This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Immunisation booster campaign begins
02/06/2003
The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Mac Armstrong, today
announced that a 'Hib' immunisation catch-up campaign for
young children will begin in Scotland this month.
GPs will be offering an immunisation booster to provide
additional protection against Hib (Haemophilus influenzae
type b) infection to around 200,000 children aged between 6
months and four years.
This is to counter the recent rise in the number of
young children developing Hib disease, which causes a
number of serious diseases including meningitis and
septicaemia.
Around 60-80 cases were reported annually before Hib
vaccination was introduced into the UK childhood
vaccination programme in 1992. The figures for 2000, 2001
and 2002 (provisional) are four, 13 and 29
respectively.
The booster campaign has been recommended by the UK
Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and
is also being undertaken in England and Wales. Prior to the
current immunisation programme, infections due to
Haemophilus influenzae used to be an important cause of
morbidity and mortality in young children below four years
of age.
Dr Armstrong said:
"Vaccination against Hib infection is at present
routinely offered to babies at around two, three and four
months old. Uptake is high - over 96 per cent - but over
the last few years, there has been a small but significant
increase in the number of cases of Hib disease.
"I is important that we take action to arrest this
increase in new infections before it becomes a more serious
concern, and that is why this one-off booster is being
offered.
"Appointment invitations, together with detailed
information leaflets, have been issued to parents of
younger children who will be vaccinated first and this
process will continue over the summer. The aim is to ensure
that all children who are between six months and their 4th
birthday receive a Hib booster vaccination by late
summer."
Parents will be sent appointment letters directly and
posters, factsheets and information leaflets have been
distributed to raise awareness of the campaign.
A CMO letter was sent to health professionals
on February 18 and April 24 outlining the campaign to be
undertaken.
The new booster will not affect babies routine
immunisation against Hib. This will continue to be offered
at around two, three and four months.
The parents information leaflet is available in Bengali,
Cantonese, Gaelic, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi and
Turkish.
Arrangements for payments to GPs have been agreed with
the Scottish General Practitioners Committee (SGPC) and are
now being circulated to the service. Additional resources
totalling £300,000 have also been allocated to NHS Boards
for associated costs arising from the move towards a
lifelong electronic immunisation record and the Hib,
pneumoccocal and flu vaccination initiatives planned for
2003.