Flu vaccine racket  Australia  Convulsions  Seizures

[Meryl Dorey: This article talks about how worried doctors are about the effect all of these nasty flu vaccine reactions are going to have on the uptake of vaccination. It's a shame they are more concerned for the vaccination policy then they are for the kids.]

The Fallout From A Batch Of Flu Vaccine

By Claire Krol

Nov 23, 2010

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/23/3074196.htm

When the Health Minister Kim Hames announced in April he had suspended the flu vaccination program for children under five, hundreds had already fallen ill, some had come close to death.

Days earlier a pattern had begun emerging - all the children had received the flu vaccine in the 24 hours before they were admitted to hospital.

Physicians at Princess Margaret Hospital dealt with the worst cases.

Those children suffered febrile convulsions, or in layman's terms, a fit or seizure brought on by a high temperature.

Within 24 hours the vaccine had been withdrawn for children under five nationally.

In as many hours, high level investigations were underway within the WA health Department, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and with the manufacturers to try and determine what had gone wrong.

It's since been established the reactions could be traced back to the vaccine Fluvax, sold in Australia by pharmaceutical giant CSL.

Investigations into exactly why children fell sick when they did, and exactly what might have been wrong with the product are still underway.

With so many questions left unanswered, health experts are now querying whether the public's confidence in immunisation has been permanently dented.

Reaction

Christine's eldest daughter Molly was one of the doxens of children who suffered febrile convulsions after taking the vaccine.

She has resolved never to vaccinate her children against the flu again, and is tossing up the pros and cons of being vaccinated altogether.

"I just couldn't believe what happened. I had put so much trust in these vaccines.

"Modern day medicine keeps telling us that we should vaccinate our children but I feel like I have been almost indocrinated by health authorities to vaccinate them, without knowing all the facts."

Christine doesn't want her surname published because she's concerned her children might be victimised when they get to school.

"I am worried that if I do choose not to vaccinate them, and the school or other mothers find out, they might not want to interact with my children, or allow them into the school community."

She says she's not alone in her concerns.

"When I talk to the mothers at playgroup about what happened they too are concerned. They have also had a real scare and I think a lot of them are reassessing what is right for their kids."

Cornerstone

It's stories like this that concern Curtin University Health policy expert Professor Mike Daube.

He says immunisation became the cornerstone of the public health system during the 20th century.

"Vaccination is crucial. It's more than just about preventing some diseases. I think because it's been around for so long now and people accept it as a part of the scenery they forget just how important vaccination is."

He says parents have lost their faith in immunisation, and health authorities, both state and federal, need to pay attention.

"Parents are more worried and that's a fact. It would be a tragedy if this situation impinges on other types of vaccination. Immunisation has been so successful that people have forgotten what the world would be like without it"

It's been a few short months since the program was reinsated in Western Australia and the Health Department is reluctant to release any exact figures showing what impact, if any, the incident and following suspension has had.

Before the vaccine was withdrawn on April the 22nd, 58 children in WA had presented to hospital suffering febrile convulsions, another 481 had had some other form of unspecified reaction and 14 suffered a local reaction and swelling at the injection site.

Communicable Disease Control Director at the Health Department Dr Paul Armstrong says it remains to be seen what the lasting effects of the suspension will be.

"The uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine has not been as high as seen in 2008 and 2009."

But, he says there's no direct evidence to suggest parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children against a range of other infections and diseases.

"The suspension of Fluvax due to febrile reactions does not seem to have had an effect on the uptake of other vaccines and it is not yet clear if there has been is a lasting effect in childhood influenza immunisation rates.

"Nor should it. The high rate of febrile reactions in 2010 was related to the vaccines of one manufacturer (CSL Ltd's Fluvax products) and there has been many years of experience showing influenza vaccine to be safe in children."

 

Publicity

Professor Daube says a high profile media and advertising campaign would be the best way to rebuild confidence.

"We need to put in place a program that reminds people what life would be like if we didn't have immunisation. The fact that people would be dying younger and more often of some of the diseases that have mostly been wiped out.

"If we didn't have immunisation we would still have people dying of smallpox and polio, we'd still have measles, diphtheria and so many of those diseases that were once commonplace and have now pretty much disappeared."

He says there is no quick-fix and it could take years to repair the damage done.

"The onus is on governments and health professionals to reassure the public about vaccination. We need to mobilise the health workforce. It's about hammering the message through to parents to remind them they should get their children vaccinated."

Dr Armstrong is acutely aware of the risks posed by an unvaccinated children and adults.

"Vaccines not only protect the individual but they also protect others in the community by increasing the overall level of population immunity, thereby minimising the spread of the infection.

"It is also worth noting, immunisation has been proven to be one of the most cost- effective public health measures we have to prevent certain infections diseases that, prior to vaccines being developed against them, caused significant illness, disability and death."

Meryl Dorey
meryl@avn.org.au
Australian Vaccination Network
Investigate before you vaccinate
02 6687 1699 - Work
02 6687 2032 - FAX

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin