What are the side-effects after his immunisations

All medicines, including immunisations, can occasionally cause some mild side-effects. Try not to worry if your baby does have side-effects. They shouldn't last for long.

 

After your baby has the DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccine, the PCV, and the MenC vaccine, you may notice some side-effects. They usually appear within 24 hours of him having the vaccine. Your baby may:

• have a mild fever
• have pain, swelling or redness at the site of the injection
• feel sick, or vomit
• have diarrhoea
• feel a bit off-colour

The MMR vaccine can occasionally cause some mild side-effects six to 10 days after the injection. Your child may:

• have a mild fever
• develop a measles-like rash
• go off his food
• feel a bit off-colour

Don't worry if your child develops a rash. It doesn't mean he has measles. He's just having a reaction to the live but weakened virus in the MMR vaccine as his body is building immunity against the disease.

There is chance that all immunisations may cause a fever. Keep a close eye on your child if he develops a high temperature. Occasionally, young children with a high temperature develop convulsions (seizures or fits). These are rare, but if your child develops a fever after having an immunisation, make sure you treat the fever straight away. Your child may be more at risk of having a convulsion if he's had one before, or if there's a family history of seizures.

 

With all immunisations, there is an extremely rare possibility that your child may have a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis. This means your child could develop allergy symptoms within 10 minutes of having the injection. These can include a nettle-like rash, swelling of the skin, lips or face, vomiting, or breathing problems. The chances of this happening really are tiny, only about one in a million.

 

You'll probably be asked to stay at the clinic for about 10 minutes after your child has had his injections, just to make he's fine. But if you're worried at all about any side-effects, mild or otherwise, you could always ask to stay on a little longer.