Hib booster

[prufrock]

We have just got a letter to say that dd (13m)needs a Hib booster. This will be the 4th vaccinne against Hib. Reading between the lines of the official leaflet, it appears the vaccinne used recently in the DTPHib injections was not effective enough, so they want to do everyone again in case they aren't covered. I am a bit loath to give dd yet another vaccine, just in case she was unlucky and the last 3 didn't work. Has anybody else been told they need this? Are there tests to check whether she is immunised or not?

Cll - good question, don?t have an answer but will be interested to read others responses as this is an important issue. I too am all for vaccination when appropriate and if he risks are definitely outweighed by the benefits. The hard bit is getting facts that are quantifiable and trustworthy. Statistics can be so misleading, it is hard to know what to believe anymore. If there were some kind of valid, reliable test to see if your child need booster vaccinations or not it would be brilliant - maybe the cost of the test would be balanced out by the saving made on not giving unnecessary booster vaccines...probably wishful thinking, I know, but worth considering.

Our clininc Desumo offer blood tests for immunity. Even though it isn't mentioned on their website. Maybe contact Jabs to enquire at a clinic near you?

The NHS say that to avoid distressing your child with blood tests, have the booster just in case - yeah right! I rather ds scream at the sight of his own blood maybe, than be injected with (as it seems) god know what.

Cll, Direct Health 2000 (I PROMISE I have no connection with this clinic other than being a satisfied customer and proud of having something useful local to SE9 for a change...) do offer blood tests but their reply to me was that in their view the single immunisations they offered were less likely to "fail" than the MMR so a booster was rarely necessary. They do agree that blood tests on small children are well worth avoiding, by the way.

Hi, just to say thanks to everyone! My partner and i have been so worried about this Hib booster and thought maybe we were over-reacting till i found this page. I have her appointment for next week but wont be going until we decide whatever we decide!!!I have two nephews aged 1+2 and they were both very poorly after having this jab. We have been to Direct Health 2000 for her single jabs and i was so pleased to know that they will check for immunity. Does this mean for Hib aswell as MMR? Are there any good chat rooms for mums who want other opinions ? (By the way Furball i totally agree, i'd rather my little'un have a blood test and get upset than have God knows what stuck in her leg!!!!!!!!!!)thanks, Angie

Took ds for MMR today no bother but had to run the gamut of 'WHY arent you having the Hib Booster???? Do you KNOW the risks you are putting your children under?????' etc etc etc and this froma practice where dh trained and they are usually very supportive. AAAArrrrgh! Can now understand the feelings of people who dont want other vaccinations. The impression I got was that I was prepared to have MMR so why not anything else as well? Considering complaining ... (have done so with GREAT sucess in the past. At the same time dh is telling all patients who come into his surgery for it that his kids arent having it and is anticipating being disciplined as the surgery with the lowest uptake in Scotland!!! I'll keep you posted!

DS had his hib booster last week and was fine

susanmt- funnily enough I have found that everyone i have come across has been very supportive of ds2 not having any vaccinations at all. but then i make sure that they know about ds1, and they certainly can't accuse me of not having researched the subject

had to ring the emergency dr on sunday for ds2. i thought it was wierd because she asked whether he was bfed (he is but at 18 months unusual). then mum pointed out his lack of vaccinations would have been flashing across the screen

I started another thread about this, and was directed here. I would have preferred it if there had been some sort of information provided to me with the appointment - no leaflet, nothing, which isn't particularly impressive. Anyway, good old mumsnet comes to the rescue again, and has provided me with the information to make an informed decision.

I posted this on the Thimerosil thread. It's a list of which vaccines contain it.

Table 1. Thimerosal content of routine pediatric vaccines.
Vaccine Tradename (Mfr) Thimerosal content
DtaP Infanrix - GlaxoSmithKline Free
Tripedia ? Aventis Pasteur Trace*
Pneumococcal conjugate Prevnar ? Wyeth Lederle Free
Inactivated Poliovirus IPOL ? Aventis Pasteur Free
Varicella Varivax ? Merck Free
Mumps, measles, and rubella MMRII ? Merck Free
Hepatitis B Recombivax HB Free
Engerix B Trace*
Haemophilus influenzae type B conjugate (Hib) ActHIB ? Aventis Pasteur Free
OmniHIB ? GlaxoSmithKline Free
PedvaxHIB ? Merck Free
HibTITER ? Wyeth Lederle Free (single dose vials)
Hib/Hepatitis B combination Comvax ? Merck Free
*Contains less than 1 m g thimerosal/ 0.5 mL dose.
A more detailed listing of the thimerosal content of U.S. licensed vaccines is available at: www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm.

My ds had the Hib booster on Friday.

He had a temperature all weekend, and was off his food, then seemed fine on Monday, no temp., but still not much appetite, which is v. unusual for him.

Monday night he was up all night being sick, Tuesday he was quiet but seemed okay and slept through. Then last night he was sick again, and had a really restless night, clingy, upset, etc. I've got him an appointment at the Doctors this afternoon, I don't know if it's a coincidence that he has picked up a bug at the same time, but reading stripymouse's post, her dd's symptoms seem very similar.

I feel sick with worry at the thought that I just let him have this booster and it could have caused him to be this poorly. I wish I had found this thread earlier.

Im really confused about whether to let DS have this booster. He is 22 months and in nursery 3 days a week so taking on board jimjams comments about children under 2 in daycare being more at risk I feel I should. BUT stripeymouse's post and the others about frightening reactions really scares me. It's so confusing. everytime I reach for the phone to call the doctors I change my mind.
How is your DS Neen99?

katierocket- the high risk group is still pretty low risk iyswim. the numbers contracting hib meningitis have always been small. of course the numbers of serious reactions to the vaccine has also always been small (although definitely under-reported). I assume your ds already had hib when he had hid dtp's - it may well have worked. You could enquire about a blood test to check immunity.

My ds had his HIB booster a few months ago and was fine.

My dd had the hib booster in May. The only reaction was a slight swelling at the injection site.

Katierocket, I took him to the Doctors, who said he thought it was unlikely his symptoms had been caused by the booster. I expected him to say this though, so it didn't really put my mind at rest. He couldn't find any other cause for him being ill, and just said as long as he was still taking fluids, the virus would probably work it's way out of his system.
He seems to be getting his appetite back a bit, and although he had another bad night last night, he is a lot happier in himself today.

glad to hear it neen99

Neen- this is why vaccine reactions are under-reported! Glad your ds is getting better. if you want to report it yourself then you can do so here:
www.vaccine-info.com/

I think what drs don't tell you also record them but I couldn't find out how.

Hope you have a better night tonight.

I am amazed to see so many people reporting reactions to this booster! My dd had it nearly 2 weeks ago and until today seemed like a changed child! High temps, diarrhea, constant tiredness, no appetite and most worrying of all, she lost her "sparkle"! Nursery noticed the change in her behaviour most of all - I have been very anxious but now she seems to be shaking it off...all this for a routine jab that I was told would cause no reaction! I'm now seriously considering not taking her for her boosters at 3 and a half because I'm sure there's a hib element in those too...

I took my daughter for her booster just over 2 weeks ago and whether it's a coincidence or not i don't know but she's been really unsettled and clingy since. She will not go to bed atall until she is exhausted and even then you have to stay with her until she falls asleep. I hadn't thought about whether it could be effects of this booster until i read this section.

I thought we had got away with it but 8 days after jab my dd had a high temp for 3 days & wouldn't eat. She has Never been like that before. Was at Drs anyway & pleaded with mine to check her & mentioned jab but he didnt comment.

It was a nightmare as she is rarely ill & I never feel like I know what to do when she is, but I'll never know if it was caused by the booster or not. Pretty coincidental tho.

FWIW thirtysomething I'm stunned at the reaction to these vaccines as well. I've been anti-mass vaccination since ds1's problems became apparent (autistic- vaccines were possibly contributory), but I'm used to definitelty being the weirdo for not vaccinating ds2, and for holding my views on mass vaccination (I'm saying mass vaccination because I'm not anti vaccination per se- just anti vaccinating everyone for everything in sight without doing an immune panel test before hand).

I don't know whether the ingredients have been changed. I suppose they must have been as the hib used to contain thimerosil (a year and a half ago when I was investigating options for ds2). Godknows what they've replaced it with.

worrying that so many people are reporting reactions though. Please can I encourage you to report it here.

Far too many coincidences for my liking. I cancelled ds2's HIB booster after seeing this thread as I didn't feel i had had enough time to make an informed decision. It's now very unlikely i'll be making another appointment.

Jimjams - I had a question for you which I am sure you have answered at some point but can't read ALL on vaccination... (I am asking becasue you have done so much reading) I do know your DS is not vaccinated but he is in a different situation... do you have other children or more to the point if you had a baby now - would you vaccinate it?
BTW- I should declare my colours (though they are well documented on Mumsnet) - neither of my kids are vaccinated at all.

Jimjams - The main reason the Doctor thought that it couldn't have been the Hib booster that caused my ds to be ill was because there wasn't any severe redness or swelling where he had the injection.
I was told by the nurse that injected him that this is the same vaccine they get when they are immunised at 2, 3 and 4 months. If this is the case, why didn't he react to it then?

It seems as if there are far too many children on this thread having the loss of appetite, high temps etc. for it to be a coincidence.

Pupuce- my autistic DS1 is fully vaccinated- it's ds2 who isn't (and its becoming clear he's very NT (ie normal)). I was very unsure about the decision to begin with, but am getting happier all the time. In our family there is a lot of autoimmune and allergic conditions (MS, gout, severe eczema, sil- just diagosed with type 1 diabetes 2 weeks ago , oh and autism of course). From everything I've read it appears that this type of immune system and vaccination do not go well together. DS1's eczema and many ear infections (8 in first 2 years of life) started straight after his dtp-hib etc. Maybe a conincidence but of course I have since found out that dtp is linked to ear infections.
So no I wouldn't vaccinate again.

Neen- it won;t have been the same vaccine as your child received as that is the one which didn;t work. The one given at 2,3 and 4 months is usually combined with the dtp, if you were given a single hib vaccine this time it may well have come from a different manufacturer, or the ingredients may be slightly different. Sometimes vaccines have "hot batches" which seem to cause more reactions than normal.