Vaccination for TB

hev_2

I want to have this done for my 16 month old DS. GP has said that they won't.

Now, I'm probably being a dippy mare, but on my maternal side a great aunt died of TB and on my paternal side my aunt was badly affected by TB which contributed later to her death. Years ago you had to pay extra 'stamp' if relatives had suffered from TB as it was considered to run in families. Don't know the scientific basis for that. Damp from next door with associated mould is coming through from neglected house next door.

I'm probably being dippy, but nowadays all bets seem to be off with the new strains going around. Once upon a time it was hard to catch TB and relatively easy to cure. Well, now there are plenty of hard to cure cases around. Then you see in the news about a teacher having it and all the pupils being tested...

Finally getting to the point - Can you get the TB jab done privately, is there any way to insist on GP doing jab for DS or should I really just get a grip?

Suggestions and comments really gratefully received.

BlondeHeadOn

I remember having it done at school - after the test thingy - but I must have been quite a bit older than your DS as I was at junior school!

I don't know when is the 'advised' time to have this done, but 16 months sounds a bit young to me ?

hev_2

Hi - yes, I remember it coming round the school.

I may have inherited dippiness from my late mother. I was vaccinated against TB when I was three days old. She wouldn't let me have the check to see if I had the immunity because...[long involved story]... and then her friend's cousin lost a lung She wouldn't let me have the rubella vaccination either but I was vaccinated against smallpox - one of the last in the country.

I suppose that if it wasn't for all these resistant strains I wouldn't be too stressed. Traditionally TB is hard to catch, you have to be malnourished and in poor living conditions with long exposure. Trouble is, there are new strains out. I'm just a little frustrated because I am sure that a vaccination is not that expensive for the NHS and it would give me some peace of mind. I would be willing to pay privately but the GP's surgery have washed their hands of it.

BTW the reason they won't give vaccination is because he is not in an 'at risk' group. We are not in a high income bracket, we are not in posh housing (au contraire) and we live in an area given grants by the EU because it is deprived.

Sigh.

waggys

I remember having it at about the age of 13-14 at school. Don't think this is routinely done anymore. However, I think we all need to be concerned as with migration increases so the levels and incidences of TB are increasing. I was working in a hospital until fairly recently and in the dept I worked in, we would see several cases a week (mostly immigrants). Interestingly, when I went into the NHS (2001), we had to have our immunity levels checked. Surely it doesn't make sense not to protect our younger population when it is a growing problem. Guess that is something else the government is responsible for!!!!

hev_2

Thanks, waggys, I didn't dare mention the 'I' word, but unfortunately if you come from a place where there hasn't been routine vaccination for years then you are more likely to suffer from TB and are likely to be forced to live in conditions which exacerbate it.

We go to a church where there are a lot of asylum seekers/refugees and I am so appalled at what some have suffered, and what nightmarish memories they have to live with.

But I still want the TB vaccination. It must be more cost effective to vaccinate than treat? Does any one know about getting it done privately?

Jummy

I had TB when i was 11 (28 yrs ago),My dad also had it when he was growing up in Ireland in the 1940-1950's.
When my son was about 10 months old i asked my GP about getting my son the vaccination and she sorted it out straight away.
My son had his jab at the local hospital about a week later.
I have always thought TB could be hereditary .

LillyJ

http://www.nt.gov.au/health/cdc/fact_sheets/TB_need_to_know.pdf

hev_2

LillyJ - I thought that in families some people may be more resistant to TB than others. I think environmental conditions, such as proximity to others infected in poor conditions with a poor diet are going to be far more important.

I know that traditionally TB is hard to catch, it can be often symptomless and easily thrown off by healthy people - hence the test to see if you already have immunity at school all those years ago. I know that the vaccine isn't 100% effective - which may be a surprise to some. The vaccination is a niggle to me, not a desperate necessity.

However I am geographically close to high risk groups, I share public transport and shops with them, there is evidence of hereditary susceptibility to TB, and all the new drug resistant strains scare me to death. I just want to look into the possibility of going private, and I always start my research with MSE.

BTW 30 schoolgirls in Birmingham have just been diagnosed with TB from a classmate. Other schools have had to conduct a load of tests after teachers have tested positive. I suppose I just want a bit of info which my GP didn't give/didn't have. The link you have provided is a help. Thank you.

hev_2

LilyJ - erm, I said you made a good point.

Robothell

TB is an infection caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is associated with animals and livestock (such as cattle) but infections are less likely nowadays with regular testing of herds, pasteurisation and better sanitation. Person to person spread happens via the respiratory route (coughs and sneezes spread diseases). It will infect people who are more vulnerable to infection (impaired immunity, elderly, very young, malnourished, etc) easier than those who are not. Again better sanitation and a generally higher living standard have dropped the icidence of TB.

The Autralian leaflet posted by LillyJ is very informative, the Health Protection Agency has good info also for the UK. I will say one thing LillyJ - there used to be the risk of TB jumping from dead bodies many years ago. The TB bacillus is very resilient and can persist for many years in the soil. In days gone by when someone died of TB they were buried in a lead coffin at least 10 feet down to protect those in the vicinity from getting the disease. This is considered a bit excessive nowadays but you see my point.

I would disagree that TB is easily treated. It requires multiple antibiotic treatments for months if not years and is quite a burden to healthcare. In addition there are more resistant strains in the community (partly due to people not completing their xourse - although to remember your tablets every day for 6-9 months may be a bit unreasonable). The reason the BCG is now targetted, however, is that the disease has become less prevalent over the ast 20 odd years.

More info can be found in the DoH's Immunisation against infectious disease book (known as the Green Book) which is in the public domain.

hev_2

Thank you for this.

I have come to the conclusion that I am being dippy.

(will probably niggle, but I think if the GP had said what has been on this board I would have felt a lot better. Thank goodness for MSE!)