thought you might find this interesting, i emailed the nhs 2 weeks ago and here's the reply - sorry its so long. still can't decide whether or not to give her the booster but when our second is born in march i can't say i would automatically go for the dtwp again.feel very undecided about it
Query:
my daughter has been called for a hib booster but i wanted to be clear that she really needs it and to check on what the vaccine is composed of.
the set of 3 jabs she received were infranrix - is that whole or acellular?
Does The vaccine contains HiB saccharides cultured on cows brains, crm protein, sodium chloride, aluminium hydroxide, mercury. is this true?
i am particularly worried about the cows brains connection re:cjd and the mercury.
Reply:
Thank you for your enquiry, and apologises for the delay in responding.
Close surveillance showed Hib disease was increasing before DTaP-Hib vaccine was introduced. So whichever, vaccine your child had (DTwP or DTaP) they will still be called to have a booster. However in answer to your question, Infranrix is the acellular (DTaP) vaccine.
There are several possible explanations for this increase in disease:
This is a short-term rise in disease and it may go down again naturally.
When Hib vaccine was first introduced, all children aged up to 4 years were vaccinated in a catch-up campaign and Hib disease was quickly brought under control. It may be that this catch-up effect is now wearing off and that a booster dose of Hib may need to be added to the childhood immunisation schedule.
Some of the new cases are in children who have not been vaccinated. So, herd immunity (when enough people have been vaccinated to stop circulation of a virus or bacterium, then those who have not been vaccinated are protected) may be lower now than was first achieved.
In 2000/2001, there was a widespread shortage in the supply of DTwP-Hib vaccine that is given to babies at 2,3 and 4 months to protect them against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and Hib. To make sure that children were not left unprotected, another vaccine - DTaP-Hib - was used instead. However, this particular vaccine, although it was perfectly safe, produced a lower protection against Hib than expected and this added to the increase in Hib that was already happening.
Bovine material (such as serum which comes from cows blood) is used in the early stages of production of the Hib booster vaccine, not in the ingredient. Purification processes are then designed to remove any bovine material used; no bovine material is used as an actual ingredient in any vaccine. The material used in the early stages carry no known risk of the transmission of BSE, and there is no evidence to link variant CJD to the use of any medicinal product.
The Hib vaccine used in the UK, does not contain and never has, thiomersal (mercury). It does not contain aluminium hydroxide and the carrier protein is tetanus toxide and not diphtheria CRM197. The diluent used with the Hib does contain Sodium Chloride and Sterile Saline Solution.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again with any further questions.
Thanks
NHS Immunisation Information Team