GP's and Nurses Warned to be Careful During Immunizations

General practitioner's (GP's) and nurses have been warned to be extra careful with immunizations after it was found that in the last 5-years about 98-children and 10-adults got the wrong vaccine. The survey which was conducted by the Medical Defense Union (MDU) also stated that there were cases wherein the wrong dose had been administered or the vaccine was given at the wrong time or children below 18-years were vaccinated without the consent of their parents. Adverse reactions occurred in about 4cases. Parents revealed that after such a mix-up the GP's apologized and monitored the child. On similar lines, last year itself the Department of Health published a warning against using some flu vaccines after reports that some youngsters suffered febrile convulsions following the vaccination. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said, "The NHS does an excellent job in delivering the seasonal flu vaccination program. Reducing the administration errors to even lower levels would help improve the program further. It is the responsibility of the doctor or nurse giving the vaccine to check and ensure it is the right vaccine for the patient."

The MDU has recommended that before administering a vaccine the doctors and nurses should check the records thoroughly.

Source-Medindia