Bid to give Bristol kids swine flu vaccine
Children in Bristol could be among the first to receive a vaccine for swine flu.
A team of researchers from the city are being considered to test the inoculation ahead of a mass vaccination programme in the autumn.
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If the Government gives the go-ahead parents will be able to put their children forward to be part of the trial to see if there are any side effects with vaccines that have been developed to deal with the H1N1 virus. The research will help the Department of Health decide whether it is safe to vaccinate youngsters against swine flu.
Professor of paediatrics at Bristol University, Adam Finn, and colleagues have put a proposal to the Government to carry out the work alongside other cities. Bristol experts are already undertaking other vaccine research projects.
Children aged between six months and 12 years will be given the vaccine as part of the trial and any reaction or medical problem that occurs will be recorded. Youngsters will also be given a blood test before and after.
Data from youngsters would be compiled along with results from Exeter, Oxford, Southampton and South West London to help Government health experts make a final decision on whether to vaccinate youngsters.
Experts will be looking out for signs of fever, a reaction in the skin around the injection site and any other illness that youngsters might suffer.
Professor Finn said the decision to vaccinate children would be based on the harm that the injection could cause compared to the perceived risk of youngsters contracting swine flu.
He said: "It is a balance between what is going on with the illness and what is going on with the vaccine. As yet we do not know much about the illness or about the vaccine.
"It is very hard to say at this point how bad the pandemic is going to be.
"There are plenty of reasons to imagine it might be a really big problem because of the scale of the number of people affected. At the moment it does not look like a dreadfully bad strain of flu, but then the last two pandemics were not bad but it caused a problem because so many people got it."
He said that it looks as though it would be beneficial to vaccinate children and that doing so should reduce the spread of the virus.
Usually researchers have several months to test a vaccine but because swine flu has already been classed as a pandemic there is a need for it to be tested more quickly so the programme can be started in the autumn, when more people are expected to get swine flu as well as the likelihood of seasonal flu.
In Australia, because the H1N1 virus has spread during their autumn it is more of a problem and Professor Finn said that did not buy them the time to arrange for a vaccination programme in the way the UK can.
The number of new cases of swine flu in England dropped from 110,000 to 30,000 over the last seven days, with the majority said to be "mild", although nine more people with swine flu died.
But Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson yesterday urged against complacency and predicted a "second wave" would hit the country.
The Government is expected to announce which research sites will be taking part in the vaccine testing next week.
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by Xavier, Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 9:09PM
“The internet is one of the greatest inventions/developments of the last century.
It provides a great deal of information. Unfortunately it makes people lazy. Once upon a time scholars would have to dig through books, probably having to travel to find them. Now anyone, from pauper to King can just tap in a search in google. This has unfortunately spawned a whole load of dodgy cyber boffins. Chris is an example. These people arent clever. They like to think they are. they do a modicom of searching and look for controversy and conspiracy.
The trouble the internet is no different to a computer. Its only as good as what you put in. Most of what is on the net is simply views. Nothing more. Views of someone sat on a pc purporting the information they are putting in is true. Some dimwits do believe it to be true.
Chris loves his conspiracy theories. His one on Islamification is a prime example (look at the BBC news site ( a more strusted source on the www) today to show the bunkum that is.
Tamiflu has been tested extensively. I for one will be getting it if required.”
by J, Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 6:49PM
“Chris, i have just read your post again.
The fact that medical schools receive funding from pharmaceutical companies is not necessarily so bad as it may sound.
I agree that the profits made by them are huge and sometimes unseemly. However...
Pharms make money from the NHS and the private sector. Some of the money that they make is put back into developing their customers and for providing training. The alternative to the pharms providing the money is that the tax payer pays for it. This will mean that you, I and everyone else pays more in their taxes, which i wouldn't have thought any of us want.
Many other items that go towards a doctor's training are paid for by these companies too. Again, the alternative is that everyone pays for them.
I think the tone of your post implies that the pharms are somehow more sinister than we realise and that we would all be better off without their products.
That, Chris, is the most irresponsible thing you could suggest.”
by anon, North Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 6:40PM
“1. All drugs and medications that are used in the nhs have been tried in adults 1st then in children before they get approved therefore without these studies you will end up with no cures or treatments for any illness.
2. it is upto individual families if they want their children vaccinated or if they want to wait until the virus gets really bad then be desperate for them to be vaccinated.
3. parents should be speaking to professionals to get a clear understanding and be allowed to make up their own minds.”
by anon, North Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 6:38PM
“1. All drugs and medications that are used in the nhs have been tried in adults 1st then in children before they get approved therefore without these studies you will end up with no cures or treatments for any illness.
2. it is upto individual families if they want their children vaccinated or if they want to wait until the virus gets really bad then be desperate for them to be vaccinated.
3. parents should be speaking to professionals to get a clear understanding and be allowed to make up their own minds.”
by J, Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 6:36PM
“It is unfortunate that scientists don't know everything. Having said that, what previous pandemics have shown is that the second wave generally come back in the Autumn. The virus will have mutated, usually after coming back from Asia. This is what Liam Donaldson is referring to. The second wave is usually far more deadly than the first.
It is a little irresponsible to compare it to the MMR vaccination. There are many many successes that far outweigh the failures.
It is also irresponsible to automatically deny your children access to this vaccination without having done proper research into the matter. Please don't be swayed by the media frenzy without finding out for yourselves.
I'm not saying that you are wrong to say no to this, but please please ensure that you make an informed decision on this, as opposed to a knee jerk reaction that is inspired by the red tops.
We all know that the vaccination is needed for the Autumn, in time for the second wave. Testing the drug is not possible in a timely manner if it is not administered it to some people. The chances are that the test subjects will be fine and will, if anything, benefit from it.
The vaccination does not guarantee immunity from the disease, as we don't know how it will mutate, but we can't really lay down and accept our fate without trying can we.
There is no magic wand to wave to kill the disease off, but this is our best hope. Making decisions on this without knowing the facts is the real danger and could put you and your children at more serious risk than giving them the vaccination.
I'll say again, it is your decision to make, just make sure that you make the correct decision based on facts.”
by Bing, Easton
Friday, August 07 2009, 5:15PM
“Mandy. I was talking about the furore surrounding the MMR, not the hate Mail's take on the matter. My point is that administering an unproven vaccine on children to test side effects is likely to cause a furore similar to that of the MMR (which, btw, has a longer research history than this proposal). Parents should be very wary of turning their children over to doctors doing the bidding of their pharmaceutical paymasters, especially when it involves unproven pathogens. BTW, I have an autistic child, not one GP nor paediatrician has ever given me an explanation as to how he got that way, most of them were condescending and obstructive when I asked for more information. I have done my homework on the matter so I tend to know much more than they do.”
by Chris, Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 1:06PM
“Mandy that is exceedingly naive to suggest that all the concerns about the MMR jab is a concoction of the Daily Mail!
Actually there is a large body of evidence out there showing the very real and suspected harms of not only the MMR vaccine, but indeed all vaccinations, proving, as they are, to be a huge insult on those whose immune system is still yet to be fully developed.
Parents would be wise, in my view, to do as much research as they can before deciding whether to go ahead with it.
Incidentally, as your average GP is trained in drug company funded medical schools and is paid a bonus to achieve certain levels of vaccination, they might not be the most independent sources of information.”
by Mandy Cook, BS1
Friday, August 07 2009, 12:09PM
“The MMR furore was made up by the Daily Mail, methinks Bing is an insider.
Check with a GP before spouting an opinion from the silly papers”
by Anon, NHS,Bristol
Friday, August 07 2009, 12:09PM
“I have said in several past posts, This drug is untested, I would not give it to my kids!!”
by Laura, Whitchurch
Friday, August 07 2009, 9:15AM
“My children won't be having it!”