Whooping cough jab

[blonderthanred]

Anyone got any views on this?

I just read on the BBC website that due to the recent cases, pg women are all to be offered a whooping cough jab between 28-38 weeks, to take place at a routine antenatal appt.

I'm 34+3 so I guess they may offer it next week when I go in - it doesn't say whether there will be any notification or info sent, or if I will just be told/offered it on the day. What do people think about this issue, it seems a sudden decision which makes me nervous but I guess there will have been a longer thought process. Plenty of people have the flu jab when pg although I believe that only offers the mother protection, not the baby (?) so I don't know if there are any risks or even if it crosses the placenta.

I was born in '76 when there was a scare about the baby wh cough jab (recently proven false) so I didn't have it and then caught wh cough. I don't know if that will make any difference.

[PeshwariNaan]

Posted this in another thread, wonder if anyone has thoughts:

Is anyone else concerned that Repevax, the vaccine that is being used, contains polio vaccine? Polio vaccine is not recommended in pregnancy.

The pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine widely used in the US and France is DPT - diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, but not polio. I really want this vaccine but I'm worried about the conflict between two types of medical advice.

Any ideas? Don't know who to ask on this one.

[Stumbleine]

Update

PALS called me back saying that they had spoken to the immunisation lead and that the issue may be that any repevax my surgery had in stock was already allocated to children for the booster jab. They did not say that the surgery had been told that they couldn't administer to pregnant women from that existing stock. I have emailed the immunisation team for confirmation of this fact.

I then rang and spoke to the surgery practice manager. She then finally shed some light on what the real issue is - the nurses are unwilling to administer the vaccine (regardless of which stock it comes from) as they have no pgd yet. So I suggested that surely if a G.P were to prescribe it then I could have the jab! "Oh yes, I hadn't thought of that" says she...

So the upshot is I now have the an appointment to see the G.P first thing on Monday (the earliest they had) to hopefully get the jab.

God it's like pulling teeth!! If I had known that was the real issue a week ago then I could have come up with my 'revlolutionary' suggestion then!!! .

[MoonHare]

In response to ThunderboltKid's request for clarification:

I expect MPs, especially those that are members of the Govt. to work to ensure this sort of fiasco does not arise after an announcement has been made.

Of course the Govt are to blame Thunder. Information could have been sent to frontline services simultaneously with the figures being released. Problem solved.

The issues women have encountered have been entirely due to their GP practices not having received timely guidance from Dept. of Health on how the immunisation programme should be administered.

I don't see how simply releasing figures on incidences of whooping cough to the media would necessarily raise panic and caused delay concerning a new programme to immunise pregnant women. The confusion arose because the media reported vaccines would be available to pregnant women between 28-38 weeks gestation from Monday 1st October. But no-one had told GP surgeries that.

The complaints MN members have made to their MPs have been about the lack of communication between central Govt. and front line health services not "me, me, me - I want my vaccine now" Though it is notable that those of us who have been in touch with our MPs have all been offered the vaccine while others have not.........

I expect my MP to find out why front line services were not informed in enough time for them to plan their response and to make sure they had stocks of vaccine. Also, my MPs office were able to respond to me the very next day, recess or not so clearly some MPs are happy to respond promptly to their constituents on issues of life and death, which this one potentially is. Emotive I know but also true.

Feel free to feed this back.

[ValiumQueen]

peswari I answered on the other thread

[cordiality]

Hi Peshwari, can you link to your info that polio vacc is not allowed for pregnant women? My online research only shows that it hasn't been researched enough (as with most medicines in pregnancy) or that it's fine and can be given if necessary.

Eg here, on patient.co.uk

"IPV can also be given to pregnant and breastfeeding women, if protection is required without delay. There is no evidence of risk from vaccinating pregnant or breastfeeding women with inactivated vaccines or toxoids."

The decisin to offer these vaccinations won't have been taken lightly, they take into account all issues and risks and make a decision based on that. I really wouldn't let it affect your decision, the availability of this vaccine for us pregnant women is a brilliant thing and something really proactive that we can do to protect the health of our unborn children.

Hope that helps!

[elizaregina]

Thunder

Your response has made me shudder to my core.

Can I ask you what pregnant women are SUPPOSED to do - when the media is panicking us - and the docs dont know about it.

we are caught between a rock and a hard place.

I suppose we are all supposed to smile serenly and say - " hey ho....never mind....its one of those things"!

[halloweeneyqueeney]

ladies I'm in the same position as the rest of you, my surgery doesn't know yet when I'll be able to get it (am 27 weeks)

but really what do you want? the info to be hushed for weeks till every GP has opened and read all their emails? I think surely its better that we are ALLOWED this information even if there's a gap between the info and the vaccines being distributed from our GPs, so at least we know to ask for it WHEN it comes in

I think the alternative is much more scary! I don't think this info should have been hushed for weeks just to bridge the gap between info an practical application!

[MoonHare]

But they could have told GPs what was going on AT THE SAME TIME as releasing to the media. That's the point.

[halloweeneyqueeney]

can you really not see why there'd be a delay in the decision that there is a need for the vaccine, and the decision about how it'll be delivered practically? and for vaccines to be delivered with appropriate protocal etc?

look we have the info
all our surgeries will soon have the vaccines
yes some people will miss the boat but they would have missed the boat if the info and vaccines were shipped out on the same day!

[ShellyBobbs]

The 3 emails sent were 1 to the MP explaining a situation in HIS constituency and copying him into 2 more, the response I would have at least liked to have read is, to paraphrase you,

'I can flag up your concerns at a higher level - this means writing to the DOH and waiting 30 days for a response.'

Quote from his webpage

'But, above all, I am keen to hear your views too. And I hope you will use this website as an opportunity to keep in touch ? by sending me a message.'

So I think that I am at least entitled to send him an email and cc him in a communication so that he, or his office can follow what is going on, I don't think that I am being unreasonable in expecting a 1 line email back either. Do YOU not think this is a serious enough subject? Do you think he will if a baby in his constituency died of whooping cough in say, 4 weeks because the mum's surgery hadn't pulled their finger out?

Incidentally Thunder I do know how to deal with MPs, it is no secret and I found the last one to be extremely helpful when I questioned a breastfeeding subject many years ago, he brought it up in parliament.

What do I want him to do? Well make sure it doesn't happen again. As I said in my email where was the communication between DOH who advised us (pregnant women) we could just breeze into our doctors and get the jab and the surgeries and PCTs? Maybe you can feed that back?

You make it sound like we don't know what our MPs are for!

[halloweeneyqueeney]

its one thing to say that whooping cough is a big risk this year
and another all together to say that the best/safest way to deal with it is X
and another thing again to get a protocol about who to vaccinate when plus the actual vaccines out

[DonnaDoon]

halloweeneyqueeney At 27 wks you are not in the position as the rest of us....you have plenty of time to be vaccinated....those of us panicking are 36wks+

[halloweeneyqueeney]

"Well make sure it doesn't happen again"
don't you see that in practical terms what you are actually asking is that information is witheld from all of us in future until everything is in place, rather than us knowing about risks as they are discovered

THAT is scary and I'm a bit that people are asking this on behalf of all pregnant women! I'ld rather know as and when things are happening thanks!

[halloweeneyqueeney]

Doona if you want the vaccines and info to be available at the same time, that does not mean the vaccines would be available SOONER, it just means that the info would have been witheld until LATER, can't you see that? it wouldn't mean you'ld have got vaccinated the day the press released the info, it wouldn't make it available any sooner it just would have kept us in the dark for longer!

[DonnaDoon]

Well I would have rather have been kept in the dark thanks...ignorance is bliss and all that

[halloweeneyqueeney]

well I wouldn't and I'ld urge any of you mailing MPs to only speak in first person SINGULAR not first person plural! you do not speak for me!

think about it, if we all had to wait until every GP was ready to go with vaccines for everyone then noone in their later stages would have been in a position to ask to be rushed though and they would have missed it completely!

[halloweeneyqueeney]

"think about it, if we all had to wait until every GP was ready to go with vaccines for everyone then noone in their later stages would have been in a position to ask to be rushed though and they would have missed it completely!"

I mean if we all had to wait for that to be informed of any of this

[ShellyBobbs]

Nobody wants it hushed for weeks. How long do you actually think that it takes to order the stocks in? Days. In my area full instructions were sent out the same day, my surgery was still saying 'we don't know what's going on' 6 days later. They did know, I only wanted to know WHEN they thought I'd get an appointment, if they'd have said 2 weeks, which would have actually bought them time, then fair enough, but they didn't, they LIED.

The surgeries could have had a heads up the day before, just to let them know an announcement was imminent, it's a routine vaccination and there are plenty of stocks available. I know there is paperwork, but they could have built that into a time given.

And I wonder if your opinion would be the same if you were 37 weeks and being told, 'sorry, we don't know anything, phone back later in the week', time and time again. I know people miss the boat, of course they do, but I don't think you've really got a grasp of the feelings that are involved here, some of us have seen whooping cough in babies and yes I'll fight until I get it.

[ShellyBobbs]

Thunder that's all I wanted, just an acknowledgement, I understand that anything to do with my MP takes time. As I said my last MP was really on the ball and it's the same party, shame he tried to mess with Gordon Brown.......

It would be available from Monday to most people would mean that you could ring up your surgery for an appointment, I didn't literally mean to walk in off the street.

[ValiumQueen]

halloweeney you are not in the same position as us. You cannot even have it yet at 27 weeks. Trust me, it looks very different when you are almost at term.

In this day of instant communication, there is no excuse for the delay and the blatant lies we have been told. The surgeries already have supplies, but lied to us about that, then tried the emotional blackmail route. Not good enough.

I think I have done very well not to swear.

[MoonHare]

On Friday 28th Sept unless your Receptionist/Practice Nurse/GP had seen/heard the news that day they didn't even know vaccines were to be offered.

Surgeries could have been sent the guidance that they received on Monday 1st on 28th instead (are we expected to believe that someone sat in Dept of Health all weekend writing it? And if they did then this is even more of a shower than first appears...) then all surgeries would have known that they were allowed to administer opportunistically at the request of pregnant women who were coming up to 38 weeks. They would have also been able to advise all pregnant women that they were planning their strategy for immunisation and how they intended to let everyone know.

The point is because the GPs were not informed at all before/simultaneously with the media no practice was even able to be a tiny bit prepared, even down to just taking the inevitable phone calls from women.

[ValiumQueen]

In relation to the paperwork, the doctors were emailed early this week and were told clearly that they did not need to wait for paperwork. This has been stated clearly up thread.