POLIOMYELITIS CLINICS

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29830, 24 May 1962, Page 15

POLIOMYELITIS CLINICS

Second Round Of Dosing The second round of oral poliomyelitis immunisation tor school and pre-school children will begin on Monday and last a fortnight. An" advertisement giving the itinerary of pre-school clinics appears in "The Press” today. The district medical officer of health (Dr. L. F. JepsonV said yesterday that he hoped every pre-school child not actually sick would be, brought to the clinics This applied both to the 85 per cent, of pre-school children who had attended the clinics last month, and to those who had been unable to attend It was not necessary - for parents to lake their children to the clinic at which the first dose was given—the second dose would be administered at any clinic, to suit the convenience of the parent. This applied whether or not the first dose was given in the Christchurch health district.

AU parents were asked to bring the card issued when' •he first dose was given, This would obviate any need to write a second card. The cards would be kept as a record. Where a child who had been given the first dose of vaccine was too ill to be* brought for the second, parents were asked to secure an individual appointment by posting the child's card to the District Health Office, Hereford street, Christchurch. Where a child had had an apparent reaction to the firstdose of vaccine, this was almost certainly a result not of the vaccine but of an infection which the child had picked up at the same time, said Dr Jepson. Reaction against the vaccine was said to be very rare.

Only children of a year and over were immunised at the special clinics. Younger children would be given the vaccine at the department’* • regular monthly clinics, the next of which in Christchurch would be held at the Orange Hall, Worcester street, on June 12.