Vaccinations at secondary school

Diphtheria

Diphtheria is a highly contagious infection that can affect the nose, throat, and sometimes the skin. It can be fatal.

HPV

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common virus that can spread through skin contact. Some types of HPV can cause cancers like cervical cancer and penile cancer.

MenACWY

This is a bacterial infection that can cause serious illnesses such as meningitis which can be deadly. Meningitis can spread very quickly in places like colleges and universities.

Polio

Polio is a serious infection that’s now very rare because of the vaccination programme. Polio can lead to problems occurring with the brain and nerves which can cause muscle weakness (paralysis) and be life threatening.

Tetanus

Tetanus is a serious, potentially deadly infection caused by bacteria getting into a wound. It can cause a stiff jaw, muscle spasms, high temperature, difficulty breathing and fits.

A team of trained vaccinators will come to school. They give thousands of vaccinations every year.

Before they come, a letter will be sent from school explaining the vaccines and asking for your parent’s consent. Your parents can do this by filling out a quick paper or online form. 

Sometimes you will be able to talk to the vaccinator on the day and consent yourself.

If you’ve missed any vaccinations you can always catch up. Just ask your GP or school vaccination team.

While the three main vaccines don’t, some MMR vaccines and the flu nasal spray do contain a small amount of pork gelatine. However, there are alternatives available for both, which you can have instead that do not contain pork gelatine. If you have any concerns or would like an alternative, please speak with your in-school vaccinator or your GP.

Most children will be offered the nasal spray flu vaccine, which is the preferred vaccine for children aged 2 to 17 years. Full ingredients can be found in the patient leaflet:

Fluenz nasal spray flu vaccine patient leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium website)

The nasal spray vaccine contains a small amount of gelatine from pigs (porcine gelatine).

There is a flu vaccine injection is available that does not contain gelatine. Please speak to the person vaccinating your child or ask for the flu vaccine injection on the school consent form if you do not want your child to have the nasal spray vaccine.

Children who cannot have the nasal spray vaccine and children under the age of 2 years will also be offered a flu vaccine injection.

The flu vaccine injection ingredients can be found in the patient leaflet:

Cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine patient leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium website)

There is only 1 type of HPV vaccine given in the UK. The ingredients can be checked in the patient leaflet:

Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine patient leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium website)

There is 1 type of MenACWY vaccine available in the UK. You can check the ingredients in the patient leaflet:

MenQuadfi vaccine patient leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium website; PDF only, 124KB)

There is 1 type of 3-in-1 teenage booster vaccine given in the UK. You can check the ingredients in the patient leaflet:

Revaxis vaccine patient leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium website)

Like with any medicine, there can be some mild side effects, but these won’t last long, and many won’t experience any side effects at all.

Common mild side effects may include:

• Redness or soreness in the area where the vaccine injection has been given
• feeling a little unwell including headache, feeling sick or drowsiness.

It’s important to keep in mind that the risk of seriously unwell from these dangerous diseases is far greater than the risk of minor side effects.

It’s important to know that you are not alone.

Lots of teenagers and adults feel anxious about having vaccinations but often find that by talking about their worries and using some helpful calming techniques, it turns out to be a better experience than they thought it was going to be.

While it’s completely normal to feel nervous about needles, it’s important to not let your worries stop you from making a positive decision for your health.