A REDDITCH family have been left shaken after their daughter was wrongly given the flu jab by her GP and was rushed to the hospital with her life on the line.
Lacey Price, of Rushock Close, in Woodrow, who suffers with low blood cells and is being tested for shwachman diamond syndrome, was given the vaccination at The Dow Surgery, on William Street on Monday, January 25, in the morning and by the afternoon was rushed to The Alexandra Hospital with an extremely high temperature.
Parents Kirsty and Jason said when they took their two-year-old to the emergency department the staff told them their daughter should never have been given the flu jab and Lacey then had to spend five days on an IV drip.
The toddler has received several treatments including spinal drills to address her condition, which Kirsty said she was open about when visiting the surgery and expressed to the nurse she did not think her daughter should have it.
“I told them about her health problems at the doctors but they are now saying that I didn’t. Even if I hadn’t they have her record right there in black and white to see her history. You put your trust in them and I just want them to say sorry for what they have done and take some responsibility.”
Father, Jason, said despite all the other treatments Lacey has had to go through he had never seen her so ill.
“She was just coughing so much and just hours after the flu jab. They have tried to say she must have had the flu already but there’s just no way. They need to take responsibility because at the end of the day they nearly killed my daughter.”
Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England in the West Midlands said this vaccination should not be given to anyone with a reduced immune system as their body is unlikely to produce the antibodies needed quick enough and therefore can suffer from the same disease the jab is intended to protect from.
They have therefore launched an investigation into why this happened to Lacey.
Dr Ash Banerjee, screening and immunisation lead for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Vaccinations are the best way to protect you and your child against many preventable illnesses. NHS England and PHE West Midlands take patient care issues very seriously and are working together to determine the circumstances in this case, in order to prevent a similar incident occurring in the future.”
