PARENTS in Suffolk today have to pay if they want their child to have a TB injection, despite a rise in the number of cases in the county.

PARENTS in Suffolk today have to pay if they want their child to have a TB injection, despite a rise in the number of cases in the county.

Schools have stopped giving children a routine tuberculosis jab while cases of TB in Suffolk have risen by nearly 60per cent in the last four years.

Beverley Carter, who lives in the Foxhall Road area of Ipswich, said her 14-year-old daughter would not be inoculated against Tuberculosis although her son had received the injection last year when he was the same age.

Mrs Carter, 46, whose daughter goes to the independent Woodbridge School, said: “Why are children now not getting inoculated when we're hearing about TB increasing?

“Now there could be a generation growing up with no inoculation against TB, it seems a bit daft.”

Statistics produced by the county's health protection agency show that there were 35 cases diagnosed last year - compared to 22 in 2001.

Mrs Carter explained that she had asked her GP if she would be able to get her daughter immunised and had been told that it would cost £50.

Since July, no schools in the country will be routinely immunising pupils against TB although people at a higher risk of developing the disease will still be given the jab.

Peter Bradley, director of public health at Suffolk PCT, said: “The number of people with TB in Suffolk is very low, well below the national average, meaning blanket coverage is not necessary or appropriate.”

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www.hpa.org.uk