Christmas Gift Thanks | |||||
| Many thanks for your kind gifts and for thinking of us at this busy (and very cold!) time of year. | |||||
Swine Flu Vaccination for the under 5s | |||||
| The H1N1 (swine) flu vaccination campaign continues. It is now the turn of all children from 6 months to 5 years of age to have the vaccination. Happily for most people who catch swine flu it is an unpleasant but not serious illness. However children under 5 are more at risk of serious complications particularly respiratory problems requiring hospital admission and on occasion intensive care treatment. There have also been deaths in this age group from swine flu so now we have a vaccine it is important that as many children as possible in this age group have the vaccine. It will not only protect the individuals who have the jab it will reduce the number of people at risk in the community who can spread the disease and protect others who may not be able to be vaccinated - this includes those under 6 months of age and children with diseases such as leukaemia. The children to be offered the vaccine in this round of the swine flu vaccination campaign must be at least 6 months on the day of vaccination and under the age of 5 years on 31/12/2009.
For more information about the vaccine against swine flu follow this link: Swine Flu Vaccination - What you need to know.  Picture of President Obama having his swine flu jab | |||||
Swine Flu Vaccination Clinic- Date for your diary | |||||
| The next swine flu vaccination clinic will be held on Saturday 30/01/2010 between 8.30am and 12.30pm. No appointment needed - any patients in the at risk groups from 6 months to 106! who missed the first 2 clinics may attend and children aged at least 6 months on the day of vaccination and those under 5 years as of 31/12/2009 should also attend. The at risk groups include the following: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) including: chronic bronchitis and emphysema; bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung fibrosis, pneumoconiosis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Asthma that requires continuous or repeated use of inhaled or systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission. Children who have previously been admitted to hospital for lower respiratory tract disease. Chronic Heart Disease Chronic Renal Disease Chronic Liver Disease Chronic Neurological Disease Stroke and TIA Diabetes Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment Patients undergoing chemotherapy in the previous 12 months Asplenia or splenic dysfunction HIV infection at all stages Individuals treated with systemic steroids for more than a month Currently Pregnant Household contacts of immunosuppressed patients | |||||
Building Work at Parsons Heath | |||||
| Building work to alter the layout upstairs and provide us with 3 extra consulting rooms starts in February 2010 and all going well should take about 6 weeks to complete. During those weeks we will have the usual noise and disruption to contend with and ask for your sympathy and patience! We will also be unable to access the current upstairs consulting rooms at times so will have even more congestion problems than usual. It will be worth it and all those working at Parsons Heath and particularly the Health Care Assistants look forward to not having to play musical rooms. | |||||
Help with stopping smoking | |||||
| Stopping smoking remains the most important action to improve your health - for details of local stop smoking services please follow this link: Stop Smoking Services | |||||
NHS Stressline | |||||
| For people struggling with the effects of the recession and credit crunch the NHS has introduced a helpline for people to ring to get advice and help. The helpline number is 0300 123 2000. For more information follow this link: | NHS Stressline for help living with the pressures caused by the credit crunch. Vaccine preventable disease and statements of people affected by themThe Immunization Action Coalition- an American website - has an
online collection of more than 90 articles and case reports about vaccine-preventable diseases and testimony by those affected. It is moving and interesting and reminds us how important vaccination is and also how terrible it must have been for parents in the past when children had life threatening illnesses which we can now prevent.
The following are links to individual pages on the website which you may find of interest: | Statement by a mother who lost her only son to Meningitis C Statement by a doctor about his own experience of being hospitalised with measles pneumonia in the 1950s HPV Vaccine Has Potential to Reduce Worldwide Cancer Deaths by more than 200,000 Archive of Practice Newsletters | |