Friday, October 28, 2011

lack of efficacy and safety data for paediatric flu vaccines in general

However, other experts believe the 2006 data should have been acted on, particularly as the rates of fever in children were almost double what had been seen in 2005 data from the same study.

“How a government agency can say it didn’t matter that the side-effect profile was twice what we saw before I find astounding”, said Professor Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University.

Professor Collignon said the argument that the high rates of adverse events seen in 2010 were a one-off event linked only to the 2010 seasonal flu vaccine was becoming questionable.

“There’s enough evidence to show that at least fevers were occurring at higher rates at other times”, he said.

He said increases in fever rates, regardless of convulsion rates, were significant in their own right.

“You don’t have a febrile seizure unless you have a fever”, he said.

Professor Collignon said the bigger issue was the lack of efficacy and safety data for paediatric flu vaccines in general, based on long-term prospective studies involving thousands of children.

“Those studies haven’t been done and they need to be done.”

- Sophie McNamara
MJA InSight, 




Posted 24 October 2011