Advice needed on the new 5 in 1 vaccine

[blossomhill]

Please can I have some advice for my SIL about the new 5 in 1 jab. My neice is due her 1st lot of immunisations on Friday, she is 9 weeks old. They will be the old style as the new ones do not come in until the end of September.
My SIL doesn't have internet access but I would be grateful if anyone has any info as my 2 have had all of there vaccines.
So the basic question that needs answering is should she go ahead with the old style on Friday or wait until the 5 in 1 at the end of the month.
I have had a quick search and it looks as though there are pros and cons for both.
TIA Blossomhill

message withdrawn

Thanks twiglett. I never gave it a second thought either with ds, or dd. Now there is so much controversy, it's so hard to know what to for the best.

bump

DD is due to start her course of vaccinations next week. She'll be 10 weeks as there was not a vaccination clinic last week and they only do them every fortnight.

As it stands at the moment, she'll be having the "old-style" vaccination for the 8-week jab (polio drops) then the new style for the 12 and 16-week jabs (polio jab).

Now I am uncomfortable with this - I'd rather she had 3 old-style jabs and drops or 3 new-style jabs - not a mix. I can't believe that all that much testing has been done on mixing them. According to the HV there is no possiblity of the surgery holding on to some of the old vaccines so babies can complete the course of those.

However if I wait until she can have all new-style she could be 13 weeks before she has her 8-week jabs.

Twiglett why do you think that the new vaccines will not be ready by end of September?

What should I do? What are other people doing?

I am waiting until the new versions are available before getting my dd immunised - she'll be 13 weeks when she gets the first round. I have been assured by my surgery that the new version will be available by the beginning of October.

HTH

message withdrawn

our practice nurse checked up on whether it was ok to mix and is perfectly fine. only difference is obviously the mercury and the polio is inactivated. she was very doubtful that the vacs would arrive in time too. i want dd to have the 5 in1 for her final vac, but i think i may have to wait .......and wait......and dont really want to do that

Don't know what I'll do for vaccinations for new baby, but I do know that he or she won't be getting any mercury injected into them.

freddie - ds was 12 weeks before he had his 8 weeks jab....fwiw, I would wait...

were waiting. DD has had the 1st round at 8 weeks but i am now waiting until the new jabs are in as i do not want any further mercury injected into dd. this means that if we wait until end of sept she will be 20 weeks before she has her 2nd round.

If available end Sept as planned DD2 will be approx 16/17 weeks when she starts programme. GP checked out this delay at the time her first injection was due and advice is that these innoculations can be given any time within the first 12 to 18 months with no issues - although of course your child isn't covered in the short term. I must admit I found that slightly strange as I though the danger period for whopping cough was first 12 months. The current levels of confirmed whopping cough cases is very low in our area however so minimal risk of exposure.

We were going to be delayed on commencing the mercury-free route as the Surgery hadn't managed to source the HIB injection needed to give with the thimersol - not sure if that was a short-term problem or not, or indeed specific to Scotland. Which was in turn going to lead to mixing of versions DD2 was given so we thought we would rather wait and have all of the same 'style' if you know what I mean. Also felt intrinsically happier giving the inactive polio as DD1 was v. sick after Polio drops.

Doh - just noted date of original post as I hit the button and realised your SIL will have already made her decision. Sorry!

They have started talking about a 6 in 1 over here in Oz, like it is gods gift. I am still trying to figure out whether DS should get the Hep B and Meningococal C shots that the govt pay for here.

Message withdrawn

message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Has any1 come across a GP who didn't have a clue which vaccine is mercury free?

When I went to get DS's starting-school boosters I asked to see list of ingredients -- wanted to be doubley sure it would be Infanrix/DTaP. It was a nurse who gave the jabs, and she was adament that the preschool booster had mercury in it ("only a tiny bit"), etc. Then she brought out the ingredients paper and I could see INFANRIX written across the top in big letters.

If I try to see a GP (I am new to this surgery), will they be equally clueless about what I want and how to order it. Not knowing could make them unhelpful. I really want DS2 vaccinated for all the usuals.

Nurse did point out that Infanrix won't have the HIb in it, unlike the usual DTwP-combo. I certainly want HIb, too, although she said she felt whooping cough was worse. She didn't think they had any single HIb jabs, either... can I order that in, do you think? How long does it take to get special orders in??... esp. given the surgery obviously has Infanrix in stock for the preschool boosters!