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Request for advice
Nov. 22nd, 2004 08:28 pmWhen I was a child I never had the BCG vaccination against TB. (I've no idea why not; I guess it was a mistake.) A while ago I discovered this fact through talking to people of a similar age, and since TB seemed to be somewhat on the increase in this country at the time, I went to my doctor to ask for immunisation. She said that a) it was unnecessary since I was not in a high-risk group e.g. working with homeless people; b) it did not provide reliable individual protection, only public health benefits through reducing overall incidence, so individual vaccinations were a waste of time; c) they didn't have any TB vaccine available at the time anyway. So I went away, somewhat reassured.
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lnr's party on Saturday, I got talking to a couple of people who thought it was utterly terrible that I had never been vaccinated against TB, and I must be presenting a serious danger to the population, and should rush out and get myself vaccinated at once. They thought my former doctor was plain wrong, and anyway the incidence of TB in this country had risen since I spoke to her, and I should go back and demand vaccination at once.
What do people here think, especially those with medical expertise? A websearch is not very helpful to me: the NHS explains how everyone is given the BCG at ages 10 and 14, but older people can be vaccinated if they are at risk. I have found several references to the (slowly) rising incidence of TB in the UK, and especially to the increased incidence of drug-resistant TB worldwide. I don't wish to waste my doctor's time by going and asking the same question I asked a few years ago, if the answer is likely to be the same. But neither do I wish to be a menace to society through lack of vaccination!
At
lnr's party on Saturday, I got talking to a couple of people who thought it was utterly terrible that I had never been vaccinated against TB, and I must be presenting a serious danger to the population, and should rush out and get myself vaccinated at once. They thought my former doctor was plain wrong, and anyway the incidence of TB in this country had risen since I spoke to her, and I should go back and demand vaccination at once.What do people here think, especially those with medical expertise? A websearch is not very helpful to me: the NHS explains how everyone is given the BCG at ages 10 and 14, but older people can be vaccinated if they are at risk. I have found several references to the (slowly) rising incidence of TB in the UK, and especially to the increased incidence of drug-resistant TB worldwide. I don't wish to waste my doctor's time by going and asking the same question I asked a few years ago, if the answer is likely to be the same. But neither do I wish to be a menace to society through lack of vaccination!
