Private Clinics Botched
Children’s Vaccines – Report
By Pat Hurst, PA News.
Hundreds of children may have been put at
risk after two private clinics botched vaccinations for measles,
mumps and rubella, it emerged today.
Worried families have been told that single shot immunisations
given to toddlers at two private clinics, one in Sheffield and one
in Hertfordshire have not been done properly.
It means children could pick up infections and may not after all
be inoculated against the childhood diseases of measles, mumps and
rubella.
And the vaccines themselves may have become contaminated, leading
to an increased risk of children suffering bacterial infections,
experts warned.
The parents paid the private clinics for their children to receive
single injections of the vaccines.
Some parents claim the three-in-one MMR injection delivered by the
NHS can cause autism and Crohn’s Disease.
Instead of getting the NHS recommended MMR vaccines they paid
around £70 for the single vaccines, according to the Mail on
Sunday.
The clinics are run by Lifeline Care Ltd.
At the clinic held at the Hillsborough Sports Arena in Sheffield,
718 children were given the faulty vaccines, while 295 were given
the single dose vaccines at the Elstree Aero-Medical Centre in
Hertfordshire.
The faulty vaccines were given at both clinics between June and
December of last year. Most of the children are toddlers.
The problem arose because the clinics changed the normal procedure
for making up the vaccines, according to the local NHS trust in
Hertfordshire.
They began pre-preparing batches of vaccines so more children
could be treated which investigators think led to the vaccines not
working properly.
It means potentially hundreds of children were not then protected
from the diseases.
The error only came to light after two doctors, who worked at the
clinic in Hertfordshire, left and wrote a confidential letter to
the local Hertsmere Primary Care Trust, which then investigated.
Dr Joel Bonnet, director of public health at the trust, said, “As
a result of the changes in the way the vaccines were made up there
is a possibility that the efficacy of the vaccine has been
effected, so that children are not as protected as normally they
would be.
“There is a potential risk, which is why we are recommending
parents get the children re-vaccinated with the MMR.”
Dr Bonnet said he was not aware of any of the children who were
not properly vaccinated, subsequently falling ill with measles,
mumps or rubella.
The clinics concerned defended their actions.
Dr David Pugh, medical director of Lifeline Care, told the Mail on
Sunday they followed “common practice” when making up the
vaccines.
“During last year we had particularly busy clinics and decided to
reconstitute the vaccine in advance,” he said.
“The vaccines were used within the six-hour time scale
recommended. The view of the Department of Public Health was that
the potency of the vaccine could not be guaranteed in those
circumstances.”
The two clinics concerned will be investigated by the National
Care Standards Commission which is the watchdog for all private
medical clinics.
The General Medical Council will also investigate what went wrong.
The clinics are still in operation but have now reverted to making
up the vaccines as recommended by the manufacturer.
The Hertsmere Trust has written to all the families of the 1,013
children effected to tell them their children may not be properly
protected.
It recommends that all children get the MMR vaccine.
Any parents who think their child might be effected can ring NHS
Direct on 0845 4647.
Also more information on the MMR vaccine is available at the
following websites:
www.immunisation.org.uk
www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk
www.phls.org.uk
|
 |
