Pandemic Flu – dosage schedule update and revised version of clinical management guidelines

The licence for Pandemrix has now been amended to allow one dose (0.25ml) in children. Patients who are immunocompetent and who have already received one dose of the vaccine do not need a second dose even if this has already been scheduled. Immunocrmpromised individuals should still receive a second dose as scheduled. Further details here.

The DH has published revised versions of the Pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza; Clinical management guidelines for adults and children. The change is in paragraph 5 on page 9, which has been extended to define what ‘high dose’ means in the context of this document.

The DH has also updated the Pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza: Clinical management guidelines for pregnancy. There are two changes: a footnote has been added to paragraph 5 on page 17 reflecting the different requirements of the abortion legislation in England and Northern Ireland; they have also added a new paragraph 5 on page 19 to deal with the outcome of the ORACLE study which implicated co-amoxiclav with necrotising enterocolitis in preterm rupture of membranes.

QOF Business Rules

Version 16 of the business rules has now been published and is available here. Please note that for the QOF CVD PP1 indicator (Cardiovascular disease – primary prevention 1), the business rules have been amended to exclude patients under 30 years of age from indicator PP1. The age range for this indicator is now set as 30-74 years. Patients outside this age range should still be individually assessed and their risks reduced, although risk equations do not apply and thresholds for reductions are not currently available. PP2 applies to all age groups, as do the blood pressure control indicators in the hypertension set.