- Hello, Jeff - "A WHO influenza 'expert'(???) says
it's highly unlikely that a dodgy batch of
- seasonal flu vaccine is responsible for the adverse reactions."
-
- Of course, the World Health 'expert' is going to make
such a claim.
-
- Even though the children had vaccines from *different*
batches, it is still quite possible
- the vaccine caused the reactions. Fevers and convulsions
are quite serious
- as far as reactions go.
-
- Why are young children and babies getting seasonal flu
shots anyway? Madness.
-
- Patty
-
- PEDIATRIC INFLUENZA VACCINE - AUSTRALIA: ADVERSE REACTIONS
-
- Medical Search, Australian Associated Press (AAP) report
(edited)
-
- 4-27-10
-
- A World Health Organisation influenza expert says it's
unlikely that a dodgy batch of seasonal flu vaccine is responsible for
bad reactions in children. Dozens of babies and young children, mostly
in Western Australia and Queensland, have suffered adverse reactions after
having the flu shot, including fevers and convulsions. And the Queensland
Coroner is investigating the death of a 2-year-old Brisbane girl, found
dead in her cot a day after she and her twin sister were vaccinated. Seasonal
flu shots for children under 5 have been suspended since Friday [23 Apr
2010].
-
- Ian Barr, the deputy director of the World Health Organisation
influenza centre in Melbourne, told the ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
the cases involved several different batches of the vaccine. "If it
was a single batch then you might think that that might be the case,"
he said. "If multiple batches are involved then that's less likely
I think -- but again we still need to wait."
-
- Australia's chief medical officer professor Jim Bishop
has ordered a review of hospitals records to better understand the scope
of the problem. He's also urged medical staff and parents to immediately
report any adverse reactions among children.
-
- http://www.medicalsearch.com.au/News/WHO-do
- ubts-dodgy-batch-of-vaccine-caused-problems-44270
-
- ---
-
- Communicated by:
- Ian Carter
- Chairperson
- South Eastern Area Laboratory Services
- Microbiology Department
- Kogarah Sydney
- Ian.Carter@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au
-
- ******
-
-
- Australia Probes Seasonal Flu Shot Reactions In Children
-
-
- By Lisa Schnirring
-
- CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research &
Policy) News (edited)
-
- 4-23-10
-
- Australia's chief medical officer asked providers to
stop giving children under age 5 the seasonal flu vaccine made by CSL Ltd
after receiving reports of fever and convulsions in kids in Western Australia
who had recently been immunized. The country's drug regulatory agency,
the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA), is investigating the reports
and will test samples of the vaccine that CSL has agreed to provide, Bloomberg
News reported today [23 Apr 2010].
-
- CSL, an Australia-based flu vaccine producer, said in
a statement today [23 Apr 2010] it was urgently investigating the reports
along with federal and state health officials and that it has stopped distributing
its pediatric vaccine to reduce the risk of inadvertent administration
to children younger than 5. CSL is Australia's only flu vaccine producer,
but it is one of several companies that supply seasonal flu vaccine for
the Australian market. CSL's trivalent seasonal flu vaccine covers 3 flu
strains, including pandemic H1N1.
-
- Over the past month, 22 children from the state [Western
Australia] were hospitalized after experiencing febrile convulsions within
12 hours of receiving the vaccine, The West Australian reported today [23
Apr 2010]. Health officials added that one child became seriously ill,
and it was still unclear if the vaccine was the cause of the children's
symptoms.
-
- Children ages 6 months to 5 years old in Western Australia
[WA] are eligible to receive free seasonal flu vaccination, and the pattern
and rate of adverse events has not been seen in any of the country's other
states, the TGA said in a press release today [23 Apr 2010]. "TGA
will test batches of the vaccine used in WA for any abnormalities,"
the agency said, adding that other Australian states and territories are
focusing their immunization efforts on high-risk groups. The TGA also said
it would explore if the reactions reported in Western Australia relate
to the vaccine or the state's vaccine delivery system. Today's [23 Apr
2010] warning does not apply to CSL's single-strain (monovalent) pandemic
H1N1 vaccine.
-
- The problem with CSL's vaccine comes as vaccination efforts
are ramping up across Australia and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere
where flu season typically begins sometime in May. Health officials in
Australia have warned that the season could see the nation's 2nd wave of
pandemic [A(H1N1)] flu. Demand for the vaccine has been fairly strong,
and some parts of the country have reported vaccine shortages, according
to media reports.
-
- CSL's Fluvax, available in adult and pediatric formulations,
is an inactivated split-virus vaccine that does not include an adjuvant.
It contains the flu strains recommended by the World Health Organization
(WHO) for the Southern Hemisphere's seasonal flu vaccine: that is, pandemic
A(H1N1), an influenza A Perth-like H3N2, and a Brisbane-like influenza
B. In February [2010] the WHO recommended similar strains for the Northern
Hemisphere's next flu season.
-
- The company's Afluria was one of 6 seasonal flu vaccines
that were approved for use during the United States' current flu season,
and CSL is one of the companies providing pandemic flu vaccine to the country.
According to background from the Health Industry Distributors Association
(HIDA), CSL vaccine accounted for an estimated 8 million doses, or about
7 percent of the nearly 115 million seasonal flu vaccine doses that were
projected to be available this season.
-
- In November [2009] the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), under an accelerated process, expanded its approval of CSL's seasonal
and pandemic vaccine for infants and children ages 6 months and older.
-
- http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/apr2310vaccine.html
-
-
- --
- Communicated by:
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- ******
-
-
- Source: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
-
- The World Today (abbreviated & edited)
-
- 4-27-10
-
- Australia's chief medical officer Jim Bishop has asked
health authorities in each state and territory to assemble a picture of
how many children under 5 have suffered adverse reactions after being vaccinated
against the flu and the numbers have begun to come in.
-
- In Western Australia, health authorities have recorded
251 cases. 15 cases have been recorded in Queensland. The Northern Territory
has acknowledged 3. There have been 2 in Tasmania. South Australia reported
1 case last week and Victoria's Health Department says there have been
just a handful of cases there.
-
- Health officials in the ACT [Australian Capital Territory]
and New South Wales won't release their figures yet.
-
- http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2883650.htm
-
-
- Communicated by
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- ******
-
-
- Source: Easybourse, Dow Jones report (abbreviated &
edited) 4-27-10
-
- By Neil Sands
-
- 4-27-10
-
-
- A health scare that has embroiled biopharmaceutical company
CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU) spread further Tuesday [27 Apr 2010], when authorities
in Western Australia [WA] state said more than 250 infants had fallen ill
after receiving seasonal influenza vaccines.
-
- The WA Health Department said 55 children in the state
had suffered possible febrile seizures after being vaccinated, while another
196 suffered less severe reactions such as fevers and vomiting.
-
- There is also a report that the coroner in Queensland
state was investigating the death of a 2-year-old girl who died shortly
after being vaccinated.
-
- CSL suspended distribution of its paediatric seasonal
influenza vaccine in Australia on Friday [23 Apr 2010] as authorities halted
influenza vaccinations for children aged under 5. A WA health Department
spokeswoman said the state's influenza vaccines were supplied by CSL and
2 other manufacturers, Solvay SA (SOLB.BT) and Sanofi-Pasteur SA (AVP.YY).
CSL, which said Friday [23 Apr 2010] that it was cooperating with an Australian
government investigation into the problem, was unavailable for comment.
-
- Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper reported that a child
was found dead at her home in the Queensland state capital on 9 Apr 2010,
12 hours after receiving the influenza vaccine. It said an autopsy had
failed to identify a cause of death and the state's coroner was conducting
tests to check whether the fatality was linked to the vaccine.
-
- CSL said last week [week of 19 Apr 2010] that its seasonal
vaccine immunized children against 3 influenza strains, including the pandemic
H1N1, also known as swine flu.
-
- http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/actualite/news/822684/vacc
- ine-scare-in-western-australia-spreads-to-more-than-250-infa
-
- --
- Communicated by:
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- The pediatric vaccine contains the influenza virus strains
recommended by the World Health Organization for the Southern Hemisphere's
seasonal flu vaccine: that is, the pandemic A(H1N1) virus, an influenza
A Perth-like H3N2, and a Brisbane-like influenza B. (In February 2010 the
WHO recommended similar strains for the Northern Hemisphere's next flu
season). It is unclear at present to what extent the adverse reactions
are related to an individual component of the vaccine, or the whole CSL
vaccine, or one or more production batches of the vaccine. An autopsy of
a deceased child has failed to identify a cause of death or indeed whether
the death was linked to the suspect vaccine. Further information is awaited.
-
- In Western Australia where the problem was first recognised,
there have been 251 cases. Now 15 cases have been recorded in Queensland,
and the Northern Territory has acknowledged another 3. There have been
2 cases in Tasmania, 1 in South Australia and a "handful" in
Victoria.
-
- The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Australia
can be
- accessed at <http://healthmap.org/r/01eA>. - Mod.CP
-
- see also: Influenza vaccine 2010/2011 - N. hemisphere
20100218.0567 2009
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at:http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
|
