Immunisation: Occupational health and adult community nurses

Flu vaccination is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children at risk of flu and its complications.

Flu can be unpleasant, but if you are otherwise healthy it will usually clear up on its own within a week.

However, flu can be more severe in certain people, such as:

• anyone aged 65 and over
• pregnant women
• children and adults with an underlying health condition (particularly long-term heart or respiratory disease)
• children and adults with weakened immune systems 

Pneumococcal vaccination

How often is the pneumococcal vaccine given?

Babies receive the pneumococcal vaccine as three separate injections, at 8 weeks, 16 weeks and one year old.

People over 65 only need a single pneumococcal vaccination, which will protect for life. It is not given annually like the flu jab.

People with a long-term health condition may need just a single one-off pneumococcal vaccination or five-yearly vaccination, depending on their underlying health problem

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B vaccination isn't routinely available as part of the NHS vaccination schedule. It's only offered to those thought to be at increased risk of hepatitis B or its complications.

The vaccine gives protection against the hepatitis B virus, which is a major cause of serious liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Who should be vaccinated against hepatitis B?

You can get infected with hepatitis B if you have contact with an infected person's blood or other body fluids. Babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B are also at risk of becoming infected.

People at risk of hepatitis B – and who should therefore consider vaccination – are:

• people who inject drugs or have a partner who injects drugs
• people who
• people who inject drugs or have a partner who injects drugs
• people who change their sexual partners frequently
• men who have sex with men
• babies born to infected mothers
• close family and sexual partners of someone with hepatitis B
• anyone who receives regular blood transfusions or blood products
• people with any form of liver disease
• people with chronic kidney disease
• people travelling to high-risk countries
• male and female sex workers
• people who work somewhere that places them at risk of contact with blood or body fluids, such as nurses, prison staff, doctors, dentists and laboratory staff
• prisoners
• families adopting or fostering children from high-risk countries

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/hepatitis-b-vaccine.aspx

Who can have the shingles vaccine?

Anyone aged 70 can have the shingles vaccine on the NHS. You become eligible for the vaccine from the first day of September after your 70th birthday.

From September 1 2015, the shingles vaccine will be offered routinely to people aged 70 and, as a catch up, to those aged 78. You become eligible for the vaccine on the first day of September 2015 after you've turned 70 or 78.

 In addition, anyone who was eligible for immunisation in the previous two years of the programme but missed out on their vaccinations remains eligible until their 80th birthday. This includes:

• people aged 71 and 72 on 1 September 2015
• people aged 79

The shingles vaccine is not available on the NHS to anyone aged 80 and over because it seems to be less effective in this age group.

You can have the shingles vaccination at any time of year, though many people will find it convenient to have it at the same time as their annual flu vaccination

BCG for adults

BCG vaccination is rarely given to anyone over the age of 16 – and never over the age of 35, because it doesn't work very well in adults. It is, however, given to adults aged 16 to 35 who are at risk of TB through their work, such as some healthcare workers.

Chicken Pox

Vaccination

There is no specific treatment for chickenpox. It is a viral infection that will therefore not respond to antibiotics.

There are 2 vaccines available to prevent chickenpox: Varilrix® (Oka-RIT) and Varivax® (Oka/Merck).