OUT of date Toddlers immunisations

[Lisssylamb]

AIBU to be upset today I got a call from my health visitor telling me that the day before they injected my son who’s 3 with OUT of date immunisations it was the 4 in 1 jag . I don’t really know where I stand I called my doctors and asked for advice but they never called me back . I feel abit silly but I don’t really know what to do! There were two nurses in the room at the time and it is now clear neither checked the date now I’m paranoid that it wasnt even the right jag

That is disgusting. Both nurses checked the dates when my DC had theirs. The expiry date is written in their red books. I would go to the GP in person tomorrow to see if you get a better response.

How out of date was it? I’m sorry to hear that.

That's really awful. I would call the GP and make sure they correct it if necessary and advise you of any potential side effects to watch for (hopefully it's just that the injections will need to be repeated). I would also find out the name of the practice manager and write them a letter of complaint about both the original mistake and their failure to contact you afterwards.

most probably all is well.
medicines are well tested and usually work well past the use by date.
do speak to nurse/gp. this should not have happened. someone was sloppy: nurse, pharmacist or both

Go tomorrow morning phone the health board.
You leave a message and they call you back. ( very fast at phoning back)
They are able to advise if it will have an effect on you child, if the immunisation should be redone and how to deal with a formal complaint procedure.

No idea where the go came from at the start sorry

My first question would be how out of date was it

Does your GP have a practice manager? Maybe see if you can speak to them and see what needs to be done to address this (both from if the jabs need to be repeated and secondly how they will ensure it won't happen again). I suspect they'll need repeating but that might depend on how out of date they were.

Also make sure it gets reported by either yourself or your GP to the mhra using the yellow card scheme yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk as a defective medicine .if in doubt report it yourself.

Am sorry to hear this OP. Firstly, how out of date was the vaccine? Most do have a good after-expiry threshold but they may still recommend your little one has it repeated if there is any doubt. They should be able to contact the manufacturer to confirm this. They also need to check batch numbers and confirm for you that this was the correct vaccine. In terms of complaints was it a practice nurse at the surgery or the health visitor? If HV complaint needs to go to their line manager, if PN it needs to go to the practice manager with a copy to the lead GP and Head of Nursing, they will need to investigate this as a serious incident (not to be alarmist, I have every confidence your little one will be just fine if it's just the jab that's out of date, but it is incorrect administration of a medication)

I read recently that most medicines still work fine after their expiry date.

Very very few go 'bad' like food does, it's more that they just reduce in effectiveness. So the worst that is likely to happen is they have to repeat them to make sure he is covered

I was told in a first aid course that medications in the UK don't start to degrade until a year after the expiration date. IE if it says it expires on 31/12/2018, it will be OK until 31/12/2019 but will not be good after that. Hopefully the same applies to vaccines.

Thank you so much for all responding it was a month out of date I’m going to go back tomorrow and I have found the complaint address to write to them . I feel bit more reassured now . Thanks for your time again x

I don’t have anything useful to add to the above excellent-sounding advice, just wanted to say I can totally see why you’re angry/confused. Hopefully a month will turn out to make no difference

Easy to say but if it was only a month then I wouldn't be too concerned.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about the date at a month, but I’d be massively concerned that both of them missed it. That’s really bad.

Don't panic. This won't have harmed your child but it does need further action.

I am a Practice Nurse and this is what should happen next;

the nurses involved should be contacting Public Health England for further advice. PHE will make the decision regarding revaccination.

DON'T ring the manufacturer of the vaccine. They are obliged to tell you that the vaccine will have been used off licence and that you will need to take further advice from your health care professional. This will not be helpful to you in the least.

In the morning, ring and insist on speaking with the Practice Manager. Make it clear that you expect him/her to find out what, if anything, the nurses have done and inform you of this within 24 hrs.bMake it clear that you are expecting them to contact PHE for advice ASAP

Once you know what is happening, you may have to wait for some time for an answer from PHE.
They are the 'experts' and if they say it is OK to rely on the vaccines already received to be effective, you can trust this to be the right decision. They may advise revaccination. Even though I am an experienced Practice Nurse and baby vaccinator, I do not know what they will advise.

The surgery will be asked to review their procedures etc to ensure that this will not happen again; PHE will ensure that the process of a significant event review will happen.

Stay calm, be firm, your little one will be ok.

Personally I would not re-vaccinate. A double dose could make him ill.

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That's nonsense and you know full well you have absolutely zero authority or expertise to say such a thing.

How does your HV know it was out of date?

I would actually go to the surgery and try and get to see someone there and then or make an appointment to see someone. Be calm though, not all guns blazing. More direct than waiting for a phone call!