Vaccine all clear (From Penarth Times)

Vaccine all clear

PENARTH schoolchildren have been reassured their meningitis vaccines are working correctly following faulty jabs in the Rhondda Taff Ely area.

Vale of Glamorgan Plaid Cymru councillor Chris Franks asked if defective injections had been used on Penarthians after two cases of meningitis in Porth County Community School, Rhondda, last May. James Hughes, 11, had C-strain meningitis and fellow pupil Kayleigh Gilder, 14, was attacked by an unidentifiable organism.

Both had been immunised as part of a Wales-wide programme in Autumn 1999, protecting against the C-strain of the brain bug.

Bro Taf Health Authority recently found some injections had been less effective after looking at antibody levels.

A spokesman said: "By comparing antibody levels in children from the Rhondda Taff Ely area with schoolchildren elsewhere in Bro Taf and the UK we know levels of protection in children in this area are not as high as in children from other areas."

However, they stressed that none of these injections had been used in the Vale.

All children in Rhondda Taff Ely have now been offered a second booster dose.

Bro Taf, the National Assembly and the Department of Health have launched an investigation looking at vaccine administration, distribution and whether vaccines were kept at the wrong temperature.

Cllr Chris Franks said: "Why was the vaccine stored at incorrect temperatures? It does appear to have taken a very long time for this potentially fatal mistake to be uncovered.

"As Assembly Health Minister, Jane Hutt must give a commitment a similar error will not happen again."

Cllr Jeffrey James, council leader, said: "It would be reassuring for Vale people to know one way or another."

An Assembly spokesman said: "As a result of the health authority's vigilance, it has been discovered that the vaccine could become unstable if kept at certain low temperatures, so children have been given boosters to ensure protection."

Jane Hutt was unavailable for comment as the Times went to press.

FACT FILE

* Meningitis and septicaemia, the blood poisoning form of the disease, can strike at any age and kill in hours.

* Both can display a rash, fever/vomiting and drowsiness/impaired consciousness.

* Meningitis can also show a severe headache, stiff neck and dislike of bright lights.

* Septicaemia can also show cold hands and feet, rapid breathing and stomach/joint/muscle pain.

* If a glass is pressed against a septicaemic rash, the rash will not fade. If this happens get medical help immediately.

* There is a vaccine against C-strain, but not B-strain, the most common form in the UK. Around 60 percent of cases are B-strain, the rest are C.

* Contact the National Meningitis Trust on 0845 600 0800 or the Meningitis Research Foundation on 0808 800 3344.