Safety fears over vaccines

Australia's health authorities are failing to uphold the public safety of vaccines because of the confused and flawed monitoring of side effects, the Consumer Health Forum says.

In unusually outspoken criticism, the forum, which is funded by the federal government, has called for an urgent public explanation of why the CSL-produced Fluvax vaccine triggered a higher rate of hospital admissions than it prevented.

The forum's chief, Carol Bennett, writing in the Herald today, said the saga over Fluvax, which has been linked to 1000 adverse reactions, including 100 cases of convulsion in infants under five, pointed to the need for reform.

The Commonwealth's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, issued a final recommendation against the use of Fluvax in infants under five, more than three months after the high rate of convulsions surfaced in Western Australia early this year.

The federal health department has distanced itself from the West Australian decision to administer Fluvax to all infants under five, stating it was outside the recommended national immunisation program.

The spokeswoman said it must be noted that ''all medicines, including vaccines, have a risk of potential side effects''.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration assessment was that the benefits of Fluvax outweighed the risks in the groups of patients for which it was indicated - that was children and adults with underlying medical conditions who could be adversely affected by the flu.

Ms Bennett also said there were clearly systemic communication problems between state and federal health bodies as evidenced by the three-week delay in the WA authorities reporting the increased problems with Fluvax.

Ms Bennett said there was also a perception of conflict of interest in the TGA's role as both assessing and listing drugs and then monitoring safety in a system that was funded by charges imposed on drug companies it regulated.

The department's spokeswoman said that the TGA was like all other Western medicine regulators in being responsible for both authorisation and safety monitoring of drugs and vaccines.

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Related Links:
* Australia: Deadly Vaccines Surveillance Plan Required
Mark Metherell, Sydney Morning Herald
* UK Doctors Warned Of Flu Vaccine Convulsion Risk
Lilian Anekwe, PULSE
* Toddler Ashley Jade Epapara, 2, Dies After Flu Vaccine
Suellen Hinde, Courier Mail
* Australia Suspends Flu Vaccine After Children Fall Critically Ill
ABC News
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