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AIBU?

Whooping cough jab

65 replies

karatekimmi · 07/06/2015 19:43

Please be gentle with me, but I cant work out whether I am being a bit of a drama llama.

I'm not interested in whether you should or shouldn't have injections. It is a personal choice.

I declined a flu jab whilst pregnant, my midwife is aware of this

I am 30 weeks pregnant and I was told by my midwife that I should have my whooping cough jab. For no real logical reason I am happy to have a whooping cough jab, but not a flu jab.

I went to my doctors surgery where the nurse asked if I knew why I was having the whooping cough injection ( to increase my immunity to pass it on to my baby when its first born) and she injected me. Afterwards she said I was also covered for diphtheria, polio and tetnus. I didn't say much at the time, but I am a bit annoyed that they assumed consent for the jab, and the more I think about it, the more angry I get. I feel like I want to complain about this.

What do you think?

OP posts:
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Bair · 07/06/2015 19:45

Polio has an oral vaccine, is it possible she's checked your notes and is telling you what you're covered for rather than giving you loads at once? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

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ButterflyUpSoHigh · 07/06/2015 19:46

Surely you gave consent by letting her do it?

Having had whooping cough and nearly dying you have done the right thing in my opinion.

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woowoo22 · 07/06/2015 19:48

She will have checked your notes and have seen your previous jabs etc.

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Totality22 · 07/06/2015 19:50

Polio is oral so the nurse certainly didn't give you that one!!!

I didn't think you were even offered the flu vaccine this time of year? It's not flu season.

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nocoolnamesleft · 07/06/2015 19:51

Don't think there's a "whooping cough only" vaccine available. Pretty sure the only whooping cough vaccine you can get does also cover diptheria, tetanus and polio.

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Mrsmorton · 07/06/2015 19:52

If it is DTP surely its diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, which is whooping cough. As pp said, polio is oral vaccine?

I've nothing to say to the OP.

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steff13 · 07/06/2015 19:53

Did you sign something when you gave consent? I always have to do that for myself or my kids. Here, the whopping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines are all one vaccine, so the consent would have explained that.

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karatekimmi · 07/06/2015 19:53

No she specifically said that the jab covered me for diphtheria and tetanus - maybe not polio, maybe it was a different disease.

I gave her consent to give me a whooping cough jab, the other parts of it were never mentioned. Now I probably would have had it anyway but as I had said I don't have flu jabs, I don't have all the jabs I am "told to".

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nocoolnamesleft · 07/06/2015 19:55

Polio used to be an oral vaccine. In the UK, it's now part of the IM immunisations.

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gnoomi · 07/06/2015 19:56

Whooping cough hasn't been an oral vaccine for a while (www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/4-in-1-dtap-ipv-pre-school-booster-vaccine-questions-answers.aspx#why-IPV) and as far as I understand only comes bundled up in this 4 in 1 jab

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Mrsmorton · 07/06/2015 19:56

Yes, I just googled. It's a 4 in 1 vaccine now. Amazing what science can do to protect us from diseases that cripple and kill children.

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Straycatblue · 07/06/2015 19:56

NHS says.....

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/whooping-cough-vaccination-pregnant.aspx#Which

Whooping cough vaccination in pregnancy
Which whooping cough vaccine will I be given?

As there is no whooping cough-only vaccine, the vaccine you'll be given also protects against polio, diphtheria and tetanus.


(also polio can be injection or oral for those that are saying it is only oral)

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treeshine · 07/06/2015 19:56

Yabu! Be thankful we live somewhere that has these amazing life saving vaccinations.

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nocoolnamesleft · 07/06/2015 19:57

I think you should have been told everything that was in it for fully informed consent. But I don't think there's access to a "whooping cough only" immunisation, so would have been a choice whether to have the lot, or none, rather than the option to have just the whooping cough jab.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/whooping-cough-vaccination-pregnant.aspx#Which

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WestEast · 07/06/2015 19:57

Nurse should have told you the contents of the jab before giving it to you.
If you're in the UK you'll have had the Boostrix IPV which contains pertussis (whooping cough), polio, diphtheria and tetanus.

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nocoolnamesleft · 07/06/2015 19:58

Ooops, cross post with Straycat!

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karatekimmi · 07/06/2015 19:58

okay, so not assume consent for the injection (it was only one)- which I did do, but I didn't sign anything, but not give me the full information.

OP posts:
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Mistigri · 07/06/2015 19:59

There is no single whooping cough vaccine licensed for pregnant women. The one normally used in the UK protects against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and pertussis and it's very similar to the vaccine given to infants.

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WestEast · 07/06/2015 20:00

Did the midwife not give you a leaflet before you came? That's generally how it works where I work. Then we check with the patient that they know what they're getting and why and that they still want it.

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BookSnark · 07/06/2015 20:00

The info is widely available that the vac given in pregnancy is basically the same vaccine that is given to DC at 2 months. It is a combined vaccine - so it's not like the nurse deliberately adulterated it to trick you iyswim. She did check if you underwood what you were getting and, tbh, I think it's up to you to research it if you feel strongly about it.

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SquirmOfEels · 07/06/2015 20:01

Oral polio immunisation ceased to be available on NhS in 2004 (I know because DC was one of the last to receive it).

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steff13 · 07/06/2015 20:03

Re-reading your OP, the nurse asked you if you knew why you were getting the vaccine, perhaps she thought your midwife fully explained it to you? Maybe it's a bit of a miscommunication.

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getbusyliving · 07/06/2015 20:04

Treeshine I'm sure, like most people, OP is thankful we have access to these vacs, but that was not the issue here. If I understand correctly, it was the lack of consent that was the problem.

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villainousbroodmare · 07/06/2015 20:05

Surely this is not worth getting upset about? Lucky you, having the opportunity to have yourself and your baby protected against three very serious diseases.
However, I recently got the flu vacc for the first time ever, only because I'm pregnant and it's recommended. And the amount of paperwork I had to read, and then had read through with me like a kid by the pharmacist in Boots was endless.
So I'm surprised you were allowed to remain blithely unaware of what great value your one jab was!

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woowoo22 · 07/06/2015 20:06

But what difference would it have made?

I didn't get the flu vaccine because (now ex) H was an anti-vaccer and didn't want me to. I was an idiot. There was no medical reason for me not to get it. Funnily enough he changed his mind about whooping cough after "researching" it... all those years in medical training coming in so handy (nil).

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