Pnemococal or whatever it's called jab!!! Been told there not vacinating over 2s??!

[twolittleducks]

I missed dd1 appointment for this new meningitus jab coz i literally gave birth to dd2 a day before and appointment was sent in the post automatically, now she is two this week, when dd2 had hers recently, was told no need to vaccinate dd1 because there not doing 2 yr olds???? anyone else had similar experience with this??

The only thing I know is that DS has not had that jab nor has he been asked to have it. He is 3.5 yrs old. Will be watching this thread

I'm 'waiting' for the letter - went into GPs to find out what the deal was. was told they don't do overtwos, am concerned as DD is 21 months and if we don't get the letter soon, she won't get it. Not to sure what to do

DS paediatricin in Spain strongly insisted for DS to have it when we were there a couple of months ago, but as I had not heard of it being in the NHS list and mostly because DS is so sensitive to vaccines, I didn't want to risk yet another reaction.

The paeditrician painted a grim picture, wonder how true that is (mostly in terms of likelyhood of DS getting it). What's the reasonf for it not being applied to 2+ here?

amyjade is - very sadly - our resident expert on this, but is probably a bit busy right now to deal with meningitis questions (she's just had a new baby).

According to the \link{http://www.meningitis.org.uk/\Meningitis website) (go to 'About the Diseases' -> 'Vaccines')

"There are two main vaccines that protect against the types of pneumococcal bacteria that cause most cases of pneumococcal disease including meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia.

23-type polysaccharide vaccine

The older 23-type vaccine provides a level of protection for people over the age of two and is recommended for people with immune deficiencies and other conditions that make pneumococcal disease more common or serious. It is also available to all those aged over 65 in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

7-type conjugate vaccine

There is a new long lasting 7-type vaccine which can protect children as young as two months of age against the types of pneumococcal disease responsible for about 80% of cases in children under two. "

So .. it sounds like the perceived risks to over-twos are less significant? Personally I would want to discuss this with my HV and GP - ds is 17 months and has just had his vaccination.

Meningitis website Link!

thanks all....
thought it was a bit confusing, nurse was quite blase about it like 'ohh we're not doing over twos' but was ready and willing to get my dd2 done.. she obviously doesn't have any kiddywinks of her own me thinks..
in two minds now, obviously don't want to traumatise dd1 with it, but if she is high risk then will want to get it done!
so darn confusing all these hv's and doctors!

my daughter got a catch up letter and she had it when she was 2.1 yrs.

I am in a slightly different situation in that my youngest ds is 2.5, has had 2 of the prevenar vaccines, one last october, the other in january and now my GP is saying that they won't vaccinate ds with the over 2 version, despite the fact that he is in a high risk category. (they are not offering the over 2's version in the immunisation programme right now, just the prevenar (under 2) version.

I am fed up f having to fight for everything with regards to my ds2's health (having been told last week that he can have his flu jab, but as he has an egg allergy, they won't do it at the flu clinic, but they currently aren't booking outside of clinic times as they expect to run out. )

Sounds like it depends on how efficient your docs is at getting the letters sent out to you..

Bit of a postcode lottery methinks!

I don't understand how these health professionals can be so blase about it all all the time!

You never get a clear answer for anything

Heartmum2Jamie - completely sympathise - I have similar issues with my dh's health but of course it is a lot less traumatic with an adult than with a child.

How can it come down to what day the letter arrived on, and how fast they type them! It's madness.

Hm2J - hiya I had trouble getting dd's flu jab this year. FGS she's had it since the year dot and this year we don't get an invite

Can't believe you're having trouble getting pneumovax now too.

hmm

i had to get ds done privately

(we are in cardiff. It was with the independent gp and cost £40. the first and only time I had paid for private healthcare)

There is a bar chart on the official leaflet which shows that under 2s (& over 60s) are at highest risk. That is probably the main reason why over 2s are not routinely on the pneumococcal program (irrepective oof which vaccine is used...)

It is the under 2's and the elderly that are most at risk,

Should have been a link with that last post.

Under 2s are at a significantly higher risk than over 2s. If you do get the vaccine privately the pneumovax is more suitable for over 2s.

my dd has just had hers a couple of weeks afer her 2nd birthday. to be fair we were call a month before her birthday but I kept forgetting.