Bright Futures Health · Health news
Children’s health news, read by a paediatrician
Guidance for parents changes more often than most families have time to follow. Each week we read what UKHSA, the NHS, the RCPCH and the journals have published, keep the handful of things that actually change what you should do for your child, and say plainly what we think it means. Every item links to the original source.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by Dr Martin Gray, Consultant Paediatrician
Illustration: BFH
Ketamine bladder damage — a specialist UK clinic is seeing children as young as 13
A study in Archives of Disease in Childhood describes the first 60 under-16s referred to a dedicated UK clinic for bladder problems caused by non-prescribed ketamine. Their average age was 14 and the youngest was 13; 43 of the 60 were girls. Most had been using ketamine for one to two years before they were referred. The authors call for services for under-16s to be co-designed with young people and delivered in a trauma-informed, accessible way.
Our take
One clinic’s caseload does not change anything about your own child’s care, and this is not a common problem — but the ages are worth knowing, because this is a Year 9 and Year 10 picture rather than a university one. What matters clinically is that ketamine damages the bladder, and the early signs look like a urine infection: passing urine very often, pain on passing it, or blood in it. If a teenager has those symptoms and no infection is found, ask about ketamine openly rather than waiting — the bladder damage is far more treatable early, and we would far rather have that conversation than miss it.
Illustration: BFH
Scarlet fever — the signs to look for, and when your child can go back to school
UKHSA has published a guide to scarlet fever. Around 90% of cases occur in children under 10, with the highest rates in children aged 2 to 8. Symptoms often start with a sore throat, fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, followed after 12 to 48 hours by a rash that feels rough, like sandpaper. It is treated with a 10-day course of antibiotics, and children should stay away from nursery or school until at least 24 hours after starting them; people can pass the infection on before they show symptoms.
Our take
Nothing in the guidance has changed — this is UKHSA’s start-of-term reminder, and it is worth reading because scarlet fever usually picks up as schools return. The sandpaper feel of the rash is the most useful clue at home; if you notice it with a sore throat and fever, call your GP, NHS 111 or us the same day. Finish the whole 10-day antibiotic course even once your child feels well, and seek advice again if they worsen or develop new symptoms in the weeks after recovery.
RSV vaccination in pregnancy
80%
lower risk of severe RSV lung infection in a baby’s first months of life when the mother is vaccinated in pregnancy.
England recorded 50% fewer infants under 6 months admitted to intensive care with RSV in 2025–26. Before the programme, RSV caused around 30,000 hospitalisations of children under 5 in the UK each year, and 20 to 30 infant deaths.
Figures: UK Health Security Agency, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
RSV vaccination in pregnancy — who is eligible, and when it is given
UKHSA has set out who is eligible for the RSV vaccine. Pregnant women are offered it from week 28 of every pregnancy, to protect each new baby. Adults aged 75 and over, all residents of care homes for older adults, and adults aged 65 to 74 with long-term lung conditions or weakened immune systems are also eligible.
Our take
If you are expecting a baby this winter, this is the single most useful thing you can do for them — the baby cannot be vaccinated, so the protection has to come through you before birth. It is offered from 28 weeks and in every pregnancy, not once. If you have passed your 28-week appointment and it was not offered, contact your maternity service rather than waiting to be called.
Illustration: BFH
Pharmacies to treat five more conditions, including hay fever in children
NHS England is adding five prescribing pathways to Pharmacy First: low frequency episodic migraine in adults, seasonal allergic rhinitis in children, acute otitis externa in adults, mild to moderate acne in young people and adults, and mild skin and soft tissue infections and scabies. NHS England estimates 2 to 3 million consultations for the 5 conditions could take place each year. The service starts from autumn 2026, in the initial small number of community pharmacies that become a prescribing pharmacy in 2026/27.
Our take
For children the pathway that matters is seasonal allergic rhinitis — hay fever treatment without waiting for a GP appointment. Read the ear infection line carefully: it covers acute otitis externa in adults, so a child with earache is not included, and earache in a child is usually otitis media and still needs assessing. Only a small number of pharmacies are prescribing in the first year, so ring ahead rather than turning up.
Illustration: BFH
Autumn COVID-19 vaccine — only immunosuppressed children are eligible
UKHSA has confirmed that the autumn 2026 COVID-19 vaccination is offered to adults aged 75 years and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and individuals who are immunosuppressed aged 6 months and over, on the same basis across all four UK nations. Booking is open and appointments run from 1 October. The vaccine should usually be offered no earlier than around 6 months after the last dose.
Our take
For almost every child this changes nothing — healthy children are not eligible this autumn and do not need a COVID-19 vaccine. The exception is a child aged 6 months or over who is immunosuppressed, whether from a condition or from treatment, and those families should book for 1 October while keeping the roughly 6-month gap since the last dose. If you are not sure whether your child’s diagnosis or medication puts them in that group, ask us rather than guessing from the list.
Primary school flu uptake, England
55.5%
of eligible primary school children vaccinated in 2025–26 — about 2.5 million of 4.5 million.
Selected years, not consecutive. Chart: Bright Futures Health. Data: UK Health Security Agency, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Only half of primary school children had a flu vaccine last year
Uptake in primary schools reached 55.5% in 2025–26 — up marginally on the year before but still below the 60%-plus seen before the pandemic. School sessions for this autumn began in the week of the announcement, and UKHSA is asking parents to return consent forms promptly.
Our take
The commonest reason a child misses the school flu vaccine is not refusal — it is a consent form still in a school bag. If you want your child vaccinated, sign and return it now rather than at the reminder. Children who miss the school session can still be caught up, and from December pharmacies are being asked to help with exactly that.
Illustration: BFH
Who can have the autumn 2026 flu vaccine
The programme opened on 1 September. Eligible children are those aged 2 or 3 on 31 August 2026, every child from Reception to Year 11, and any child from 6 months to under 18 in a clinical risk group. Most are offered the nasal spray rather than an injection. From 1 October some community pharmacies can vaccinate at-risk children aged 2–17.
Our take
Two questions come up every autumn. The nasal spray contains a weakened virus: it cannot give your child flu, and a vaccinated child is not a risk to an immunosuppressed sibling or grandparent. And a two- or three-year-old is vaccinated at the GP surgery, not at nursery — that appointment has to be booked by you.
Illustration: BFH
Recognising measles, and why two doses matter
UKHSA has re-issued its guidance on spotting measles in children: cold-like symptoms and fever first, sore red eyes, small white spots inside the cheeks, then a blotchy rash starting at the face and spreading down. Two doses of an MMR-containing vaccine give around 99% protection.
Our take
Measles is far more serious than the rash suggests, and it spreads before the rash appears. If you think your child may have it, phone ahead rather than sitting in a waiting room — we can see them without exposing other children, and that call matters more than the appointment itself.
Earlier items
Illustration: BFH
The childhood schedule changed in January — MMRV and a new 18-month visit
MMR has been replaced by MMRV, which adds chickenpox. Children born on or after 1 September 2022 are offered it routinely; those born between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022 are offered a single catch-up dose. Hib/MenC has gone from the one-year appointment, with Hib protection now carried by a fourth 6-in-1 dose at a new 18-month visit for children born on or after 1 July 2024. The second MenB dose moved earlier, to 12 weeks; the first pneumococcal dose moved later, to 16 weeks.
Our take
This is the biggest change to the schedule in years and the catch-up cohorts are easy to miss, particularly for families who moved to the UK mid-schedule or whose child was born abroad. If you are not certain your child is up to date, bring the red book to your next appointment and we will map it against the current schedule properly.
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We send the items that matter to London families, with the clinical reasoning left in. No more than monthly.
About this page
These are summaries of guidance and research published elsewhere, with our clinical interpretation added. They are general information, not advice about your own child, and guidance changes — always check the linked source for the current position. If you are worried about your child now, contact us, speak to your GP, or call NHS 111. If a child is seriously unwell, call 999.
Curated and reviewed by Dr Martin Gray, Consultant Paediatrician, Bright Futures Health.
Sources and credits
Headlines and figures are summarised from the linked publications and remain the copyright of their publishers. Charts on this page are drawn by Bright Futures Health from data published by the UK Health Security Agency and other public bodies, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. All illustrations are original artwork by Bright Futures Health. No photographs, logos or emblems belonging to UKHSA, the NHS, the RCPCH or any publisher are reproduced on this page.