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Quality, Effectiveness, Openness, Improvement, Respect

TB - BCG vaccination

tuberculosis

TB is an infection caused by bacteria and usually affects the lungs, it is spread from person to person through coughs or sneezes but only some people with TB are infectious and even then, you need close and prolonged contact with them to be at risk of infection.

 

January 2011 update


NHS Devon is currently screening young people aged 5–18 years old who are at risk of developing or being exposed to TB infection.

 

Click the link to download or view the BCG vaccination for TB poster

 

If you or your child is aged between 5 years and 18 years old and:

  • Have a parent or grandparent born in one of the countries shown on the poster;

OR

  • Were born or lived in one of the countries shown on the poster for more than 3 months.

PLEASE CONTACT THE IMMUNISATION TEAM on
01392 208469 / 208470

 

Symptoms of TB include the following:

  • Fever and night sweats
  • Persistent cough
  • Losing weight
  • Blood in your sputum (phlegm or spit) at any time

 

What is the BCG vaccination programme?

The aim of the UK BCG immunisation programme is to immunise those at increased risk of developing severe disease and/or of exposure to TB infection.

The BCG immunisation increases a person's immunity to TB and protects against the most severe forms of disease such as TB meningitis.

The schools' programme nationally has been replaced by targeted immunisation of children at increased risk of TB.

The main recommendations for routine BCG vaccination of children are now:

  • infants (aged 0 to 12 months) living in areas with a high incidence of TB (40/100,000 or greater)
  • any children with a parent or grandparent born in a high incidence country
  • previously unvaccinated children aged one to five years with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40/100,000 or greater. These children should be identified at suitable opportunities, and can normally be vaccinated without tuberculin testing
  • previously unvaccinated, tuberculin-negative children aged from six to under 16 years of age with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40/100,000 or greater. These children should be identified at suitable opportunities, tuberculin tested and vaccinated if negative (see section on tuberculin testing prior to BCG vaccination)
  • previously unvaccinated tuberculin-negative individuals under 16 years of age who are contacts of cases of respiratory TB (following recommended contact management advice – see National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE 2011)
  • previously unvaccinated, tuberculin-negative individuals under 16 years of age who were born in or who have lived for a prolonged period (at least three months) in a country with an annual TB incidence of 40/100,000 or greater.

Local arrangements exist to opportunistically identify, test and immunise those children at increased risk of TB who will no longer be offered BCG immunisation through the schools' program.

 

Related / useful links

    

 

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