Implication of having two 'HIB' jabs, by mistake...

[LDN1]

My DD was on schedule for all of her jabs. We did not have them all done on one day, as is increasingly, the trend I was told.

We still had HIB and MMR outstanding. For the MMR, we were looking at the option of single dose MMR, administered at a private clinic in Manchester.

And so, we attended the doctors for just the HIB to be done. The old, retirement age, nurse who was visibly tired gave our DD her jab (what we thought was HIB) and off we went.

40 minutes later, the nurse calls us and says that she gave the wrong jab: she gave the MMR and not the HIB... and she is sorry / genuine mistake / long day / blah blah. That's another story which I won't go in to.

So... we are left in a situation where the nurse is sure she gave the MMR and not the HIB - so we need to book DD for the HIB.

I asked 'how sure are you it was the MMR? What if it WAS the HIB and we then administer another HIB... what are the implications, health wise, of two HIB jabs?

She says she is confident it was the MMR. And offers nothing else.

Anyway. I have just tried to deal with this on a practical level. I have asked over and over... what are the implications of having two HIB jabs? They will not answer the question. They literally will not answer it and I am guessing it's because they do not want to etch in stone, an answer that they'd be worried comes back to haunt them.

For all I know, there would be no issue, having two HIB jabs... I just would like to know. The practice has now simply passed the buck and referred us to a local hospital for a meeting to find out the answer to my question.

I am going to get a meeting booked but in the meantime, does anyone have any knowledge or experience of this type of situation? And also, any idea the implication of having two HIB jabs?

Genuine question: why not?

What is the advantage one way or the other out of interest?

@LDN1 i just re read my reply and it made no sense. I meant to say why DIDNT you go to the GP. Either way it doesn't matter I was just curious. We paid privately for chicken pox vaccine as it's not available on nhs but everything else was nhs

It was the GP. We did not go private!

@LDN1 I've massively got my wires crossed. What have I been reading?! I blame it on the school holidays

I can see the problem now OP, if she had two prepared needles they wouldn't have serial nos. on them, or would they?? they probably aren't identified as it sounds like it was prepared for someone having both jabs so then they would just fill in both identity nos. from the vials which would be numbered, so could be a breakdown in the identification chain.

There's nothing wrong with your attitude about the nurse. Age is context. I.e. she's not a spring chicken to the profession.

I’m not sure it’s a ‘massive’ mistake.

She has given a vaccine that the child was due for, but had been declined by the parent because they were under the ‘false’ impression they could have single vaccines.

The nurse will know it was an MMR vaccine. She will have recorded a batch number.

Extra hib doses shouldn’t cause a problem- but it’s a hypothetical question, because they were given an MMR.

If there is any doubt that it was a MMR, they should have the dose repeated anyway.

In terms of medicines management, it's a huge mistake. She's given the wrong medication.

Luckily it's very, very unlikely to do any harm because it's a vaccine that's recommended anyway. However that doesn't actually matter, you hadn't given consent for that drug.

It shouldn't have happened.

The practice is not 100% that it was MMR. They have already said they cannot be.

The red book shows HIB administered with no batch. But she now says it wasn't HIB...

The practice themselves deem it a mistake, at a level that they've had everyone in, and said that vaccines are no longer to be prepared before the arrival of the patient / visitor to avoid the opportunity for such a mix up.

So... even the practice would disagree with your assertions.

The batch number/dose should be noted on the baby's notes so they can check what has been given. You have HIB boosters later anyway so it is probably fine, even assuming it was not mmr.

I don’t know as I wasn’t there but I would guess she said “I’m sure it’s the MMR” as in “I give her the MMR as I had two vaccines drawn up, should have given the Hib and give MMR by mistake as the Hib is still in the tray”.

@milkmaiden the batch numbers are written into the red book, along with dates and which limb they were given in as well as the vaccinators name and location.

@User487216 baby imms are not in blank syringes. They are partially premade and need mixing and drawing up, so will retain the details on the vial and/or syringe.

Thanks @Sidge I wasn't sure of the procedure, they would know then as the other syringe would be unused and identifiable, even if the used one had been discarded.

Of course it's a massive mistake.

She gave the wrong drug. The circumstances do not matter, the fact of it is that she injected a child with a drug she was not meant to.

Massive?? They have given a drug that is licensed and recommended for the age of child.

If it was my child I would ask them to discount the vaccine and give the 12 month vaccines as they are scheduled in 4 weeks time.

Agree that it’s a medicines management mistake, and should be reported

@Barksmum12 you clearly don't work in healthcare, but if you did, I'd be very worried about your practice.

This is drugs error, and any drug error is a big concern in healthcare. The practice need to make sure this doesn't happen again, by the sounds of it they've already changed their policy.

I doubt the GPs know the impact of having two HiB jabs a few weeks apart as there is unlikely to be any publicly available data on it. They aren't avoiding answering a simple question because it's not simple! Hence the referral. The practice have recognised their mistake and are changing their system to ensure it does happen again. I don't know what more you want...

Clearly any medication error is a serious thing. I have found this www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6925972/ which implies unlikely to have a problem from an extra dose (looks at lots of vaccines, but HiB is on the list), as the side effects given seem pretty similar to those of having a jab correctly. My biggest concern would be not the need to know what they've had extra, but the need to know what they still need to have.

Thank you noclearnames! I will take a look a this.

It seems about a 70/30 split here with the majority agreeing it's very bad practice, what transpired.

The practice 'say' policy will change but there's nothing official about it. The nurse was visibly tired on the day. I'm not judging her character... she is probably a lovely lady... but I can't really let it go so easily as I worry about whether she's fit to work the schedule she's on. And I'd like to know the practice is truly making a change.

As I've said before regard batch numbers etc. She actually recorded in the red book, HIB as being given, but with no batch. And so, given I specifically went in early and without DD at first to be clear what we wanted, and she still messed up... you'll forgive me for nothing being convinced that she's sure.

You can make a DSAR to see the actual surgery records.

@AlternativelyWired I can’t believe you think the Op’s attitude about the nurse is bad. It is an awful mistake to make - luckily without consequence this time. But there are various processes to ensure these mistakes don’t happen. The nurse must have missed them all.