New “five in one” jab for UK’s children
The Department of Health has announced that from September a new multiple immunisation injection will be introduced for children.
From then children will be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and polio in one injection. Children already receive a multiple vaccination against four of the diseases, meaning that adding the polio vaccine is the major change.
The new jab has been used in Canada for seven years and Government health officials insist that it has been stringently tested and is safe.
However, there are fears of a repeat of the controversy over the MMR jab, as parents may worry that more vaccinations will overwhelm their offspring’s immune systems.
The change follows recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises all UK health departments.
Injecting the polio vaccine means that children will no longer be receiving a live polio vaccine, which in rare cases can result in the child actually catching polio, and instead will receive a safer, inactive, vaccine.
The whooping cough vaccine, given to very young children at two, three and four months along with a further pre school booster, has also been altered to an acellular pertussis vaccine instead of whole cell pertussis vaccine.
Mercury is also being removed from the whooping cough vaccine after suggestions in one America study that it could be linked to autism. This link, however, has not been proved in any other UK or American research project.
The Government said that mercury is being removed because they have found a better preservative for the vaccines rather than because of any health fears.
Health Minister John Hutton said: “Immunisation is the best way to protect children from serious disease and the routine childhood programme has been extremely effective in achieving this. The changes set out today will further improve the programme and benefit children the polio component is safer than the previous oral vaccine and the switch to acellular pertussis will mean children are less likely to suffer from minor reactions such as swelling and redness.”
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Mac Armstrong said: “This is an important step forward bringing further benefits to children. We are protecting them against the same diseases as the vaccines supplied in the current programme and children will be immunised at the same stages.
“Where the vaccines are being given in a new combination, all the component parts have been shown to work effectively in these combinations.”
Speaking at the launch press conference the Department of Health’s immunisation expert attacked the media and parents’ groups for creating “scare stories” over plans for a new five-in-one vaccination for children.
Dr David Salisbury said parents would be putting their children at risk from lethal diseases such as whooping cough if they did not get their children immunised.
He said: “All the “rumbles” [in the media] are entirely the wrong way round because we are actually giving children far, far fewer immune challenges, not more.”
In any case, he added, there would be “no real risk” to children from increased challenges to their immune system.
“From the time we’re born, we cope with hundreds of thousands of challenges to our immune system … and if the immune system could not cope with thousands of challenges simultaneously, the human race would not be here now,” he said.
Dr Salisbury dismissed calls for single vaccines, saying they were not a feasible option, and that in any case giving children a series of single jabs had the same effect as one overall jab.
However, he had sympathy for parents, he added. “I am very sorry for parents who, like ping-pong balls, are being battered between experts. It is very difficult for parents to know who to listen to.”
