Sorry - this is an article blaming deaths on not having the vaccine.........Over a dozen kids dead from vaccine in UK

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Sorry - this is an article blaming deaths on not having the vaccine.........

\Sheri

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/8261939/Doctors-ordered-to-stop-givi\

ng-flu-jabs-to-children.html

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Doctors ordered to stop giving flu jabs to children

Health officials have ordered doctors to shelve a

vaccination programme which was under way to protect children from swine flu.

By Donnelly, Health Correspondent 10:15AM GMT 16 Jan 2011

Doctors in north-west England began giving jabs

to healthy schoolchildren earlier this month,

after senior medics decided that stocks of

vaccine should be used to prevent the spread of disease among the young.

The decision, taken by Bury Primary Care Trust

(PCT), came 11 days ago, following more than a

dozen deaths in Greater Manchester, including

three in Bury, as well as that of three-year-old

Lana Ameen, who died on Boxing Day soon after falling ill in nearby Stockport.

Parents were told that their children would be

offered the jabs, and hundreds of pupils at two

schools in Bury, Derby High School and Prestwich

Arts College, were given the vaccine.

But on Tuesday, bosses at North West Strategic

Health Authority (SHA) ordered doctors and nurses

to stop providing the jabs ­ and now hundreds

more families have been informed that their

children will not be offered protection after all.

Local doctors say the change of plan ­ to bring

the area in line with official Government

restrictions ­ has left parents feeling fearful and anxious.

Government policy says that while pregnant women,

the elderly, and those with health problems are

supposed to be offered the vaccine, healthy

children should not be given it, despite high

incidence of flu among the young this winter.

With rising numbers of deaths among children, the

Government policy is under increasing attack.

Dr Elton, director of public health for

Bury PCT, had ordered the vaccination of

children, starting with five schools, after

considering research in medical journal The

Lancet, which showed particular risks of flu

complications among ethnic minorities.

He said that the programme was sensible, because

" stopping just one child from needing intensive

care treatment more than pays for vaccinating the whole school " .

The decision, taken at a meeting of the PCT on

January 5, had been backed by local doctors.

The PCT now says it changed its stance last week

" based on further advice received from the SHA " .

Dr Rakesh Thakker, a local GP, said the move by

the SHA to block the vaccinations had left parents anxious.

He said: " I was involved in the decision to

vaccinate healthy children ­ we thought it was in

the best interests of our local population.

" It is difficult when that decision gets

overruled ­ the change of plan has caused

significant problems and concerns among parents,

who don't know what to think. "

On Friday, the father of Lana Ameen, who died

aged three after falling ill in nearby Stockport,

spoke of his grief and fury over the Government's

refusal to vaccinate children.

Dr Zana Ameen, an NHS doctor, had sought the jab

for his young daughter, but had been told she was

not eligible. She died on Boxing Day, after

falling ill while the family visited relatives.

He said: " As a doctor, I can't think of any

medical reasons not to make it available to young

children. The only possible reason can be saving money. "

Last winter, children under the age of five were

offered the swine flu jab, but this season,

Government advisers said children should only be

vaccinated if they had health problems, refusing

to change the advice even as flu reached epidemic levels among young children.

Documents have shown that last January, a

majority of a committee of scientists advising

the Government on the vaccination programme

thought children should be included in the

programme, yet inexplicably changed their mind weeks later.

As flu rates among young children soared, the

group held emergency talks two weeks ago but

decided that there would be insufficient " gain " ,

as rates of flu were likely to fall soon.

Figures published on Thursday show the number of

flu deaths has doubled in a week, up from 50 to 112.

Influenza experts said they had " a lot of

sympathy " with angry and anxious parents who have

been trawling private clinics, and even going abroad in search of vaccines.

On parenting website Mumsnet, mothers described

desperate attempts to find centres which would

give the jab, with some private clinics charging more than £200 for it.

Others said they had used family trips to France

and Switzerland to have their children immunised,

while several mothers of young children said they

were keeping them away from school and nursery because of their concerns.

Prof Oxford, a flu expert at Queen ,

University of London, said: " I have a lot of

sympathy for parents in this situation, I can see why they would be anxious. "

He said that he felt " uneasy " about the

Government approach to the flu outbreak, and that

it appeared to be " stumbling " into decisions,

such as the late move to launch a national

advertising campaign last month, and Friday's

decision to use old stocks of swine flu vaccine

to plug shortages of seasonal jabs.

Microbiologist Prof Hugh Pennington said he was

" very disappointed " by the decision not to offer

the jab to children, contrasting advice in this

country with that in the US where it is routinely given.

He said: " Some babies have already died from

swine flu this winter, and undoubtedly there will

be more deaths ­ the numbers are small, but these deaths are preventable. "

Krasner, Director

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