THE CHURCH STREET SURGERY

Babies & Children

Midwives
Urgent midwifery advice may be obtained from Kidderminster General Hospital Maternity Unit = 01562 823286
The midwife is available for help and advice for those planning pregnancy and all care related to pregnancy. The midwife, together with the doctor, provides antenatal and postnatal care. She also visits all mothers and new babies following their discharge from hospital
 
Health Visitor
May be contacted at Kidderminster Health Centre = 01562 820091.
 
Baby Clinic
The health visitors are available for weighing and giving general advice to parents about their babies and pre-school children.
 
Childhood Surveillance
The doctor carries out routine checks on children aged seven months and three and a half years. The health visitor does checks at these and other times. You will be notified or sent an appointment.
 
Child Immunisations
When immunisations are due an appointment is automatically sent. If this appointment is missed a further appointment is given. If you have recently moved into this area or have missed an appointment, please come along at clinic time, 14:00 16:00 Thursday. No appointment is necessary. Appointments can also be made with the nurse at other times
Because of immunisation it is now rare for a child to get diphtheria, tetanus or polio. Measles, mumps and rubella are now also rare following the introduction of the MMR vaccine. Whooping cough is also  becoming less common as more and more children are being immunised.

But if children are not immunised against these diseases, they will become common again.

The Hib vaccine helps prevent infections caused by Haemophilus Influenzae - which can cause a form of meningitis and can also cause severe croup and bone infections.
Children can be immunised even when they have a cold - unless there is a high fever - and whilst taking most medicines, including antibiotics.

If your child misses an immunisation, get it done as soon as possible.

If you think you will be upset, you can ask a friend to accompany you to hold your baby for you.
 
Talk to your health visitor or doctor if you want to know more about immunisations...
All Children should receive immunisations except a very few children who
  1. Are suffering from a feverish illness - when the immunisation should be postponed until full recovery
  2. Have had a severe reaction to a previous immunisation.
  3. Have an illness or are taking medicines that interfere with their ability to fight infections.

Children taking antibiotics can be immunised.
Before each immunisation the doctor or nurse will make sure there are no reasons to delay or leave out immunisation.

Immunisation Schedule
Advice After Immunisation
  • Try to keep your child cool and comfortable over the next 24 hours - he/she may be a little grumpy.
  • Paracetamol mixture (e.g. Disprol/Calpol) may be used. Always make sure you have some in the home.
  • Children can develop a temperature after immunisation. If your child becomes hot, give paracetamol mixture. Removing some clothes may also help. Some babies, when they get too hot, can have a short fit/Convulsion in association with temperature - these measures can help to prevent this.
  • You may notice slight swelling around the injection site - if your child seems uncomfortable a dose of paracetamol mixture can help.
  • If you cannot cool your baby and/or are worried about any other problems relating to the immunisation - please contact the Surgery.
                Telephone number =
  • If your baby has been immunised against polio, it is important to wash your hands after changing nappies. This is because the vaccine is passed in the stool, and can be passed to members of the house who have not been immunised against polio. If members of your house have not had this immunisation, please discuss this with your doctor or practice nurse.
  • Toddlers who have had MMR may develop a rash about a week later, runny nose and fever may also occur. This is not infectious. Some children will develop swelling of the parotid gland (parotitis) about 3 weeks after immunisation - this is related to the mumps part of the vaccine - again this is not infectious.

Produced by the Worcester and District Immunisation Review Group

 
MMR The Facts

The decision to immunise your child is never simple and you want the facts to help you make that decision. This leaflet provides you with the facts. If you need more information, please talk to your GP, health visitor or practice nurse or contact NHS Direct on 0845 46 47, or visit www.immunisation.nhs.uk.

What is MMR?

MMR vaccine protects your child against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles). It is given to children at 13 months and again before they start school. The second dose protects anybody who did not respond to the first dose. Since 1988 when MMR was introduced in the UK the number of children catching these diseases has fallen to an all-time low.

  • Measles can be a serious illness that the vaccine prevents. There are often complications from measles and it can still kill.
  • Mumps vaccine prevents mumps, which was the biggest cause of viral meningitis in children.
  • Rubella vaccine prevents babies being badly damaged if their mother catches rubella when pregnant.

MMR can prevent these diseases in a combined injection.

What are the side effects of MMR?

MMR contains three separate vaccines in one injection. The vaccines have different side effects at different times.

  • About a week to 10 days after the MMR some children become feverish and they may develop a measles-like rash and go off their food. This is because the measles part of the vaccine is starting to work.
  • About three to four weeks after the injection a child might occasionally get a mild form of mumps as the mumps part of MMR kicks in.
  • In the six weeks after MMR your child may, very rarely, get a rash of small bruise-like spots which may be caused by the measles or rubella parts of the immunisation. This usually gets better on its own. However, if you see spots like this, show them to your doctor.
  • Very rarely, children can have severe allergic reactions straight after any immunisation (about 1 in 100,000 immunisations for MMR). If the child is treated quickly, he or she will recover fully. People giving immunisations are trained to deal with allergic reactions.

The risk of serious side effects from the actual disease far outweighs the risk of your child suffering any of the side effects from the immunisation.

Condition Children affected after the natural disease Children affected after the first dose of MMR
Convulsions 1 in 200 1 in 1000
Meningitis or encephalitis 1 in 200 to 1 in 5000 Less than 1 in a million
Conditions affecting blood clotting 1 in 3000 (rubella)
 1 in 6000 (measles)		 1 in 22,300
SSPE (a delayed complication of measles that causes brain damage and death) 1 in 8000 (children under 2) 0
Deaths 1 in 2500 to 1 in 5000 0

What about reports of links between autism and MMR? Is this really a risk?

No, autism was well known long before MMR was ever used in this country. Autism, a disorder causing behavioural and language problems, is recognised more often now than in the past and the increases in the cases of autism were going on before MMR was introduced. There was no sudden increase in autism when MMR was introduced. Parents often first notice the signs of autism around the time MMR is usually given. This does not mean that one causes the other.

Extensive research into this possibility shows that there is no link between MMR and autism. These research studies have been carried out in this country, the USA, Sweden and Finland, and involve thousands of children. Experts from around the world, including the World Health Organisation, have agreed that there is no link between MMR and autism.

What about reports of links between MMR and bowel disease?

It has been suggested that measles viruses, either from the natural disease or the vaccine, might stay in the bowel and cause bowel disease. But bowel disease is no more common in immunised people than in people who have not been immunised. Again, there have been many studies that cannot find a link with the vaccine. Experts from around the world, including the World Health Organisation, also came to the conclusion that the evidence is firmly against any link between measles and MMR vaccines and bowel disease.

Have children been followed up long enough after MMR to know it’s safe?

In the USA, MMR has been given for nearly 30 years. Worldwide over 500 million doses have been used in over 90 countries and the vaccine has an excellent safety profile. In Finland where children have been given up to two doses of MMR since 1982, reactions reported after MMR were followed up. Researchers found no deaths or permanent damage linked to the vaccine. The World Health Organisation describes MMR as a “highly effective vaccine which has such an outstanding safety record”.

Why not give parents choice and let them have single vaccines?

Some people feel that single vaccines might somehow be safer than MMR. But using single vaccines would mean that:

  • six separate injections have to be given over a long period of time;
  • there would be a fall in vaccine coverage as experience shows more children would not complete the course of injections;
  • children who complete the course are left without protection in the gaps between injections;
  • babies may catch the disease from their older brothers and sisters who are unprotected between the separate injections;
  • children who cannot have the MMR vaccine, such as those having treatment for cancer, would be more exposed to infection; and
  • pregnant women will be at greater risk of rubella infection from their own unprotected children and the children of their friends.

The evidence shows that MMR is a safe and effective vaccine that is not linked to autism. More than 90 countries in the world use MMR and hundreds of millions of children have been protected by this vaccine for nearly 30 years.

It has been said that giving the three vaccines together overloads children’s immune systems. This is not the case. Children’s immune systems make excellent responses, naturally protecting them against these diseases. No country in the world recommends MMR be given as three separate vaccines. The World Health Organisation advises against using separate vaccines because they would leave children at risk for no benefit.

MMR – the facts

  • MMR vaccine protects children against measles, mumps and rubella.
  • In nearly 30 years, over 500 million doses of MMR have been given in over 90 countries. It has an excellent safety record.
  • The evidence is against any link between MMR and autism or bowel disease.
  • The practice of giving the vaccines separately may be harmful. It leaves children open to the risk of catching measles, mumps or rubella.
  • Where MMR is available, no countries recommend giving the vaccines separately.
  • Measles is a highly infectious disease and it kills and disables children and adults.
  • In the year before MMR was introduced in England, 86,000 children caught measles and 16 died. A recent outbreak in Dublin, caused by parents not having their children vaccinated, left three children dead.
  • Mumps was the leading cause of viral meningitis in children before the MMR vaccine was introduced. Now it is virtually eliminated.
  • The damage rubella can do to unborn babies is devastating – in many cases pregnant women catch rubella from their own or their friends’ children.
  • MMR protects your child and your family against measles, mumps and rubella. Because of MMR these three diseases are no longer risks. If children go unprotected, the diseases will come back.
  • If you missed your MMR appointment, you can get the immunisation at any time.

You can get more information from your GP, health visitor or practice nurse. Please do not hesitate to ask.

Visit

www.immunisation.nhs.uk
and
 www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk