FREE flu vaccines may be offered to all children in a review of Australia’s immunisation policy, as two of the nation’s top medical researchers clash over safety.
The federal government’s Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is considering adding the flu vaccine to its list of recommended childhood immunisations, which include those against potentially lethal polio, hepatitis and whooping cough.
But a week into the official flu season, two eminent researchers are embroiled in a public debate over whether the flu vaccine is safe for children.
The federal Health Department is refusing to take sides, telling parents yesterday to “consult their GP about whether the influenza vaccination is suitable for their individual circumstances”.
Professor Robert Booy, clinical director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney, yesterday warned that children might die this winter unless they were vaccinated against seasonal flu.
He branded Australian National University professor Peter Collignon as “wrong and irresponsible” for advising parents of healthy children to skip the flu shot this winter.
“He’s wrong and I think he’s irresponsible,” Professor Booy told The Australian.
“If parents are told by a reputable, responsible professor not to immunise, they might be very disappointed to find their children very ill, in intensive care or dying.”
Professor Booy said three to nine children died from flu in Australia each year, and half of them had no underlying health problems.
Professor Collignon, who runs the infectious diseases unit at Canberra Hospital, yesterday cited Health Department data showing that last year’s seasonal flu shot triggered febrile fits in one in 100 children — 10 times the usual rate.
He said parents should only immunise children against the flu if they suffered underlying health problems such as asthma or a heart condition.
Professor Collignon said many child flu victims died of secondary infections that “go unrecognised and are treated too late”.
“None of us wants anyone to die,” he said.
“But the vaccine causes more rare side-effects than the disease itself.
“If the standard rate of seizures is one in 1000, it probably means we’ll put more children who are otherwise healthy into hospital with the vaccine than children who have the flu itself.
“With any vaccine you have to always do more good than harm, and we do not have enough data to know that.”
The Health Department suspended last year’s seasonal flu vaccine — a world-first combination of seasonal and swine flu strains — after a spate of febrile fits.
Natasha Bita
The Australian