Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kimbabworld]

My baby is due in November and I've been reading about what immunizations/vaccinations he will need. I know I can get them done here but I've noticed people here with scars. I was at the Coex Baby Fair yesterday and noticed many babies with the circle of pin pricks on their arms. Does anyone have any information on this? I would like to get my baby immunized/vaccinated by North American standards. Does anyone know where I can get this done? Or should I wait and get it done back in Canada (we have planned to make a visit home when he's 6 months old)?

[Col.Brandon]

I've been worried about that, too. My baby boy is one month old now. He's just had a second round of immunisations. My wife was told that the new vaccine injection systems don't leave a scar like the old ones did, for what that's worth.

[Typhoon]

My daughter is 2 and the scars are not bad. She has a little bit of the 12 dots still visable, but they appear to be fading too. In my experience the immunizations(sp?????) here are a little better than Canada. You have to pay here so you get pretty much everything you could ever need. In Canada it is free, so it just what you 100% need, not what you may need in the future. Once you start going for immunizations they will give you a book with all the immunizations that you can get. It lists what you must get, what is recommended to get, but you don't need and ones that are avaiblable but not that important. They list also tells you when you should be getting these done and has a spot for them to stamp when you got the immunization done.

The ones you must get are free at the local Gu health offices and the ones that are recommend must be paid for, I prefer to go to a children's health clinic for those. Just my 10 cents (inflation).

[Unposter]

We goto a local doctor. He supposedly has an excellent reputation and I can tell you for certain he does an excellent job. I've never heard or even thought about the possibility of scars.

Where will you work?

Go to a good doctor and everything should be fine and if you have health insurance it is not expensive at all.

Gu offices are free as well. I've never heard of anyone having any problems. If you are really worried just ask the doctor, will this leave a scar?

[ttompatz]

The scar from the imunizations fades away after about a year or so.

They can be done at any hospital or your local pedia clinic. Most womens - ob/gyne hospitals/clinics have a pediatritian attached. The birthing center /hospital you went to / will go to should also have a pediatritian or baby clinic.

The list of imunizations for babies is:
BCG - birth and 1 month
Hep B - birth, 1 month, 6 month
DTaP (diphtheria, pertussia, tetanus) 2, 4, 6 month
polio - 2,4,6 month
hemophilus influenza (Hib)- 2,4 month
streptococcus - pneumoniae - 2,4,6 month
MMR - 12, 48 month
Chicken pox - 12 month
Hep A - 12 month
Japanese Encephalitis - 12 month.

Get them started here. You will have a record of them (English and Korean) for when you return home and they will just be continued from there by the health unit in your home town.

There is NO reason to delay and put your baby at risk of something that they can be immunized against.

.

[Pak Yu Man]

We just got ur daughters vaccinated last week.

There are 2 kinds of vaccinations. Cheap ones and the expensive ones. People you see with those ugly ass scars on their arms (like my wife) got the regular needle (the only one at the time).

You can pay a little extra (30k more) and they don't use one needle. I think they use tinier needles and there are about nine of them in a square pattern.

I think it hurts more, but there was a mark for 2-3 days. I just checked and there is nothing.

Get the better needle. Good luck with the kids

Edit: Don't you dare delay vaccinating your kids. Even if there was a scar, a scar would look better than a dead kid. Sorry to be so harsh, but think about it.

[shinzee]

My baby is also due in November and I am nervous about having it here. I am also worried about the immunizations because I have seen the scars on the kids.
What about hospitals to give birth? I am still trying to find the best hospital. I go to Asan Medical Center right now, but it kinda scares me because I noticed they don't wear gloves when they take your blood, and the other day I went to the emergency room and the receptionist put an IV needle in my arm with bare hands--she had been typing, then got up and put the needle in without even washing her hands. Can anyone recommend a clean and small hospital or clinic?

[anae]

You cannot have all vaccinations done at once. They are done in stages, so one trip home at six months will not be sufficient. It is also unwise to put your baby at risk in the meantime.





http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/hecomm/vaccinations/Recommended%20Vaccination%20Schedule.htm


Does anyone know why they leave a scar? Why are they done in the arm? In Alberta, all infant vaccinations are given in the thigh here until the age of two. Neither of my girls have ever had any scarring.

[Typhoon]

Most are done in the thigh. I think there is only one or two done in the arm here. I am having a tough time remembering. I just checked out my daughters "scar". It is almost non-existant. It is the 12 dot thing, you can't really make out any dots anymore. I will get a pic for you guys and ask my wife what that vaccination was for (she may remember).

[johninmaine]

...hi, we're still in Maine until Jan when i start in Korea...

our son (11 months now), has had all his IM's done by single needle.
they use 2 nurses here and give him both shots at the same time, at the count of 1,2,&3....

[shinzee]

For what it's worth.......One of my students is a pediatrician in Korea and I asked him about the scars a few days ago and he said the scars that are in a grid shape that have about 18 tiny holes are from shots given for TB. He said in North America they don't require shots for TB because it is not common but in Korea it is common and so shots are mandatory, and usually given to babies at 1 month old.
He says it depends on the individual whether or not they will have a scar...everyone's skin is different. I have seen kids that are 5 or 6 and the scars are still visible, and he said his own daughter is 12 and her scars are still visible.
This is just the information he gave me. I still don't know why they give the shots in the arm and not the butt or thigh. Maybe I'll ask him next time and see what he says.....

[kimbabworld]

I just had my baby at Seoul National University Hospital (Hyehwa Station)three weeks ago. It was very good. The doctors (Dr. Park- Outpatient OBGYN Dept. and Dr. Shin-Delivery Dept.)were excellent. Dr. Park spent 2 years in the U.S. The nurses in the maternity ward had a working knowledge of English. There is also an international clinic in this hospital and the nurses there can translate if need be. I had a very comfortable stay there.

This hospital is also really big on promoting breastfeeding. It was up to the standards of any hospital I've seen in Canada. PM me if you want more details.

Just avoid Soonchunghyang Hospital in Hannam. I spent some time there on bedrest and it was not that great. SNUH was excellent.


There is also an excellent children's hospital there too. My baby had to stay in NICU for two weeks. I did start up with the vaccinations here. You can have the international nurses translate any questions you may have. My baby just had a BCG shot yesterday and they showed me pictures of how it will heal over the next year. I also asked whether they use Thimerasol in their vaccines and they contacted the pharmacist in charge of the vaccines and assured me they don't.

[periwinkle]

Btw, you guys should go to your local community health center. Basic immunizations are free. I didn't know that until I found out from some other posters. I had already started my baby on vaccinations at Miz Medi, and it turns out miz medi uses imported vaccines because they can charge you more. Even though we've got insurance, we've paid miz medi well over 300,000 won for vaccinations. Once you start with a certain vaccine, you have to stay with that brand, so we couldn't automatically switch to the ones they use at the public health center.

Anyway, our baby isn't fully immunized against all diseases, so diseases he hasn't had an innoculation for, we will take him to the community health center. My husband originally thought you have to be on welfare to go there. You don't. It's available to EVERYONE, and the people are super, super nice, and I've never had to wait like I do at Miz Medi.

Sorry for grammar mistakes- I'm rushing to go home..

[korea252]

Our little one's a year old - I didn't know we could get some vaccinations for free. Does anyone know where the local medical center for Haebangchon is?
Thanks

[Pak Yu Man]