This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Public Health Programme Officer, Timothy Howells, for the attention of Primary Schools in Slough.
Over the last three years, schools have provided fantastic support to the delivery of flu vaccination for primary school aged children in specified year groups by hosting vaccination sessions for their children. Vaccination provides both individual protection to children who receive the vaccine and prevents the spread of flu to their family and local community, and especially to the more vulnerable members of the community.
The vaccination programme has been very successful with evidence that there has been less illness in the community with fewer GP consultations, hospital admissions, and emergency department attendances.
Flu immunisation rates at primary schools have been increasing nationally and in Berkshire reached 65% of pupils in 2018/2019 however in Slough the rate remains lower at 44.6%. We want to work with you to increase this rate in the coming winter.
Why does the flu vaccination help your school?
- Helps protect children against flu which in turn may reduce pupil and staff absenteeism rates
- Promotes a healthy working environment in your school, including amongst parents and family
- The engagement in public health programmes, including vaccination, is recognised by OFSTED as being important and will help with requirement for schools to evidence they are meeting criteria pertaining to personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE)
- Provides an opportunity to integrate learning about the benefits of vaccination into the school curriculum including history and science
- Immunising more children reduces the chances of flu spreading in the community, protecting all of us from flu.
What are we asking from you for the 2019/20 flu season?
We would like to continue working with you to expand the flu vaccination programme within your school. Berkshire Health Care NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) has a team of dedicated nurses who are funded to deliver the school based immunisation programme. They will be in contact with you in the coming weeks to arrange dates for the new academic year to carry out the vaccination process. We encourage schools to work as closely as possible with the nurses from BHFT to ensure the widest number of school children are offered and provided the flu vaccination for 2019/20.
Parents may be concerned about the use of gelatine derived from pork in the vaccine but very sensitive scientific tests have shown that no DNA from pigs can be detected in the nasal flu vaccine (Fluenz)[1][2]