This team will recommend further diagnostic tests to confirm whether the baby has a problem with their immune system or not.įollowing diagnostic tests and where these are negative, a letter confirming the outcome of the investigations will be issued to parents or guardians and copied to GP and Health Visitor. The parents or guardians of any baby that has received an outcome suggesting SCID may be present will be contacted by a specialist immunology team and an appointment arranged within 1 working day of this contact. BCG Vaccine AJV (AJ Vaccines) is the only licensed vaccine in the UK. See SCID evaluation on rotavirus vaccination section below for details.īCG vaccine contains a live attenuated strain of bacterium, derived from Mycobacterium bovis. SCID screening status will need to be checked before the offer of the rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) at the 8 week vaccination appointment. Those eligible babies that have participated in the SCID screening evaluation should have received their outcome of the screening test by 28 days when the BCG vaccine is scheduled.Īll live vaccines are contraindicated in babies with a SCID diagnosis. In the designated 6 areas SCID will form part of the routine newborn screening test at 5 days, with most results expected within 10 to 12 days. The vaccine will continue to be available to order through the ImmForm website.

Vaccination may be administered earlier than 28 days provided that a SCID screen outcome is available. BCG immunisation appointment letters should include instructions for parents or guardians to bring the infant’s Red Book and the letter with the outcome of newborn bloodspot screening. Providers are required to check the record for a negative SCID outcome, or confirmation that the child was not offered SCID screening, before administering the BCG vaccine. It is possible to arrange BCG vaccination earlier than 28 days providing the appropriate SCID screen outcome is available. Main points about the changes to the programmeįrom 1 September 2021, eligible babies born on or after this date should be offered the BCG vaccine by 28 days or soon after. In February 2020, the JCVI noted that moving the timing of the BCG vaccination would not significantly impact on TB cases in England, and the benefits from SCID screening would outweigh any increase in TB disease. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation ( JCVI) advised in the October 2018 meeting, that the BCG vaccination is moved ‘from birth to after SCID screening outcome were available, as vaccination before testing would not be acceptable’. This also provides an important opportunity to improve upon the existing BCG service.

It is necessary to change the BCG programme nationally to ensure consistency and safety for all babies across the country and to guarantee data collection for the programme. The SCID screening evaluation is taking place in 6 areas across England and will cover about 60% of newborn babies (Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, London Great Ormond Street Hospital and London Southeast Thames). This is to ensure that babies with SCID are not given the live attenuated BCG vaccine which is contraindicated in these babies. The evaluation of the addition of screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency ( SCID) to the routine newborn screening test at 5 days of age made it necessary to move the BCG vaccination to when a SCID screening outcome will be available, which may be available from around day 14 to 17 after birth. The BCG vaccine has been offered to babies that fall into one of the above categories soon after birth, often whilst the baby is still in hospital. The BCG vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine and is not given as part of the routine vaccination schedule but only when a child is at increased risk of coming into contact with TB.Įligible babies include all newborns whose parent/s or grandparent/s was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40 per 100,000 or greater or newborn babies living in areas of the UK where the annual incidence of TB is 40 per 100,000 or greater. The BCG immunisation programme was introduced in the UK in 1953 and has undergone several changes in response to changing trends in tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology. Changes to the NHS neonatal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin ( BCG) immunisation programme

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