The vaccine in question contained 2 strains of seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus - swine flu. According to the article below we are the first in the world to recieve the combination. (Gee - lucky us )

I am aware that children were involved in the trial to see if swine flu was safe (for which adverse reactions were also reported in the media), however I am unable to understand how such a trial is considered safe or ethical. Er..."We need some parents who are keen to subject their children to an experiment to see if a new vaccine is safe to give to the rest of the country?" I can only suppose the parents were paid well? Whether it is safe or accurate to extrapolate the results from animal studies onto humans is questionable.

Article from the National:

CLINICAL tests were never carried out on the latest seasonal flu vaccine - a first-time combination of seasonal flu with the feared swine flu H1N1 - that has left a baby girl fighting for her life in a Perth hospital and sparked fits, fevers and vomiting in up to 60 toddlers across the country.

Health officials were last night trying to determine what had caused the reactions in the children, mostly in Western Australia.

The country's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, yesterday ordered doctors in all states to stop giving the flu vaccine to children under five.

Professor Bishop said non-swine flu strains in the vaccine may have caused the reactions.

For the first time in the world, the flu shot rolled out in Australia last month combined two strains of seasonal flu, as well as H1N1.

Professor Bishop said the Panvax vaccine - the swine flu jab - was "safe", but said the combined flu shot had been suspended for young children as a "precautionary measure" pending investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which approved its use last month.

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Herald Sun, 1 day agoEnd of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Panvax was tested on 400 children before its release last year, but the combined shot was not subjected to any clinical trials.

CSL, which manufactures both vaccines, has stopped distributing children's doses nationally "to reduce the risk of inadvertent administration in this age group".

One angry West Australian mother, who only wanted to be identified as Sharon, said if officials had acted earlier, the one-year-old girl in critical condition in hospital may never have become sick.

Sharon had three of her four children vaccinated two weeks ago and all three needed hospitalisation after suffering from fevers, vomiting and fits.

She said it was a frightening experience after her three-year-old, Alivia, turned purple and began shaking.

One of her one-year-old twins, Lateesha, later started convulsing.

Peter Richmond, associate professor at the University of Western Australia's school of pediatrics and child health, said the vaccine was not subjected to trials.

"As with each year's seasonal influenza vaccine, this year's seasonal influenza vaccine isn't subject to specific trials in children before it's used," he said.