We strongly recommend that your child is vaccinated in line with the NHS immunisation schedule. Serious childhood illness for example diphtheria, polio, tetanus, meningitis, epiglottitis, measles, and rubella in the past caused death and disability. These illnesses are thankfully now rare in the UK due to the longstanding immunisation programme, but they are still present in the world and in some areas are actually increasing. Serious adverse reactions to the immunisations are rare.
Vaccinations of newborns start at 8 weeks. We will contact you to arrange this but please let us know if you have not received an appointment.
Please check the following points before bringing your child to their immunisation appointment.
- Are they suffering from any feverish illness? Do not worry about a runny nose without a high temperature.
- Are they taking any steroids by mouth? Asthma inhalers are not a problem.
- Do they suffer from any disease affecting the immune system?
- Do they suffer from a severe allergic reaction to eggs?
- Have they suffered from a reaction to any previous immunisation or medication?
If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of the above questions then please discuss it with the practice nurse at your appointment.
What is a vaccine?
Vaccines may consist of a preparation of any of the following:
- a killed virus or bacterium
- detoxified toxins from a virus or bacterium
- a weakened form of a live virus or bacterium
They all work by stimulating the immune system in the same way as the actual infection would, but without causing the full-blown disease. Your immune system is designed to “remember” so once exposed to a particular bacterium or virus, it retains immunity against it for years, decades or even a lifetime.
We provide the standard regime of childhood vaccinations for all of our young patients. For further information on childhood immunisations see the NHS immunisation schedule.