Vaccinations

Vaccination programmes are made available to employees at risk from harmful bacteria and viruses in the workplace.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection that attacks the liver. It is the most common form of viral hepatitis and is transmitted though putting something in your mouth that is contaminated by the stools or faeces of another person infected with the virus. The symptoms are usually short lived and can range from having no symptoms to flu like symptoms and very rarely, liver failure.

It is almost entirely preventable by an employee receiving a full vaccination/booster course. The immunisation course may vary according to whether a booster or primary vaccination course is required. It usually involves either two or three injections over a number of months.

The vaccine is recommended to civil service staff that may be in contact with sewage.

Hepatitis B is a serious viral infection that attacks the liver. It is an infectious disease which can cause severe liver damage and liver cancer. The virus is transmitted through infected blood and body fluids. It is almost entirely preventable by an employee receiving a full vaccination course. Hepatitis B vaccination is offered on request to civil servants at risk of exposure to blood or body fluids in the workplace.

The immunisation course usually involves three injections over a six month period, comprising an initial injection, a further injection one month later and then a final injection five months later (injections at 0,1 and 6 months). This is followed by a blood test a few weeks later to check the level of immunity following the course of injections.

For prison officers/prison administration and support officers (PASOs), an accelerated Hepatitis B programme is used that differs from the above. This involves an initial injection followed by three further injections either at one week, three weeks and one year (0, 7, 28, 365 days), or one month, two months and one year (0, 1, 2, 12 months). Again, this is followed by a blood test six weeks later to check the level of immunity following the course of injections whereby low immunity results may require further vaccination(s).

Vaccination programmes are made available to employees at risk from harmful bacteria and viruses in the workplace.

Influenza vaccination is an annual vaccination against the prevalent influenza strain(s). The Civil Service Occupational Health Department (CSOHD) offers this vaccine to civil servants who may be involved in an Avian Influenza outbreak control and eradication program. Such workers may include laboratory workers, veterinary staff, technical agriculture officers, poultry workers and conservation rangers.

All other staff should contact their GP to avail of the vaccine if it is recommended for you under the current Department of Health guidelines.

Vaccination programmes are made available to employees at risk from harmful bacteria and viruses in the workplace.

Rabies is a viral disease that is usually transmitted from an infected animal through a bite to a human. The rabies vaccine is offered in the CSOHD for pre-exposure protection of at risk workers who may come into contact with rabies infected animals. This includes some laboratory workers, veterinary staff, researchers, bat handlers and port staff.

Primary immunisation consists of 3 injections given within 1 month. Booster doses are given following blood testing on a 2 yearly basis. The current best advice is that boosters should not be administered more frequently than every 2-3 years to reduce the possibility of reactions to the vaccine.