Flu vax ban for under 5s in Australia

[battymama]

Unfortunately in Western Australia we have had some major problems with the flu vax, many children have been hospitalised and last I heard one child is still in a coma There is currently a nation wide ban on giving the flu vax to under 5s. I seriously hope there are some major reforms over this it is absolutely horrific.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/fl...0423-tglp.html

[Mama~Love]

Those poor children . I'm so glad this is getting world-wide attention!

[Mama Khi]

That is so scary! Poor little ones! I can't believe the "expert" says to just go ahead and give swine flu vaccine instead and that this doesn't show that vaccines are a problem. It makes me so angry!

[ASusan]

And why, oh why, are they telling parents to give Tylenol after the vax?

"People should give Paracetamol according to the instructions and tepid sponging to keep the temperature down." Dr Hames said.

[Juvysen]

whoa! That's crazy!

[japonica]

This is in my neck of the woods. A lot of people are up in arms about it. The number of cases of kids with moderate to severe reactions is a lot higher than the 60 or so local cases seen in hospital. There's post after post on some sites from parents whose kids have had 40C (104F) fevers, vomiting, and convulsions after their flu vaccine.

And sadly, a toddler in Queensland died 12 hours after her flu shot:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/quee...0425-tkym.html

[battymama]

Originally Posted by japonica

This is in my neck of the woods. A lot of people are up in arms about it. The number of cases of kids with moderate to severe reactions is a lot higher than the 60 or so local cases seen in hospital. There's post after post on some sites from parents whose kids have had 40C (104F) fevers, vomiting, and convulsions after their flu vaccine.

And sadly, a toddler in Queensland died 12 hours after her flu shot:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/quee...0425-tkym.html

It is where I am too my heart breaks for these children. I know a lot of people who where on the fence or even pro vax are really looking at this with new eyes not even so much because of the reactions but because of the government and health care professionals handling of this. There was an article in the Sunday times in Perth a couple of weeks ago- my ex hubbie actually cut it out to keep, warning of this exact thing! quoting a Dr saying it wasn't a big deal go get your vax.

I have to wonder what other reactions might have occurred that may not be diagnosed because they are not typical, or they are long term.

[battymama]

Originally Posted by ASusan

And why, oh why, are they telling parents to give Tylenol after the vax?

I gotta say Australia doesn't seem to have gotten the memo about the dangers of it. It is treated like lollies by some people for every little twinge and complaint.

[mattemma04]

Ya, I guess it's not a big deal if YOUR child isn't one ending up in the hospital or a coffin.

Does this country have a vaccine injury program? Ya,I know the US program is a joke.Just curious if they have a program or parents just sue following injury/death.

[battymama]

You know, I am not sure, we are not a sue happy place, but i tell you if this was my child i would be out for blood. I haven't been able to find the info on it as I was curious myself, so I suspect we don't. Then again a couple of online sources have been stopped by the goverment from publishing vax inserts- so they post the new zealand ones.

The more i think about this the angrier i get, I am so frustrated at the casual attitude of these "experts" childrens lives are at stake here people!

[Sileree]

The combined MMR-varicella combo shot caused an increase in high fevers and seizures as well.

If a little baby can't handle a shot with two antigens without having such bad reactions, how can they handle the CDC schedule with six or seven shots at once?

[Deborah]

a toddler died:
http://www.news.com.au/national/flu-...-1225857872979

one child is in intensive care:
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/flu-...-1225857730304

[amnesiac]

Please remember that this thread should remain on-topic regarding the general vax related subject & should not focus on any specific individuals. Posts in this vein will be removed from the thread.

[newmum35]

This is really sad how it is one giant experiment.

[newmum35]

http://au.ibtimes.com/contents/20100...ination-wa.htm

The exposure to last year's swine flu outbreak may have caused children to be more susceptible to experiencing severe reactions that are now manifested through recent influenza vaccinations.

That is one of the theories as to why more than 250 children in WA have been admitted to the hospital for experiencing adverse reactions after being inoculated with the seasonal flu vaccine.

According to an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, Professor Peter Collignon, a possible theory could be that the children's exposure to swine flu last year could have made their immune system to react aggressively to an injected dose of the vaccine that includes the strain of H1N1.

Is there any evidence of this happening with other vaccines/illnesses too? Like for example, CP, measles or mumps? For example if you had the illness during a time you were too young to have remembered it, and then many years later got the vax for that, not realizing you already had natural/permanent immunity. Always wondered about that.

[japonica]

It sounds like someone is clutching at straws.

It was reported in a few sources (ABC) that that particular vaccine didn't even go through a clinical trial. So, it's one thing to say that sure, it's because H1N1 made some kids' immune systems hyper sensitive. It's another when safety testing and due diligence just wasn't done with this product.

And why wasn't this seen in North America? There were thousands of children who contracted H1N1 naturally in the spring of 2009 and were then dutifully vaccinated that fall when it became available. Why did we not see the huge amount of severe and serious reactions?

[bbrandonsmom]

That article is saying, "the children that were exposed "last year" are having adverse effects "this year" to the seasonal vax."

Now remember-North America is not in "flu season" for another 7 months or so. We won't know if we have the same reactions to the seasonal vaccine until this up coming year.
Remember, last year there was something about Canada pulling the seasonal vax because of the effects of the H1N1 or something. I can't remember what the exact story was.

[Juvysen]

hmm... I dunno - I know if it's been less than 10 years since receiving the tetanus vaccine, you're opening yourself up to higher chance of side effects... My mom was talked into the vaccine when it'd only been 9 years or so and ended up with some tingling/slight paralysis in her arm where the shot was given. It took about a month to clear up, but when she went to another doc (the first was at the ER) to have it checked out he freaked out (not at her) that she had had the vax before 10 yrs were up because of the higher rates of issues. He said she was lucky it wasn't worse...

So all that to say, I don't know what the mechanism is that more than every 10 years would cause that in the tetanus vaccine, but I would guess that it's due to your body still having antibodies and then having an adjuvant to stimulate the body to the same disease would cause it to go a little nuts (i.e. cause more reactions)? I can't imagine it's because of toxin loading or something with a 10 year interval like that...

[japonica]

Originally Posted by bbrandonsmom

That article is saying, "the children that were exposed "last year" are having adverse effects "this year" to the seasonal vax."

Now remember-North America is not in "flu season" for another 7 months or so. We won't know if we have the same reactions to the seasonal vaccine until this up coming year.
Remember, last year there was something about Canada pulling the seasonal vax because of the effects of the H1N1 or something. I can't remember what the exact story was.

I was referring to last fall's "flu season" when the H1N1 vaccine became available. It was given to high risk cases (including children) in my old city starting last October. Since H1N1 was the predominant strain circulating, they didn't use traditional seasonal flu vaccines, but the H1N1 vax instead. Many of those children were naturally exposed to H1N1 starting in May (when the reported cases started popping up), yet when given the vaccine last fall, there wasn't the same reports of reactions as in Australia. So, if the theory is that having been exposed to H1N1 "primed" their systems for a severe reaction, why wasn't this seen in North America or in Europe at the same rates as in Australia? It's the H1N1 component of the seasonal flu vaccine that Collignon suspects is the culprit, but I'm wondering then why we didn't see this reaction 7 months ago when H1N1 vax programs rolled out in the Northern Hemisphere.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by japonica

It was reported in a few sources (ABC) that that particular vaccine didn't even go through a clinical trial. So, it's one thing to say that sure, it's because H1N1 made some kids' immune systems hyper sensitive. It's another when safety testing and due diligence just wasn't done with this product.

The seasonal flu vax isn't usually subject to clinical trials though, so that is not new this year. The manufacturing process is the same each year and by the time WHO releases the details of which strains should be included there is not enough time to make and trial before flu season. Not saying it's right but it's not new.

I'm wondering why there are so many cases in WA but not so much in the rest of the country. Especially as places like NSW and Vic have a much denser population so you would expect to be seeing more cases else where. Very strange.