Re: [AVN] Further info on WA vaccine alert plus a question

[Guest guest]

Hi ,This year's seasonal flu vaccine has 3 different strains of Influenza A virus - one of those is the AH1N1 or swine flu vaccine.There are several questions I have here that I hope to get answers to (have requested it of the authorities)1- Is the AH1N1 recycled from last year's failed swine flu shots and if so, considering that those shots are now at or past their use-by date, could this be the cause of the problem?2- Is this a multi-dose vaccine being administered or single dose? If multi-dose - why?3- Is the vaccine used in WA the same vaccine being used across Australia and if so, are these sorts of reactions being reported in other locations?4- Were all of these vaccines administered in a particular clinic setting or were they distributed across WA?5- Can the government release the Lot and Batch numbers of this vaccine so that others can be aware that it might be a hot lot? Was there more than one lot involved.I will keep you all up-to-date on any information I receive.All the best,MerylOn 23/04/2010, at 9:45 AM, wrote:

This is an interesting comment I did not notice in previous news articles, perhaps I missed it: "The

presentations at PMH were over the past month and it was still unclear

if the vaccine was the cause, but at least one child was understood to

have become seriously ill."I also didn't realise that WA was the only state to offer the vaccine,

"which covers the human swine flu, as well as two other strains of

seasonal influenza expected to circulate this winter", to children under

five. Am I to understand here that the vaccine administered to these children was in fact a "three in one" influenza shot, the swine flu plus two others?A quote from the ABC article states:"The manufacturer, CSL, says it is aware of the matter and is working

closely with the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Western

Australian authorities."

WA kids in flu vaccine alert

CATHY O'LEARY MEDICAL EDITOR, The West Australian

April 23, 2010, 2:45 am

The

State Government has suspended its free flu vaccine program for WA

children aged under five after 22 children became ill and were taken to

Princess Margaret Hospital within hours of having their injections.Health

Minister Kim Hames said the otherwise fit and healthy children had

suffered febrile convulsions - which involved a fit or seizure due to

high fever - within 12 hours of having their vaccine.Rush to hospitalThe

presentations at PMH were over the past month and it was still unclear

if the vaccine was the cause, but at least one child was understood to

have become seriously ill.There have been no reports of other States reporting an unusually high number of side effects in children.Dr

Hames confirmed health authorities had closed the free vaccination

program for young children as a precaution until tests could be carried

out to see if the vaccine was responsible for the spike in reactions.In

the meantime, doctors and parents were being advised against having

children aged under five vaccinated. The Health Department was last

night trying to alert medical practitioners around the State,

particularly GPs, to prevent any more vaccines being given out today.The

vaccine covers the human swine flu, as well as two other strains of

seasonal influenza expected to circulate this winter, and has been

given out to thousands of Australian children since mid-March.WA is the only State to offer a free flu vaccine to children under five.The

Health Department said there were no concerns for children vaccinated

days or weeks ago because if a child was going to have a reaction it

would happen in the first 12 hours.If children had received the

vaccine just in the past 12 hours, parents were advised to give

paracetamol according to the instructions on the bottle to help prevent

a reaction occurring."At this stage the link is unclear but

certainly there could be a risk to children so we're advising parents

planning to go to their GP to have their young children vaccinated to

hold off until we get more information," Dr Hames said."Febrile

convulsions are not necessarily serious, and we don't want parents to

panic but it is a concern. While this number of children is not

necessarily huge, linked to these circumstances our experts do believe

it's a significant number and there is a risk in WA."It may be an over-reaction on our part but it's better to be ultra- cautious."Dr

Hames said there were no reports of spikes in adverse reactions in

other States which raised the possibility of a faulty batch of vaccine

in WA but this needed to be investigated. With the coming long weekend,

it could take several days.He said there were no concerns for older children and adults who had recently received the flu vaccine.Parents can get more information by ringing 1800 022 222. It is dangerous to be right on a subject on which the established authorities are wrong. ~ Voltaire CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICEThe information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination or copying of this e-mail and its attachments, if any, or the information contained herein is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by

return e-mail and delete this e-mail from your computer system. Thank you.

Meryl Doreymeryl@...Australian Vaccination NetworkInvestigate before you vaccinate02 6687 1699 - Work02 6687 2032 - FAXWHAT PART OF "PRO INFORMATION - PRO CHOICE" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?The AVN is a Charity Authority Holder (CFN11694).We rely on the help and support of our members and subscribers to continue offering our services freely and without prejudice.Please consider helping us by subscribing to Living Wisdom and joining as an AVN member. Go to http://www.avn.org.au to subscribeWe also sell books and information packs. Go to http://avn.org.au/catalog/ for more details.