Immunisation against infectious disease, 1990 / Department of Health, Welsh Office, Scottish Home and Health Department.

  • Great Britain. Department of Health
Date:
[1990]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Immunisation against infectious disease, 1990 / Department of Health, Welsh Office, Scottish Home and Health Department. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/196 page 13
    ADULTS should receive the following vaccines: Women sero-negative for rubella: rubella. Previously unimmunised individuals: polio, tetanus. Individuals in high risk groups: hepatitis B, influenza. 3.7 Immunisation by nurses A doctor may delegate responsibility for immunisation to a nurse provided the following conditions are fulfilled: G) The nurse is willing to be professionally accountable for this work. Gi) The nurse has received training and is competent in all aspects of immunisation, including the contraindications to specific vaccines. (ii) Adequate training has been given in the recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis. If these conditions are fulfilled and nurses carry out the immunisation in accordance with accepted District Health Authority policy, the Authority will accept responsibility for immunisation by nurses. 3.8 Anaphylaxis 3.8.1 Recipients of vaccine should remain under observation until they have been seen to recover from the procedure. It is not possible to specify an exact length of time. 3.8.2 In the period 1978-89, 118 anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions following vaccinations were reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines; no deaths were reported. Furthermore, during this time no deaths from this cause were notified to the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS). During the period, approximately 25 million childhood vaccinations were given. Anaphylactic reactions are thus very rare, but they are also unexpected and can be fatal. Any individual carrying out immunisation procedures must therefore be able to distinguish between anaphylaxis, convulsions, and fainting. The last is relatively common after immunisation of adults and adolescents; very young children rarely faint and sudden loss of consciousness at this age should be presumed to be an anaphylactic reaction in the absence of a strong central pulse (ie carotid), which
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3