# 4525
Last Friday (see Australia Investigating Adverse Vaccine Reactions) we started to get word regarding roughly 60 children in Western Australia who were reportedly sickened within hours of receiving that country’s new trivalent flu vaccine.
Unlike the monovalent pandemic jab rolled out last fall, this vaccine incorporates antigens to protect against three different flu strains; A/California/7/2009 (H1N1); A/Perth/16/2009-like virus(H3N2); and B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
Trivalent vaccines such as this are used every year and have an extraordinarily good safety record.
This is the first attempt to combine the novel H1N1 antigen with two seasonal strains. This is also the first year for the incorporation of the new Perth strain of H3N2 in the shot.
Strain changes such as these are done almost on a yearly basis, however, and are not normally associated with an increase in adverse effects.
Public Health officials on Friday called for a temporary halt in the vaccination of under-5s with this new vaccine until the cause could be identified and eliminated.
In the ensuing 72 hours the investigation has widened and the number of children identified as having been sickened has increased to more than 250. Of those, 55 are reported to have experienced convulsions and more than 200 suffered fever and vomiting.
There has also been a suspected vaccine-related fatality, that of a 2 year-old who received the vaccine roughly two-weeks ago and died the next day.
Based on the wide distribution of cases, authorities believe these children received vaccine from more than one batch. Testing of vaccine lots is underway.
Beyond that, we’ve no word yet on a possible cause.
A round up of reports, therefore, from Australian news sources.
Police investigate girl's death after flu vaccine
By Siobhan Barry
Updated Sun Apr 25, 2010 10:52am AEST
A two-year-old girl from Upper Mount Gravatt died earlier this month, the day after she was immunised.
The death of a two-year-old girl from Brisbane who had received the seasonal flu vaccine will be referred to the Queensland coroner.
Flu jab sick toll passes 250
West Australia's chief health officer says there are now 251 confirmed cases in the state of children aged under five having adverse reactions to flu vaccinations.
Last week the Health Department placed a temporary ban on flu shots for children under five after reports of children getting sick after being vaccinated.
The Department says 55 children have had convulsions after being vaccinated while nearly 200 others have suffered fever and vomiting.
One child is in a serious but stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital.
Flu vax reactions not from single batch: WHO
Dozens of children in Queensland and Western Australia suffered fevers, vomiting and convulsions after being immunised.
That has prompted health authorities to temporarily ban the vaccine for those under five.
In Brisbane, a two-year-old girl died a day after receiving the seasonal flu shot.
Ian Barr from the World Health Organisation (WHO) influenza centre says 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."
It is always distressing anytime we get reports of vaccine related injury or illness, but doubly so when it involves children.
As a strong supporter of influenza vaccination, I recognize that vaccines have a very good safety record, but that record is not perfect. Last October, in a blog entitled The Double Edged Sword I wrote:
It would be the height of irresponsibility for me, or anyone else for that matter, to insist that vaccines are absolutely 100% safe. While they have an excellent safety record, there is no such thing as a totally benign drug.
Over the next few weeks and months, I fully expect that we will hear about adverse reactions . . . perhaps even deaths, that are potentially linked to flu vaccines.
Many of these will probably be coincidental occurrences, but some may in fact be caused by the vaccine.
The Australian story (at least for now) appears to be one of those genuine cases of vaccine induced side-effects. The good news here is that most (but sadly, not all) of those affected have apparently recovered.
Authorities hope to have a better idea of what is behind these adverse reactions later in the week.
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