Confused - has the DTP had flu and polio added or am I going bonkers?

[StarlightWithAsteroid]

And is there a way round the additions if I am right?

which vaccines are you talking about?

This is the current schedule for the UK

Which one do you mean?

The first 3 jabs are diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis and Hib (the 5-in-1 they get at 8, 12 and 16 weeks)

The 4th is diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and pertussis. (pre school booster aged from 3 yrs 4 months)

The 5th is diphtheria, tetanus and polio (school leavers booster usually given 10 years after the preschool booster)

Inactivated polio has been included for years now (I forget exactly, since about 2004 I think)

Didn't my other kids just get 3 in 1.

How long has the 5 in 1 been around?

Can't say I'm happy about the flu.

I don't understand? The flu jag is a separate jag. It is given to those considered most vulnerable from influenza, it is not given as a routine vaccination afaik.

Fwiw, I fought for my ds to get the flu jag.

Well what's the hib then?

And when did 5 in 1 come in?

the 5 in 1 has been used since 2004. The flu part is not against seasonal flu but protects against Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) which is one of a family of bacteria that cause serious conditions like meningitis and pneumonia.

Blimey. So my other 2 must have had 5 in 1. Who knew!?

It just seems like an awful lot. I just want the diphtheria and tetanus though. Possible?

Why don't you want the others?

No afaik it won't be possible - they are combined vaccinations.

from googling the Hib used to be given to children but would have been given as a separate jab

Ps don't you have a red book? It will have all this info in it.

I used to work in this area (non-clinical) and unless things have changed over the last year then this is the latest vaccination programme.

Yes I have a red book but I can't say it makes much sense.

And it doesn't say anything about how long the 5 in 1 has been going for.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3547822.stm - news article dated 2004

found this online too:

Why has the 3 in 1 vaccine been changed to the 5 in 1 vaccine?

The change from the 3 in 1 ?triple? DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (whooping cough)) vaccine to the current 5 in 1 (DTaP/IPV/Hib) vaccine has occurred in stages over the last 10 years. When Hib vaccine was first introduced it was given separately from DTP. When it was found that the Hib vaccine could be safely and effectively made and given as one injection, the 4 in 1 DTP/Hib was preferred because it is a single injection. Polio vaccine was given as drops in the mouth until September 2004, when it was decided to use an injected ?inactivated? polio vaccine (IPV). IPV has been chosen as it is not a ?live? vaccine and is even safer than oral polio vaccine. In 2001, whooping cough vaccine became part of the pre-school booster together with diphtheria, tetanus and polio vaccines. The whooping cough vaccine chosen was the acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine, which is a more refined product and has fewer active components (?antigens?) than the former vaccine made from the whole killed bacterium (used to be denoted as P, but now sometimes called wP to show it is whole-cell pertussis). The 5 in 1 vaccine, given at 2, 3 and 4 months old, combines DTaP/IPV/Hib in a single injection. Men C is still given as a second injection usually in the opposite leg to the 5 in 1 injection.

hib can be really bad - it and pertussis are the two "must haves" in year 1 as far as I am concerned...

Thank you. I'm not entirely convinced this is all necessary, and I'm not happy about lack of choice. Oh well.....

Starlight, unfortunately you can't get diphtheria and tetanus separately until they're much older. Take your time thinking about it, read as much as you can and make sure you are comfortable with your decision. You don't have to stick to the recommended schedule.

Fwiw breastfeeding offers some protection against HIb.

Thank you bumbled. That's helpful. I have been looking at bfing influences but there really doesn't seem to be much out there.

Whooping cough seems to be a bit dodgy. In that effectiveness isn't especially high in relation to the risks.

I got a bit fed up when researching polio tbh.

I don't blame you! :)

The whooping cough vaccine seems to only provide limited protection - a few years. Some studies have actually suggested that it's only a year! There have been more outbreaks recently in older children and adults.

Starlight, why don't you want your dc to have vaccs against pneumonia, men C and HIB meningitis, they can kill. The incidence of Men C and HIB mortality dropped hugely in about 1999 with the introduction of these two vaccines. Don't wait until you are at your child's hosp bedside watching them fight for their life or face them loosing a limb through the sepsis that these diseases can and do cause.

I have seen too many unimmunised children, hideously ill and there is nothing like that to concentrate the mind. 50-60 years ago we were still seeing our children die if Diptheria. It seems a Western luxury to refuse immunisation. If people saw the effect of this "(look no further than parts of Africa) then I can assure you you would think twice about refusing. You don't see any african mothers refusing immunisation in those parts.

Think very, very hard before you make any final decision.

Thank you grammar. I am thinking hard. Harder than many as I have unfortunately taken the red pill (or is it blue?) and found myself in a parallel evil universe where health and educational professionals do lie and put children at risk intentionally.

The parts of Africa that you are referring to have poor sanitation. Diphtheria rates were in decline before the vaccine was introduced and although I have no doubt the vaccine helped, it cannot be concluded that it was the vaccine alone that reduced incidences. Having said that, if you can tell me where I can get a single diphtheria vaccine I would take it, poss with tetanus.

Hmmm...'Health.....professionals do lie and put children at risk intentionally'?? Really? intentionally? That would be a parallel universe, one that exists only in the imagination.

.

Starlight, I feel for your dilemma, but make life easier for yourself and dismiss any imaginings about parallel universes. These vaccines are safe and most states in America won't let children start school without them. If the States ( arguably the most litiginous in the world) can impose that, then you can be assured that the most rigorous research has been done into efficacy/safety. This applies to the other most developed nations in the world including, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and Japan (where, incidentally, they had a big increase in Measles when they introduced the separate vaccines which then dropped when they re-introduced the MMR.

As to separate vaccines, these are often unlicensed, imported from other countries, not bound by the regulations we rely on for our other medicines and many have been recalled as they have been found to be ineffective, ie, not containing enough of the vaccine or they have been attentuated by other diluent products that have been added. This happened a couple of years ago locally, with MMR and all the children who had had separate jabs then had to be recalled to get the proper vaccines.

Anyway, enough finger-wagging... I'm sure you are only trying to do the best fro your dc but make sure any decision you take is supported by the most robust research/evidence about safety and efficacy. Good Luck!