Wanted: Bristol kids to test swine flu vaccine
Parents in Bristol are being asked to put their children forward so new swine flu vaccines can be tested on them.
They are being invited to apply through a website for the trial.
Their children will each receive two jabs and the effect will be studied by experts from Bristol University.
They want to establish which of the vaccines works best and to check if there are any side-effects.
The first youngsters will be given the inoculations at Bristol Children's Hospital from next week as part of the study.
A total of 250 children in the South West aged six months to 12 years will be given the vaccinations, with the bulk expected to be from Bristol.
Professor of paediatrics at Bristol University, Adam Finn, is leading the project in the city.
He said: "Children are one of the age groups most vulnerable to swine flu infection, so it is vital that we obtain information on their response to these vaccines. This study will help in decisions about which vaccine will be best for protecting children.
"We will be checking for sore arms and fevers but the key thing is to look at the antibodies within the blood.
"These are the vaccines we expect to be using within a few weeks. They are very similar to vaccines that have been used in studies and in people for many years.
"We would not be doing a study if we thought we were putting children at risk, and nor would the Government be buying and distributing the vaccines if they thought they were dangerous."
Millions of doses of two swine flu vaccines have been bought for use in the UK by the Department of Health to control the expected outbreak this autumn.
The vaccines have already been tested in adults but more information is needed about how they work in children.
When the vaccination programme begins later this autumn youngsters and adults with long-term health conditions will be given priority.
But the study will help experts decide whether more youngsters should be given the inoculation against the H1N1 virus.
A website has been launched to provide parents with more information about the research and to advise them how to take part in the study.
Youngsters who take part will be given the vaccine on their first visit to the children's hospital along with a blood test with local anaesthetic, and will then return three weeks later for the second jab. A further six weeks later another blood sample will be taken so that scientists can determine how well the vaccine has worked.
Parents will be asked to fill in details of any reactions or side-effects their children suffer and if they need to visit a doctor or the hospital following the vaccine.
The project is a collaboration between University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol University, Oxford University, University of Southampton Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, St George's Vaccine Institute in London and the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.
The parents of children taking part in the study will be given a 24-hour helpline number to contact if they have any concerns.
Parents interested in enrolling their child in the study should call 0117 342 0699 for further information.
10 Comments
by hannah, bristol
Friday, September 25 2009, 2:18PM
“whats up with the lab rats? are they sitting this one out? or are they on strike like the postmen!!!”
by Ferret, Bristol area
Friday, September 25 2009, 1:51PM
“This will be a manufactured 'pandemic' and drug companies that manufacture the vaccine stand to make a lot of money out of it.
Makes you wonder when USA nurses and other health professionals are planning to stage a rally to protest a state regulation that mandates they will lose their jobs if they refuse to take the swine flu shot. Fears grow about the vaccine¿s dangerous ingredients and US government plans to forcibly inoculate whole populations with the H1N1 jab.
When will we find ourselves criminalised here if we refuse to have the vaccine, should the goverment make it compulsory?
People in the US have died after taking this supposed vaccine - why is this not being reported in the media?”
by Ferret, Bristol area
Friday, September 25 2009, 1:08PM
“I totally agree with John's comments.
There are massive boycotts in the USA to this untested vaccine.
It contains a chemical called squalene, used to stimulate the immune system to respond to the vaccine. Some scientists believe squalene is linked to autoimmune illnesses including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Squalene was included in the anthrax jab given to British and US soldiers during the 1991 Gulf War. Many claim it caused them permanent neurological damage, known as ¿Gulf War syndrome".
Quote:Dr Richard Halvorsen, author of The Truth About Vaccines, said: ¿Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man. It should not have a place in any vaccine for anyone of any age.¿
Don't volunteer!”
by michelle, Bristol
Friday, September 25 2009, 11:45AM
“Why Bristol kids??
How rude-I swear they're just trying to reduce the population in Bristol.
Are we really that bad??
Oooh I have an excellent idea..make the yobs test it lol!”
by Malc P, Malc. P
Friday, September 25 2009, 8:36AM
“Jehovah¿s witness me. Answered.”
by Sofie, Still here
Friday, September 25 2009, 8:22AM
“Good point John. If you do want to allow you child to take part in this, make sure you get paid for it. The company developing this along with its shareholders are going to make "shed loads" of money on this.”
by Bridget, Bristol
Friday, September 25 2009, 8:05AM
“I do agree there is a certain portion of the population that are unemployed by choice, & could be deemed as lazy layabouts, however I feel if you are going to make comments on a story you read it in full before you make statements like Malc. If he had read it fully he would know that the trials need to be on Children between 6 months & 12 years old, as this age group is more likely to contract Swine Flu. I would be more than happy to allow my 5 year old to be a ''Testee'', if it meant that this vaccine would be used to potentially save another child's life. Lets hope that Malc never has to have a vaccine or procedure to save his life, that has been tested on someone, would he refuse??, you can't have it both ways.”
by John, Bristol
Friday, September 25 2009, 8:04AM
“I wouldn¿t harm my children by injecting them with such an untested, dangerous substance against such a mild form of flu. It is a disgrace that children are to be used as human guinea pigs for a vaccine that has not been proved safe.
Vaccines which have been approved by the government authorities for vaccination against the alleged H1N1 Influenza A Swine Flu have been found to contain nano particles. Vaccine makers have been experimenting with nanoparticles as a way to ¿turbo charge¿ vaccines for several years. Now it has come out that the vaccines approved for use in Germany and other European countries contain nanoparticles in a form that reportedly attacks healthy cells, can be deadly and at the least cause severe irreparable health damage.
This comes on top of the the Austrian investigative journalist Jane Burgermeister who has filed charges against the WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder. She charges that the entire "swine flu" pandemic business is premised on a massive lie that there is no natural virus out there that poses a threat to the population. She presents evidence leading to the belief that the bird flu and swine flu viruses have, in fact, been bioengineered in laboratories using funding supplied by the WHO and other government agencies, among others. This "swine flu" is a hybrid of part swine flu, part human flu and part bird flu, something that can only come from laboratories according to many experts.
WHO's claim that this "swine flu" is spreading and a pandemic must be declared ignores the fundamental causes. The viruses that were were created and released with the help of WHO, and WHO is overwhelmingly responsible for the pandemic in the first place. In addition, the symptoms of the supposed "swine flu" are indistinguishable from regular flu or from the common cold. The "swine flu" does not cause death anymore often than the regular flu causes death.
Still it all makes for even more huge profits for the Pharmaceutical companies at our expense.”
by Sofie Nears, Cloud cuckoo land
Friday, September 25 2009, 7:57AM
“Have they actually told us what is in this vaccination and how it has been created? Usually it takes years to test drugs before they are deemed fit for human use - this has been pushed through in a matter of weeks. I am no medic, but I was reading that the vaccination is "cell-culture based" and these cells have tumor characteristics. There is no guarantee that protein from these tumor cells will not be passed into the vaccination and then on to the patient. More ino please !!!!!!!”
by Malc P, Durban
Friday, September 25 2009, 7:24AM
“Using school kids as Guinea Pigs, rather use the unemployed lazy layabouts.”