Important: MMR and HPV vaccine

Are you protected?

There is another chance for teenagers to get their MMR and HPV vaccine in the summer term if they have previously missed out.

MMR

Ten per cent of secondary school pupils in Lothian have not had the second dose of the MMR vaccine meaning they are at risk from Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

In Lothian there has been a recent outbreak of mumps, a contagious viral infection with symptoms including fever, headache and swelling of one or both cheeks or sides of the jaw. Common complications include inflammation of the testes (1 in 4 adult males) and meningitis (1 in 7 cases) with less common complications including hearing loss and inflammation of the pancreas.

Children with mumps will need to stay off school for at least five days. 

The NHS Lothian school nurse team will be sending letters to pupils due to be vaccinated. Please read this and discuss vaccination with you parents, carer or guardian.

HPV

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, given to girls in S1 and S2, protects against cervical cancer. 

This vaccine is designed to protect against the two types of HPV that cause 75% of the cases of cervical cancer, but uptake of this vaccine in Lothian has not been all that high. It is important that you get this protection early enough for it to be effective.  So, you should have all the required doses as soon as they are offered at secondary school.

If you receive a consent form, make sure you discuss it with your parents, carer or guardian and return the form to your school.

 

More information about these vaccinations can be found on the Immunisation Scotland website.  Or you can call NHS Inform on 0800 22 44 88 (8am to 10pm, every day).