
[Ella] Hardly ever, but it can happen.
You probably won’t have any side effects at all.
A few people feel a little dizzy, sick or get a fever or a headache after their
vaccination. This is normal, and should get better on its own.
[Ella] There are things you can do to help.
Make sure you have breakfast or lunch before your injection. Even a snack before or
afterwards will help stop you feeling faint.
The injections are done in your upper arm, so wear a loose shirt, preferably with
short sleeves.
Take things easy afterwards. Your nurse will keep an eye on you after the
vaccination and will provide you with all the advice you need.
If you’ve reacted badly to an injection before, or even if you’ve just been ill lately,
somebody in your family should ask the doctor or practice nurse if it’s OK for you to
have the immunisation.
If you have asthma, allergies, or you’re getting over something not too serious like a
common cold, you can still be immunised. Your parents can talk to the nurse if they
would like more information.
But the important thing is that the benefits of immunisation are huge compared to the
risks.
[Duane] Not that I’m scared or anything, but—
[Hinetaapora] Yes you are!
[Ella] You want to know if it hurts, right?
[Hinetaapora] It doesn’t really hurt. It’s over quickly and it just feels a little tender.
[Ella] And that’s really normal, let’s go and see what some other kids thought.
Short interviews with kids about their immunisation experiences
I thought it was going to be really, really sore but it’s actually like a little pinch.
I thought the needle was going to be about this big, but it was actually this big.
I was a bit nervous, I think everyone was but it was fine. The nurses were really nice.
I looked away and she put the needle in and she took it out and I said are we going
to do it now and she said, it’s done.
I had a bit of sore arm for a few hours but it didn’t last very long.
So I didn’t even know she was doing it.
[Ella] See? Not a problem.
Still, in about 1 in a million cases an allergic reaction can occur. But we nurses are
trained to deal with it and, as I said before problems are very rare indeed.
They’re all covered off in this form.
All kids will get one to take home, so you can get consent from your parents.
Chapter 5: Getting your parents’ consent
[Duane] OK nurse. You’ve convinced me. I’m ready.
[Ella] It’s great you’re so keen Duane, but I can’t do it yet.
[Hinetaapora] He has to get approval from home, eh? That’s what I had to do.
[Ella] That’s right Hinetaapora. We can’t immunise any kid until the parents or
guardians let the nurses know whether or not you can have the vaccines.
That’s why all kids get a consent form to take home.
[Ella] It has everything they need to know. It has to be filled in, signed and brought
back to school before we can do your immunisation.
Duane shows the consent form to his parents. Duane’s Mum fills in the form.
Tell your parents to fill in Section A to get the immunisation done at school or Section
B if they don’t want you to get it.
Either way, they must sign the form, and you have to bring it back to school.
But if your parents or guardians aren’t sure about anything, don’t worry they can talk
to me or any school nurse, the doctor or the practice nurse.
They can even watch this video for themselves online at
www.health.govt.nz/immunisation.
[Ella] Now you’d better get on back to the soccer.
I’ll see you again soon, OK?
[Hinetaapora] Thanks nurse.
[Hinetaapora] So you’re not scared anymore?
[Duane] Never was.
[Hinetaapora] Were.
[Duane] Was not.
[Hinetaapora] Were too.
Duane and Hinetaapora leave the room.