Doctors worried about Swine Flu vac for babies.

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http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/17/h1n1-vaccine-babies.html

 

H1N1 vaccine in babies worries expert

 

Last Updated: Thursday, September 17, 2009 | 11:10 AM ET

 

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CBC

News An expert in infectious diseases and vaccines is

pushing the Public Health Agency of Canada to make a safer form of H1N1

vaccine available to babies.

The federal government has ordered 50.4 million doses of vaccine, most of

which contain an adjuvant ­ a substance used to boost the vaccine's

effectiveness.

The 1.2 million doses that won't include the adjuvant are intended for

pregnant women because little research has been done on the effect an

adjuvant would have on them.

'I wouldn't want to rush into using the adjuvanted product without

there having been a reasonable number of clinical trials in that [infant]

age group.'­ Dr. David Scheifele

Likewise, there's little known about how a baby would react to an

adjuvant, but there are no plans to use adjuvant-free vaccines on

infants.

So some doctors and public health officials are pushing the federal

government to make vaccine without adjuvant available to babies aged six

to 18 months, at least until there is more research on whether it causes

any side-effects in that age group.

"I wouldn't want to rush into using the adjuvanted product without

there having been a reasonable number of clinical trials in that age

group," said Dr. David Scheifele, a pediatric infection specialist

and director of the vaccine evaluation centre at British Columbia's Child

and Family Research Institute.

Research is showing the adjuvant used to boost the H1N1 vaccine is safe

and effective for adults. Canada's H1N1 flu vaccine maker,

GlaxoSmithKline, is conducting other studies now.

"We'll be very, very confident about the adjuvanted vaccine, which

we know in addition to providing some better immunity, appears to provide

longer lasting immunity in previous trials as well as protection against

drift or changes in the virus itself," Dr. David Butler-Jones,

Canada's chief public health officer, said Wednesday.

Babies and pregnant women are two of the groups on Canada's priority list

for the H1N1 vaccine because they are most likely to develop severe

symptoms if infected with the pandemic virus.

Canadian clinical trials that are about to begin at 30 sites across the

country will include some babies over six months of age. When that data

is in ­ likely in a couple of months and possibly after vaccination

clinics have started delivering shots ­ a change in policy on giving

young children the adjuvanted form of the vaccine could happen,

Butler-Jones said

----------------------- All it takes is just one vaccine to forever change your life. - Dawn, mother of vaccine damaged child.

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