DANA Irvine had always been meticulous in ensuring her two young daughters were fully protected through the NHS child vaccination scheme.
She believed the injections guaranteed Sherhys, four, and Raegan, 23 months, complete immunity from a host of potentially life-threatening diseases such as measles, mumps, polio and diphtheria.
But yesterday, a bombshell letter, delivered in the
morning post from the health authority, warned her that at least one of her daughters could be at risk of catching "some serious diseases" because of a two-year vaccination-storage blunder at the local health centre.
Raegan is one of 813 patients - both adults and children - at the Northfield practice in Aberdeen who may have been exposed to risk following the discovery that hundreds of vital vaccines were stored at the wrong temperature in a faulty fridge.
Health chiefs have also revealed that the probe used to check the temperature of the fridge was faulty and that there were problems with an independent system used to monitor the vaccines.
Ms Irvine, of Deansloch Place, Northfield, said: "I got a letter this morning explaining the vaccinations are no good. I am quite annoyed and obviously worried, because you don't really know if any damage has been done.
"Raegan had her jab to protect her against measles, mumps and rubella in March. I always make sure both my daughters are up to date with all their vaccinations.
"I am annoyed because I expected, when Raegan got the injections, that she would fine - that would be her protected. But obviously that's not the case. She is going to have to go through the distress of this all over again."
Ms Irvine is also concerned about Sherhys. "She got her vaccinations last year for MMR as well, but I haven't received a letter about her," she said. "I am obviously worried she isn't fully protected. Sherhys is at nursery and she could pick up things there and bring them home."
She went on: "The health board are also telling us our child might be at risk of catching some serious disease and that I might not get an appointment until January. It is out of order."
Ms Irvine voiced her concerns minutes before senior health officials attended a hastily convened press conference, during which they sought to reassure worried parents and patients that they had nothing to fear.
They also urged continued public confidence in the vaccination programme.
Dr Helen Howie, a consultant in public health medicine at NHS Grampian, apologised for the "anxiety and inconvenience" which the blunder had caused the 813 patients.
However, she stressed that parents and patients should not be "overly" concerned.
Dr Howie said: "The vaccines that have been given are not likely to have caused any harm to the children or the adults. It is also better to provide additional vaccinations to protect an adult or child from what can be potentially serious infections.
"We anticipate children will be protected but not as well as we would like for long-term protection. They will have residual immunity. The uptake rates in the Northfield area are particularly good, so we can also rely on what is called herd immunity."
She added: "These infections are not circulating in the community in Grampian.
"Obviously the whole process is going to cause them some anxiety, but they are not at risk at this point in time. What we want to ensure is that they have adequate long-term immunity."
The mistake came to light in September when a health visitor noticed that a vaccine she had taken from a fridge appeared to be warmer than its recommended temperature of between 2C and 8C.
The patients affected - 404 children and 409 adults - received their vaccines between October 2004 and October this year to help protect them from a range of diseases, including tetanus, diphtheria, polio, hepatitis A and B, meningitis and pneumonia, as well as the children's MMR jab.
Extra support staff are to be drafted in to help deal with the re-immunisation programme, which is expected to get under way next month.
Heather Kelman, the general manager at the Aberdeen Community Health Partnership, which oversees the NHS salaried practice, said:
"We are really sorry that this has happened and we are doing everything we can to prevent it from happening again in the future."
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHILDREN'S JABS
• All vaccines need to be stored in a special fridge at between 2C and 8C.
• Improperly stored vaccines may not produce adequate protection but would cause no harm.
• There are no reliable tests to measure accurately how much protection a particular vaccine has given a child.
• People can receive an extra dose of these vaccines without serious side effects - some other countries give bigger doses of some vaccines than those prescribed in the UK.
• It is very unlikely there will be any risk to a child between now and the date of the clinic appointment for a booster injection, since these vaccine-preventable infections are not common in the community at present.
• Vaccination is the best means of giving a child lifelong protection against vaccine-preventable illnesses. The reason some of these diseases remain rare in our community at present is because people have been vaccinated against them.
A special telephone helpline has been established to answer calls from worried patients. The helpline - TEL NO: 0800 282 836 - will be open daily from 8am to 10pm.
