Educators Guide
Acknowledgements The Ministry of Health would like to thank Blue Bicycle Flicks. Thanks also to the staff and students from Evans Bay Intermediate School who contributed to the shooting of the video and to the students from Titahi Bay Intermediate School who provided useful feedback in the pre-testing process. The Ministry of Health would also like to thank the public health nurses who contributed in various ways to the making of this video. Published 2006 for the Ministry of Health by Learning Media Limited, Box 3293, Wellington, New Zealand. Revised November 2007. www.learningmedia.co.nz Copyright Ministry of Health Manatù Hauora 2006. Code 1714 All rights reserved. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Introduction The Year 7 Immunisation video has been produced for nurses and other vaccinators to use when preparing year 7 classes for immunisation. You may find these notes useful in preparing for your pre-immunisation sessions with year 7 students. The video is 9 minutes long. The key messages contained in the video include the essential information that the students need about the diseases they are being immunised against. It also encourages them to have the immunisation for their own health and for the good of their community. The video concludes with a reminder that the parent consent forms need to be taken home, signed and returned. Most of the following information is taken from the video and is therefore written for year 7 students. The references and the information on the National Immunisation Schedule are not in the video. Structure of the video 1. Immunisation: What is it? How does it work? Why bother having it? 2. Then and now: Historical background: polio and diphtheria were common diseases Today s situation: the impact of immunisation 2
3. What is immunisation? 4. Names and descriptions of the diseases that immunisation gives protection against in New Zealand 5. Summary of the immunisation programme 6. Interviews with students, including their comments about immunisation 7. Comments on the safety of immunisation and the issue of side effects 8. Protecting others in the community by protecting yourself 9. What to do with the consent form What is immunisation? Immunisation is a way of helping your body defend itself against an invasion of killer bugs. These can be viruses or bacteria. Everyone has an immune system. The immune system makes special blood cells and antibodies that attack any harmful bugs that enter your body. The trouble is, the first time your body meets a new bug, the immune system isn t prepared and it takes some time to make new antibodies. It s during this time that the disease can take hold and make you sick. However, once your immune system has encountered an alien force, it doesn t forget. If the same bacteria or virus enters your body again, your body remembers how to fight it off and you don t get sick. This fighting ability is called immunity. When you have your injection, you re actually taking into your body a specially treated version of the diseasecausing viruses or bacteria. This version is very weak or completely dead, so you can t actually catch the diseases themselves, but your body will remember them and can build up its defences against those diseases. References: For public health nurses: see Chapter 1 of the Immunisation Handbook 2006. For parents and students: see page 2 of the Childhood Immunisation: More information for parents booklet (health education resource code 1323). 3
New Zealand National Immunisation Schedule From 1 June 2008, the New Zealand National Immunisation Schedule and Special Programme for MeNZB for babies and children offers protection against 11 diseases, all of which can kill. In addition, influenza vaccine is offered to adults from 65 years of age and to those with chronic medical conditions. The National Immunisation Schedule is as follows: Immunisation Schedule from 1 January to 31 May 2008 Age Immunisation Given DTaP- IPV Special Programme Hib- Meningococcal Hep B Hib MMR dtap Td* Influenza** Hep B B 6 weeks 3 months 5 months 10 months 15 months 4 years 11 years 45 years 65 years Immunisation Schedule from 1 June 2008 Age Immunisation Given DTaP- HepB- IPV/Hib PCV7 Hib MMR DTaP- IPV Special Programme dtap Td* Influenza** Meningococcal B 6 weeks 3 months 5 months 10 months 15 months 4 years 11 years 45 years 65 years 4
Key: D diphtheria, d adult dose diphtheria, T tetanus, ap acellular pertussis, ap adult dose acellular pertussis, Hib Haemophilus influenzae type b, Hep B hepatitis B, IPV inactivated polio vaccine, MMR measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, PCV7 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, MeNZB Meningococcal B vaccine. * administration is not funded for these Td boosters. ** Influenza is also funded for persons of all ages with certain chronic medical conditions (refer to the recommendations in the Immunisation Handbook 2006). Note that hepatitis B vaccine, hepatitis B immunoglobulin and BCG immunisation will continue to be offered to eligible babies (refer to the recommendations in the Immunisation Handbook 2006). The diseases described on the video (note that Year 7 students did not receive PCV7 vaccine) Hepatitis B: A virus that attacks the liver and can cause cancer later in life. Diphtheria: A bacteria that attacks the throat and can cause an infant to be paralysed or to suffocate. Tetanus: A bacteria that enters the body through cuts and grazes and causes muscles to seize up. Pertussis (usually called whooping cough): A bacteria that damages the breathing tubes. It is still quite common. Haemophilus influenzae type b (or Hib as it s commonly known): A bacteria that can lead to meningitis and other serious diseases. Polio: A now-rare virus that, when serious, can paralyse different parts of the body. Meningococcal B: It s a bacteria that can be spread by coughing, sneezing or kissing. Meningococcal B can cause meningitis and blood poisoning. Measles: Often thought of as just as a spotty illness, this virus can lead to serious things such as brain swelling and death. Mumps: Another common virus in New Zealand, causing a swollen face and sometimes meningitis. 5
Rubella: It s really serious if a pregnant woman catches this viral disease because her baby can be born with problems such as brain damage. References: For public health nurses: refer to the relevant chapters in the Immunisation Handbook 2006 for further information on each disease. For parents and students: see the Childhood Immunisation: More information for parents booklet (health education resource code 1323). The New Zealand immunisation programme (note that Year 7 students did not receive PCV7 vaccine) When you were a baby, you had injections to protect you against all these diseases. At age 11 (year 7): You get another booster injection to continue protecting you against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. If you haven t had any immunisations before, now is a good time to start. You will need more doses (which are free from your GP) to cover all the diseases so that you are fully protected. For more information, talk to your public health nurse, practice nurse, or GP. Is immunisation safe? Immunisations are safe. Complications from the diseases themselves are worse than the complications from the vaccine. The immunisations have been tested world-wide and have been found to be very safe and effective. Severe complications are quite rare. Side effects You may get a sore area just around where you got your injection, but it will only last for a day or so. Your immunisation protects others too There s a bit more to immunisation than just protecting yourself against illness. When you protect yourself, you also protect others in your community. When there are large numbers of people in a community who are not immunised, it s easy for invading bugs to get a foothold. Then old people, young children and people who 6
are already unwell are easy targets. When a community is well protected by immunisation, it s hard for the bacteria and viruses to spread. It s a bit different for tetanus that s not infectious, so the injection just protects each person, not the whole group. But to keep everyone in this country safe from the other diseases, we need to get at least 95 percent of children immunised. Reference: Parents and students: see page 4 of Childhood Immunisation: More information for parents booklet (health education resource code 1323). Consent form It s very important that you give the leaflet on immunisation to your parent or caregiver to read and sign. You can t be immunised unless you have their written consent, so you must make sure your parent or caregiver completes all sections of the consent form. Then bring it back to school. Educators/Public Health Nurses Please emphasise to the students: to complete pages 4 and 5 of the form even if the parents don t consent to the immunisation to return the completed form to school even if the parents don t consent to the immunisation. Summary So now you know what immunisation is and why you need to have it. An injection isn t such a big deal when it gives you protection and helps us win the fight against disease in our community. 7
Further information sources For public health nurses: Ministry of Health. 2006. Immunisation Handbook 2006. Wellington: Ministry of Health. For parents and students: Childhood Immunisation: More information for parents (health education resource number 1323) Speak to your doctor or nurse Call the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC) toll-free 0800 466 863 (0800 IMMUNE) or see the website www.immune.org.nz See the Ministry of Health website www.moh.govt.nz/immunisation See the Ministry of Health s health education website www.healthed.govt.nz