tetanus vaccination for teenager

[gingeroots]

Tetatnus vaccinations required for course involving work with animals .
Do GP's offer just tetanus - DS had measels as a baby and has not had standard vaccinations ?
Will GP only offer combined shots - tetanus plus others ?

And does anyone know if protection from tetanus only achieved after full course ?
Any advice gratefully received .

What an interesting question. Have you asked the GP? A friend told me that it isn't possible to get a single tetanus shot on the NHS anymore. Not sure if that is true or not.

These sites provide some information.

www.babyjabs.co.uk/v_tetanus.htm

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Tetanus/Pages/Prevention.aspx

Having googled ,I think your friend is correct .
Looks like they only offer Tetanus/polio and Diptheria.

get a three course series (first two shots a month apart, the third 6 to 8 months after the second will do) and pay for it. That is what you have to take into account when you make "alternative" or "non" vaccine choices. Any private GP will probably help you work out the details. There is a single Tetanus vaccine that a private clinic would order in.

Thanks Catherina ,that's helpful.

If your teen had their school leavers booster (usually at the age of 13-14) as well as all baby and preschool imms then they have completed their primary course for diphtheria, tetanus and polio and don't require further boosters for 10 yrs.

Sorry just read your OP properly and see that he hasn't had primary imms.

GPs can't offer single tetanus. It's no longer available. I'm not sure where private clinics source their single tetanus vaccine from.

My dd had single dose tetanus privately, it was three and a half years ago now though,so things might have changed.

Tetanus vaccine Tetanol (www.familyhealthcare.org.uk/downloadfiles/TetanolTranslation.doc) might be available - it is worth asking. The nurse at the private GP we contacted for a dTaP/IPV shot swore up and down there wasn't such a thing until I spelled the brand name to her.

Thanks for all your helpful posts .
After some rummaging I've found his baby records and can see that he's had the first three ,so needs to make up the 2 boosters that he's missed.
And they'll be a combination with diptheria and polio.
I'm hoping that the GP will be cooperative ,but from experience there'll be some problem and they won't .....

Gingerroots - he does NOT need another two. One is fine as a booster now, the immune system remembers the first three.

Co-operative? They will certainly offer the combination boosters. Tbh I think it's a really good idea to get your ds fully vaccinated against diptheria and polio. Neither illness is extinct and if your ds travels in Africa/Asia/Eastern Europe he could well come across them.

Overthehills...

when I called our GP to get my kids the dTaP/IPV booster instead of the dT/IPV that the school offered, the nurse hung up on me after 5 minutes of totally not getting my argument and I had to go private for the shots (and even that took a lot of argument, because of licencing issues...). Most likely, Gingerroot's GP/nurse will blank, because this booster is given through the schools, health visitor does smaller kids and travel clinic does older kids... We have had practises here blank at vet students' shot requirements, so yes, it can be a bit of a hassle, even if you are trying to do "the right thing", when you are not entirely on schedule for any reason.

see our experience here:

justthevax.blogspot.com/2011/01/policy-vs-evidence-part-1-personal.html

oh and Gingerroots - see whether you can get one of these or similar:

justthevax.blogspot.com/2011/06/keeping-track-of-your-childs.html

"Most likely, Gingerroot's GP/nurse will blank, because this booster is given through the schools, health visitor does smaller kids and travel clinic does older kids... "

Not necessarily true Catherina. In our area Practice Nurses do all the child and adult imms as well as travel vaccs. Our HVs do no vaccines at all, and schools only do HPV vaccs.

gingeroots if you do want to complete his primary course of imms on the mainstream schedule then he could have a diphtheria/tetanus/polio booster now, and then his fifth in 5 years would complete his primary course.

Sidge, can I move where you live? I have never had problems finding good or even exceptional doctors, but our current GP practice has been less than stellar (really good nurse, but the doctors were of varying quality to put it mildly). The school keeps sending me reminders about the dT/IPV booster although they have been informed on about 5 occasions that DD has had her booster in 2009, so I put it across each excursion form.

gingeroots if you do want to complete his primary course of imms on the mainstream schedule then he could have a diphtheria/tetanus/polio booster now, and then his fifth in 5 years would complete his primary course.

I second that.

LOL come on down, I'm in Hampshire!

I've been practice nursing now for 11.5 years and in all that time we have done school leavers boosters (as well as all other child imms apart from HPV for school aged girls, and BCG which is done as needed by either midwives, the school nursing team, or by nurses at the Respiratory Centre).

It must vary by PCT as to whether they have School Health or Primary Care doing imms; I do think that by doing it all "under one roof" it streamlines record keeping and maintaining consistency. I do know that where we have had families obtain private vaccines for themselves or their children, or where vaccines have been given by other agencies, record keeping has been lacking. In most cases we were never notified at all that a vaccine had been given and it was dependent on the parents informing us so that we could maintain accurate records.

Yes here also the practice do everything except HPV.

Thanks so much for posts - and catherina especially for the link ( which I have read and which has enabled me to clarify in my mind where I "stand " on some of the vaccination issues - mainly that the system here should be more flexible and better documented ,the last one p*s me off really ,it's not rocket science is it ? ).
Anyway ,feeling clearer and ready for interregation and criticism ,I was able to go to GP's surgery .
No appointments until 4 days before course starts ( we only had warning of the tetanus requirement last Thursday ) and I was worried we'd rock up to the appointment only to meet with opposition ( receptionist only able to book appt ,not advise ).
Waited 90mins for chance to speak to nurse and just about to leave when overhear a patient cancelling their nurse appointment for this afternoon .
Whipped in and grabbed it ,attended and all done ,no problem .
Nurse agreed only one injection necessary .
Very happy .
But oh I find life hard sometimes ....and really ,sitting for that 90mins and watching the system reduce people to despair ( items missed off repeat prescriptions , people desperately awaiting letters having to wait another 2 weeks ,results not available ,old immobile patients being sent up the stairs for appointments - and all dealt with by staff without the slightest hint of empathy ,shrugged shoulders ) was awful .
I know it's a difficult job ,but such huge lack of humanity is not on .

Nurse agreed only one injection necessary .

Awesome - congratulations and thank you for the praise (blush)