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Recommend paracetamol after MenB vaccine

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Recommend paracetamol after MenB vaccine

Public Health England is encouraging pharmacy professionals to advise parents to administer paracetamol to babies who have just received the new meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine, following a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The MenB vaccine was added to the NHS childhood vaccination programme this month to protect infants against meningitis and septicaemia. As the vaccine may cause fever when given with the other routine immunisations at two and four months of age, the JCVI has recommended that three doses of paracetamol be given to infants as a prophylactic measure at the time of, or shortly after, their vaccination. Infant paracetamol 120mg/5ml suspension is licensed from two months of age, but it is currently restricted to a maximum of two doses to treat post-immunisation fever in two to three month-olds.

However, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has endorsed the JCVI’s recommendation and has called for a review of postvaccination dosing. In the meantime, parents and carers may receive conflicting information about how to manage postimmunisation fever, so pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must be prepared to answer queries appropriately. A letter from Public Health England can be viewed via the PSNC website.

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