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Immunisation and vaccination is available at the surgeries of general medical Practitioners and
at all the Council's clinics.
General Medical Practitioners are being encouraged to carry out immunisation for children on
their lists and there is no doubt that with the advent of additional health centres a rapidly
increasing percentage of immunisation will in fact be carried out by the family doctors.
It will be noted that there is a very considerable reduction in the numbers vaccinated against
smallpox. This follows the Department of Health and Social Security circular 54/71 which advised
that vaccination against smallpox need not be recommended as a routine procedure in early
childhood. Vaccination is only now recommended for travellers to and from countries where
smallpox is endemic and for health service staff who may come into contact with smallpox
cases.
The policy of immunisation and vaccination of school children going on trips abroad has been
continued, making certain that children have been immunised against diphtheria/tetanus and
poliomyelitis and in addition against smallpox, typhoid and cholera depending on which country
is being visited.
Vaccination against Tuberculosis (B.C.G.) is offered to all contacts of infectious cases and is
carried out by the Chest Physician. Although there has been an increase in the number of
cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis the majority were, in fact, found to be non-infectious as a
result of early diagnosis. As a result, the number of contacts vaccinated against Tuberculosis has
declined.
It is gratifying to note that there has been an increase in the number of school children vaccinated.
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