Now clinic adds TB jab offer
A TEESSIDE clinic has become the first in the North to offer patients vaccinations against tuberculosis (TB).
As of last year, youngsters are no longer routinely given the BCG jab, which protects against TB, at school. Parents wanting to vaccinate their children would have had to travel to London and pay around £250.
But Middlesbrough GP Dr Jane Wasson and practice manager Mandy Williams have teamed up to offer the vaccine privately for £95.
The BCG is available only on the NHS to those deemed most at risk, which includes children living in high risk inner city areas or whose parents or grandparents were born in high risk areas.
Mrs Williams said: "We have set this service up because there are parents out there who want their children vaccinated regardless of whether they fall into these categories.
"People might be in a low risk area now but what if they go off to university in a heavily populated high risk area?"
Dr Wasson said: "It's still quite endemic in some areas of the world. You need the vaccination if you are travelling to countries such as Thailand, China, Pakistan and South America."
Mrs Williams added: "We were the first in the North to offer the cervical cancer vaccine and now we are the first to give people the freedom of choice to have the BCG vaccination."
TB commonly affects the lungs, but can reach any part of the body. It is usually spread by coughs or sneezes but is not highly contagious.
In England cases fell until the mid-1980s, then started to rise in the early 1990s. Around 6,500 cases are reported every year.
The NHS says the pattern of TB has changed since the schools BCG programme was introduced in 1953 and there is no longer a justification for vaccinating all children.
The first Middlesbrough clinic takes place on October 4.
Patients will be given a test to check they need the jab, which will then be given 48 to 72 hours later by Dr Wasson at the Marton Pharmacy Therapy Centre in Stokesley Road.
For more information on TB or cervical cancer vaccinations call 07791 548601 or visit www.4allwomen.co.uk