What's more important - the vaccine or the child?

[Guest guest]

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.

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

The Fallout From A Batch Of Flu VaccineBy

Krol

Posted 2 hours 1 minute ago

A young girl cries as she receives a vaccination (AFP: Jewel

Samad)

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Within 24 hours the vaccine had been withdrawn for children under five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

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. "

CornerstoneIt'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

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. "

PublicityProfessor 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@...

Australian Vaccination Network

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