New Meningitis Vaccine

[Urchin]

Have you seen this on the news?

A new vaccine that protects children from meningitis is being added to the current immunisation programme in a bid to tackle the deadly disease.

The Department of Health (DoH) said today that children will receive three doses of the vaccine to protect them against pneumococcal infection which can cause blood poisoning, meningitis and pneumonia. Over a fifth of those who get the disease die while a further 25 per cent suffer severe after-effects.

Youngsters will be given the vaccine at two months of age, four months and 13 months.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said the vaccine would save the lives and prevent hundreds of serious illnesses.

The new jab will be introduced across the UK from April.

MenC vaccine is currently given to children at two, three and four months of age but new evidence has shown that protection from the vaccine drops after one year, making spreading out the vaccinations more effective.

A booster dose of Hib vaccine is also being added to the childhood immunisation programme as a routine at 12 months to extend protection against Hib disease.

Meningitis charities welcomed the introduction of the vaccines.

Denise Vaughan, Meningitis Research Foundation's chief executive, said: "We are delighted with the news that the government is introducing these vaccines into the childhood immunisation schedule.

"We know it will save many young lives and we also hope to see benefits in the wider population. However, not all forms of meningitis and septicaemia are vaccine preventable, so the public still need to be aware of their symptoms".track

It great news, but I'm always wary about new vaccines, what if it has side effects?

 

[beanie]

I am all for immunisations (I was very ill with measles when I was a baby) and Seren will be having all her jabs but it always makes me worry that there are now so many injecytions and now they are adding another one. I obviously don't want her to get meningitis and would do anyhting to stop her getting it but it does worry me the amount of jabs she will have to have.

 

[Tiny Sue]

It's really frustrating - everyone says "Be wise and immunise!!!" but you don't know if it's the right thing with all the scares about autism and the MMR etc.

I suppose that the risk of side effects is always there but you are also taking a risk if the baby got anything like menC or measles or mumps. I hear they are even vaccinating against chickenpox now - and no harm. My class of 26 last year had chickenpox run through them all like wildfire - at one stage there were ten children absent - all with chickenpox! I have never seen anything like it, and it was a particularly bad strain, the children even got spots in their mouths etc.

The reason we are all pushed to immunise is the push towards a total "herd immunity". If we keep the immunisation rate at 98% or so, then the vulnerable people in our communities - like immune compromised kids and elderly people - are safer because there are fewer people to pass the illnesses to them.

My mother was nearly blinded by measles as a child. I had them fairly severely too. In Ireland, the health authorities are worried about the possibility of an epidemic of something like measles breaking out because our immunisation rate has fallen.

It's all very scary though, isn't it? I have my worries about Naomi getting the five in one when she's eight weeks old. I wonder if her little immune system can take it, but the HV will tell you that even babies could get up to a thousand vaccines at once without suffering any ill effects. It certainly makes you think.


Sue

 

[minikins]

I am all for it. I hate to take any risks, however, would rather have a jab than risk them getting the very serious illnesses that they could be exposed to, so for me the benefits outweigh the risks.

Please read this;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3530551.stm

I remember hearing that the MMR jab scare was due to bad research that should not have been published. So the jab is safer than most people think because of this stupid scare.

 

[beanie]

Good link minikins, its scary how one bit of bad research could cause so much debate. Even before reading that though I had decided to go ahead with the MMR as I didn't feel that there was sufficient evidence to link autism and the jab but like I said before I have been realy ill with measles and feel that the risk is too big. My cousin has had mumps recently, I had them when very small but she really suffered. I just wish that we were given more info though about the jabs, side effects and benefits.