is that right there is a new vaccine for babies that start on September?

Question

new jab for meningitis and pneumonia..can older babies can get same jab??

i mean in UK

Answer 1

Yes, this is true. It is being introduced on the 4th September. It is called the Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine (PCV) and it will be offered to all children under 2 years of age because they are viewed to be most at risk of catching and suffering serious illness from it. It offers protection against a particular strain of meningitis and pneumonia caused by the pneumococcus bacteria. The first dose is being given at 2 months of age to all new babies, then another at 12 months too. This means some of the other injections like the HIB and Men C will be given at a later date. Your GP or Health visitor should be able to advise you on the local implementation policy (diferent areas may have slightly different schedules for implementing this).

Basically how it looks is:

2 mmonths - Diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, HIB(2 inj)

3 months - dip, tet, whoop, polio, HIB and meningitis c (2 inj)

4 months - dip, tet, whoop, polio, HIB, MenC and PCV (3 inj)

12 months - HIB, MEN C (1 inj)

13-15months - MMR and PCV (2 inj)

If your child is over 2 they will not be routinely called for catch up injections of PCV, but you should speak to your GP if you feel that they need to have it.

Hope this helps you out.

Answer 2

Yes. The vaccine is for Men C and HiB. My daughter took part in the trials for the vaccine and has been monitored since her first set of vaccines at 6 weeks old. She had the new vaccine a few months ago when she turned one and had absolutely no problems. She was in the last lot of trial babies (the trial has been going on for years) before its introduction.

We signed up for the trial because there are still a significant number of children who die or are permanently disabled following exposure to Men C and that a single vaccine against Men C (given when baby is only weeks old) doesn't provide sufficient coverage. The booster (combined Men C and HIB vaccine) should eliminate those unnecessary deaths.

Answer 3

Hiya, yes my Hv said about this to me. Its for the Hib which protects against some pneumococcal bacteria. It will be replacing the Men C jab which will now be given at a later date. The Hib jab is available to any youngsters up to 2 yrs. Also, the polio vaccination is now part of a jab - not oral anymore xxx

Answer 4

I heard this from my health visitor friend, so I think it is true! I'll have to ask her about older children...