Swine Flu Vaccine

ukjoel

Am I PM and have been pulling and sending lists for Swine flu for the last 3 or 4 weeks.

Have had some fun and games with Asthma.
My understanding (and its changed 5 times in the last 3 weeks) is that asthma patients are not considered high risk per se.

Some of them WILL be considered in the priority groups but this is based on
- The medication they are on (ie specific asthma meds will mean an invitation but not all asthma meds)
- The date when the meds were last prescribed.

I think a previous poster mentioned the figure of a year but my understanding is its a lot less than that. Three months I think was the figure I was quoted today.


The key thing I should point out is that most surgeries have only received their original 500 vaccines of Pandermix. Therefore just because you are in a priority group doesnt mean you will have had an invite as there may be up to 5000 patients in the priority group.

It would be crazy for us to send out 5000 letters when we didnt have enough vaccines. As with most other surgeries more have been ordered but we dont know when they will arrive so letters printed but not being sent until the drugs arrive.

Also because the vaccine has to be mixed in batches of 10 at a time (and doesnt keep for very long) most surgeries are running specific clinics which have to be planned well in advance as could be up to 200 people at a time turning up for a jab which is a bit of a logistical challenge when you can only seat 50 and patients are advised to rest 15 minutes after jab.

Part of the problem is so many people are readcoded as having asthma yet have grown out of it or recovered.

Re original question - Lists are computer generated based on read codes and history. If you ask why you are on the list the practice should be able to tell you.

Hope this helps a bit.

Glamazon

ukjoel wrote: »

Am I PM and have been pulling and sending lists for Swine flu for the last 3 or 4 weeks.

Have had some fun and games with Asthma.
My understanding (and its changed 5 times in the last 3 weeks) is that asthma patients are not considered high risk per se.

Some of them WILL be considered in the priority groups but this is based on
- The medication they are on (ie specific asthma meds will mean an invitation but not all asthma meds)
- The date when the meds were last prescribed.

I think a previous poster mentioned the figure of a year but my understanding is its a lot less than that. Three months I think was the figure I was quoted today.


The key thing I should point out is that most surgeries have only received their original 500 vaccines of Pandermix. Therefore just because you are in a priority group doesnt mean you will have had an invite as there may be up to 5000 patients in the priority group.

It would be crazy for us to send out 5000 letters when we didnt have enough vaccines. As with most other surgeries more have been ordered but we dont know when they will arrive so letters printed but not being sent until the drugs arrive.

Also because the vaccine has to be mixed in batches of 10 at a time (and doesnt keep for very long) most surgeries are running specific clinics which have to be planned well in advance as could be up to 200 people at a time turning up for a jab which is a bit of a logistical challenge when you can only seat 50 and patients are advised to rest 15 minutes after jab.

Part of the problem is so many people are readcoded as having asthma yet have grown out of it or recovered.

Re original question - Lists are computer generated based on read codes and history. If you ask why you are on the list the practice should be able to tell you.

Hope this helps a bit.

I said a year as this is the the QOF Criteria

so glad I'm on mat leave - don't fancy sorting this one out! :rotfl:

sassygirl_2

This article on Wiki is enough to put me off having my children vaccinated or myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak

More died from the vaccination due to Guillain Barre syndrome.

I am sure that more stringent testing has been done this time for the vaccine, but it just doesnt sit well with me. There doesnt seem to have been long enough testing for my liking

skiTTish

I have received a letter to go in for mine today ,with hardly any notice (got the letter last night )
I dont know why i am on the list ,I am early 30's and didnt think i fell into a high risk group but the letter says i am ?
Could it be because i have anemia ?

skiTTish

rach29 wrote: »

Sorry haven't read all the replies yet but Glam, yes it was you I was thinking of

The thing is my daughter has never had any of the supposed "risk" factors. The only problems she's had since birth are a dislocated hip and and episode of alopecia 5 years ago I'm thinking they've made a mistake, but not sure they'll discuss it with me as she's 16 now.

Either way I'm going to pop into the surgery tomorrow & see if I can make some sense of it.

I'm not usually a worrier, but my son's asthma is only really there when he gets a cold & I think any type of flu could knock him back quite severely.

Thanks to all who've replied - going back to read the rest now

There isnt a chance your daughter could be pregnant is there ?

rach29

ukjoel wrote: »

Have had some fun and games with Asthma.
My understanding (and its changed 5 times in the last 3 weeks) is that asthma patients are not considered high risk per se.

Some of them WILL be considered in the priority groups but this is based on
- The medication they are on (ie specific asthma meds will mean an invitation but not all asthma meds)
- The date when the meds were last prescribed.

I think a previous poster mentioned the figure of a year but my understanding is its a lot less than that. Three months I think was the figure I was quoted today.

It would be crazy for us to send out 5000 letters when we didnt have enough vaccines. As with most other surgeries more have been ordered but we dont know when they will arrive so letters printed but not being sent until the drugs arrive.

Also because the vaccine has to be mixed in batches of 10 at a time (and doesnt keep for very long) most surgeries are running specific clinics which have to be planned well in advance as could be up to 200 people at a time turning up for a jab which is a bit of a logistical challenge when you can only seat 50 and patients are advised to rest 15 minutes after jab.

Part of the problem is so many people are readcoded as having asthma yet have grown out of it or recovered.

Re original question - Lists are computer generated based on read codes and history. If you ask why you are on the list the practice should be able to tell you.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for that information, I'll definitely get in touch with the surgery tomorrow. My son has has recent prescriptions (october) for both Blue & Brown inhalers so I would imagine he should be on a list at some poit, although I appreciate your point about how many vaccines vs patients.

I will ask again about my daughter. I can't think of a reason she would need it & certainly wouldn't want to be depriving a person who is more in need. Besides she's refusing point blank

Glamazon

skiTTish wrote: »

I have received a letter to go in for mine today ,with hardly any notice (got the letter last night )
I dont know why i am on the list ,I am early 30's and didnt think i fell into a high risk group but the letter says i am ?
Could it be because i have anemia ?

It's not a reason for the normal flu jab so can't see why it would be for this.

But as I'm not in work I've not seen the criteria

GemmaE

I work for the NHS (not frontline) and the take up at my hospital has been really good, even non-frontline staff are asking when they can have the swine flu jab. I've had mine as I am now in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy so am considered high risk.

I can understand peoples reservations, but as previously mentioned the 'flu' is different each year, therefore the vaccination has to be 'evolved' each year. I would not forgive myself if I did not take the vaccine and I hurt my child or put her at risk.

I have an info leaflet aimed at pregnant women from the department of health that I am happy to send people to get the facts so that they can make up their minds on what they want to do. If you would like to see it please PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

I must reiterate- I believe it is a personal choice and I'm not slating anyone for not taking it, but I would trust the DOH over wikipedia when gathering information about the vaccine.

GlasweJen

For some reason i was left off the practice list for flu and swine flu even though i've been getting the seasonal flu jag for years due to a cardiac condition. When I called up and asked about it the receptionist booked me in with the practice nurse who agreed i needed both jags and a pnemonia jag (should have had it years ago apparently) but the computer system wouldn't allow her to vaccinate me, she did it anyway and wrote on the notes why i had it but she said this was the reason i wasn't called up with the other high risk adults several weeks ago.

ukjoel

Think a previous poster mentioned a Swine Flu and Pregnant Women leaflet. I was looking at one of these today and they are available online as well on the govt swine flu website.


Its available in 15 different languages according to the leaflet I read today.