Child Immunisations
Clinics are held on the first and third Wednesday, of the first full week in the month, from 2pm – 3.45pm.
Appointments are arranged by the Health Board and you will receive your child’s appointment by post. If you have missed your child’s appointment, you can be fitted in to this clinic by contacting the reception staff on 0141 531 8490.
The doctors in the practice urge you to keep your children’s vaccinations up to date to prevent serious infectious diseases, which can have serious consequences.
Vaccination Schedule
Click to find out what vaccines your child is supposed to have and information about the vaccines:
http://www.immunisationscotland.org.uk/when-to-immunise/immunisation-schedule.aspx
What to expect
When you arrive at the community clinic at Elderpark, you will be asked to wait in a waiting area before the nurse comes to collect you and your child.
As a general rule, it is very unlikely that they would not proceed with the immunisations, as it is far better for your child to have protection against these serious childhood diseases. However, if your child has a high temperature they would not proceed, and we would ask you to bring your child back to the next immunisation clinic.
While you are waiting to be seen, the Nurses and Health Visitor Assistants are checking which immunisations are due for your child, as per the National vaccination Schedule.
Then you will be called and a check list is completed with you, and if there are no reasons to postpone, the Nurse and the Health Visitor Assistant will administer the immunisations, which will be a combination of injections and oral medicine, depending on what age your child is.
Your child will normally cry for a short period but will soon forget all about it.
For the age 3 group of children, coming for pre-school boosters, it may be useful to prepare your child for getting their jags by telling them that they’ve to get a booster which is a wee nip in both arms, which is full of medicine that protects against germs and diseases, and they’ll get a sticker afterward for being so brave. Offering a reward for afterwards usually helps too! Preparing them tends to make them less upset than if getting the jags come out of the blue, unprepared.
We will then ask you to take a seat in the waiting room for 5 minutes before you leave to make sure there has been no reactions. (very rare).
Aftercare
It is important to have infant paracetamol available in your house just in case your child develops a fever following the immunisations (rare). A high temperature is over 37.5 degrees centrigrade.
If you don’t have any infant paracetamol, you can get it for free at your local pharmacy under the minor ailments scheme.
For under 3 months old you can give 60mg ( 2.5 mls) of infant paracetamol (strength – 120mg/5mls), and then 8 hours later a further 2.5mls if required, but no more in that same 24 hour period.
Once your child is more than 3 months old you can give 60mg (2.5mls) every four hours up to a maximum of 4 doses in 24 hours, if required.
(Different rules apply following the administration of the Menigitis B vaccination (as babies) in which parents are instructed to give the child 3 doses of paracetamol in a 24 hour period. This is because the vaccine is known to cause a raised incidence of high temperatures when given with the other baby vaccinations, and so the extra paracetamol is to try and prevent this happening)
Keep your child cool by not having too many layers of clothes of blankets on.
Give them plenty of cool drinks.
If there is a redness, slight swelling or a small hard lump at the site of the injection, this is nothing to worry about and will disappear in a few days.
If you are concerned in any way please phone the surgery for advice, or if out of hours call:
NHS 24 on 111
Having your child immunised against these very nasty infectious diseases is a big responsibility, not only to your child, who will be protected for the rest of his/her life, but also to the unfortunate children who are unable to have their immunisations because of their own ill health (i.e. children going through chemotherapy, or who are immuno-compromised and have no immune system because of ill health).
These children are usually protected by “herd” immunity. This is when because the majority of children are immunised, the ones who can’t get their jags, are protected because there are no outbreaks. But when people who can get their children immunised and don’t, then the herd immunity is weakened, and that’s when outbreaks occur, just like in Wales a few years ago, with the measles outbreaks. Unfortunately children have died because they haven’t had the protection of the “herd” in these cases, so please take this into consideration.
Check out these websites for help and advice:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/parents-questions-about-childhood-vaccinations.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/measles-outbreak-advice.aspx
FLU Nasal Spray for 2 and 3 year olds
Prevention of Flu for all children, has now been brought in by the Government a few years ago.
Primary School children will be given the vaccine at school, and the parents of under 5 year olds (those not yet at school) will be invited to arrange an appointment for their children, with the Practice Nurse at their GP Practice. The vaccine is not a jag, but a fine mist spray which goes in each nostril. It’s not sore or distressing, and is an excellent way of Flu prevention.
This campaign, as well as protecting children, also provides better protection of the elderly and those at higher risk of Flu and its complications. This is because children spread flu more than anyone else, because they are unaware of covering their mouths when coughing or sneezing, they don’t understand about only using a paper handkerchief once and disposing of it into a bin, and then washing their hands to prevent the spread of Flu germs. So if they are immunised, they will spread less germs to those who are at more risk. So by having your child immunised you are helping to protect the most vulnerable people such as those going through chemo therapy, those who have low immunity and those with long term health conditions.
Please make an appointment with reception during the end of September to the end of December.
