Children's vaccines

[WhimsicalMoth]

Posting here purely for traffic so I'm able to get some answers before tomorrow.
I have a 5 year old -
She is fully vaccinated as far as I know. There was an issue in which her last set of vaccines were not recorded in her red book, but were accessible online by GP. She was 3 years old and I believe that was the MMR ??

Anyway - I've just had a call from our GP (who are notorious for messing up records and getting info wrong) saying that my child has missed some vaccinations and that they are booking me in to catch up (tomorrow at 2 PM)

They said she has missed her IPV and I couldn't tell if she said B, T or DTap ??
I haven't actually heard of these ?? Why haven't I been notified about these before? And are they widely given?

Just want some info on it before I take her tomorrow.

Thanks and sorry for naivety.

Can you call back and ask the receptionist to tell you what vaccinations you’re booked for? Then you can see on the schedule where they fit etc

Might they have said DTP, OP? They would usually have their 4th dose of this at around age three. DTP is short for Diptheria, Tetanus and Polio.

I believe it was this. I'm almost certain she said DTap but I googled this and it gave me the same results you've said.

She did tell me which ones, but I'm just confused as to why I've never been told about these before. I've honestly never heard of them. Maybe that's bad.
I did ask how can she have missed them if I've never been notified she needs them, and she (just the receptionist) said the children's nurse is in tomorrow, and that my child is just a name on the list that's been missed

If there is a list of children who have been missed then I wonder if there was an issue at the surgery and lots of children haven’t had the full schedule which has only recently been realised. Take her red book and go in tomorrow. At worst it means you get the book updated with what she has had and when and at best she comes out fully vaccinated.

Take her red book in tomorrow and get it updated and ask which one she is missing.

Ah OK. If it is DTP, then they usually have a total of five doses - three as little babies, one at 40 months or thereabouts, and another as a teenager, usually in Y9. If you have your childhood vaccination record book, the baby ones should be already entered in there so you can check what she has already had before you go to the appointment.

Upon further investigation, it seems the last set of vaccinations / boosters she was given was at around 3 yrs 4 months ..... so surely it was this ?
Please forgive me for being stupid 😆

You are not being stupid at all! I would agree with @Londonrach1 - take your red book with you and ask the nurse to talk you through what is outstanding.

3 years 4 months is when the pre school boosters are given (MMR and Boostrix which is whooping cough, polio, tetanus and diphtheria) so that sounds about right.

• 3 years and 4 months
• MMR vaccine (2nd dose)
• 4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine

@GlitterBall91 so if that DID happen to be the case and she had those vaccines at 3.5 yrs... would that mean she doesn't need those vaccinations tomorrow ?

yes, if she has already had them at 3 years and 4 months then she doesn’t need them tomorrow 😊

Did she have any of her vaccinations abroad at all?

Thank you! You've been helpful! I will call the drs in the morning just to go through it again and double check. But I did think something was off. As I said in my OP, this happened last year as well and they admitted fault!

No vaccinations abroad, just in the UK. But we have changed doctors last year and all of her other vaccinations were at a different GP practise, if that makes a difference !

Ok, I was just asking because you mentioned IPV and some countries give OPV which isn’t accepted as part of the uk schedule, so children coming from abroad who have had OPV are recommended to restart the 6-in-one course in order to receive their full doses of IPV.

The general advice is that if there is any uncertainty with vaccine statuts then vaccines should be repeated (you can’t over vaccinate) however in the absence of written records you can take the word of a reliable source ie mum if she is sure that the child has received the vaccine. I expect this will be explained to you and then you will be asked whether you’d be happier re vaccinating just in case there’s a chance that she is missing the doses, or if you’re certain she had them and are happy with that and they’re not repeated 😊