http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/323/7324/1308/b
BMJ 2001;323:1308 ( 1 December )
Letters
Some children may not have had meningococcal C vaccine
The
immunisation programme with the new meningococcal C conjugate vaccine was
introduced in England in November 1999. The vaccine was offered
to everyone under the age of 18 with remarkable success, as
shown by its impact on the disease. 1 2
Guidance documents received from the Department of Health suggested that all
children aged under 5 on 1 September 1999 should be
offered immunisation by their general practitioners, while those
aged 5 and over were to be immunised at school. In Gloucestershire we
received numerous telephone inquiries from school nurses and general
practitioners about clarity on who was responsible for immunising
children aged over 5 who were in the reception year at school.
A recent confirmed case of group C disease in a 6 year old who was
thought to have had the vaccine but was later found not to have
received it raised our suspicion that a number of children may
potentially have missed receiving the vaccine. Children in this
category were those born between 1 September 1994 and 1 August
1995.
Data obtained from our child health surveillance system showed that of a
total of 6890 children, only 4479 (65%) had received their
meningococcal C vaccine. We have identified all the children and
written to their general practitioners, requesting them to check
their records and update our database on the immunisation status of
children who seem not to have received the vaccine. This letter
would also serve as a prompt for general practitioners to remind
parents of the need for the immunisation.
Our experience suggests the potential for some individuals to miss out on an
important intervention as a result of government advice being misinterpreted.
Oluwatoyin Ejidokun
Brain O'Neill
Gloucestershire Health Authority, Gloucester GL1 2EL ejidokun-t@yahoo.com
Margaret Keating
East Gloucestershire NHS Trust, Cheltenham GL50 3EW
Carole Bodkin
Severn NHS Trust, Gloucester GL1 1LY
|
1. |
Department of Health. Biggest vaccination drive for
40 years smashes meningitis C disease. London: DoH, 2001. (Press
release 2001/0007, 3 Jan 2001.) http://tap.ccta.gov.uk/doh/intpress.nsf/page/2001-0007;
accessed 16 Nov) |
|
2. |
Ramsay M, Andrews N, Kaczmarski E, Miller E. Efficacy of
meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine in teenagers and toddlers in
England. Lancet 2001; 357: 195-196 |
ALL
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