Fed: Parents should not panic over low-dose flu vaccine: govt

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2007
Fed: Parents should not panic over low-dose flu vaccine: govt

CANBERRA, Aug 21 AAP - Children given a low-dose vaccine against influenza are not
at higher risk of contracting the disease, the government's chief immunisation adviser
says.

Doctors were last week told to vaccinate children aged up to three with a dose of 0.25ml
- double the previous Australian minimum and the amount recommended on some products.

Despite the change, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation chairman Dr
Terry Nolan said, children given the lower dose did not need a booster shot.

"In the past, the belief has been that that dose was adequate for protection," Dr Nolan
told ABC radio.

"To my knowledge there is no clear evidence that the dose that has been used is linked
in any way to sub-performance of the vaccine or reduced efficacy."

The lower dose had been recommended in the past because of what turned out to be "ill-informed
concern" that young children given more could suffer reactions such as soreness and irritation
at the injection site.

But recent studies had found no evidence of side effects linked to the newly recommended
dose, Dr Nolan said.

Dr Nolan said the new dose was "logistically easier" to administer, as the old 0.125ml
dose was difficult for doctors to measure, and the change also brought Australia in line
with standard worldwide practice.

The federal government's official Australian Immunisation Handbook has been updated
to reflect the change.

It comes as fresh influenza reports confirm infection rates are climbing.

Statistics show 837 official notifications of influenza were made nationally in the
week to August 11 - about 150 more than reported the previous week.

This is more than triple the number of cases reported in the worst week of last year,
and almost double the rate in the biggest flu week of the severe 2003 influenza season.

Overall, there have been 4,422 notifications to the health department this year - three
times the average in the past five years, and probably a fraction of actual flu infections.

The worst influenza season in many years has claimed nine lives, including six children
from four states.

Three adults - a 37-year-old Queensland man, a 48-year-old woman from South Australia
and a 33-year-old Queensland mother-of-two - have also died after suffering flu-like symptoms.

Dr Ian Barr, deputy director of the Melbourne-based World Health Organisation Influenza
Centre, said mild seasons in recent years combined with the presence of two virulent strains,
H3N2 and H1N1, may be contributing to the bad season.

"So it might be a dual problem this year - we have two strains circulating, and we
haven't seen much influenza for the last few years," he told ABC radio.

Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for the federal government
to make the vaccine available free to everyone aged over six months.

It is currently free to people aged over 65.

AMA immunisation expert Dr Rod Pearce said it was not too late to be vaccinated as
the flu season was expected to last until October.

"The international information suggests that almost everyone over the age of 50 would
benefit from it. Some places in the USA have recommended everyone from the age of six
months receive a free vaccine," Dr Pearce told ABC radio.

"That work is in progress and the information is being looked at, and so far there
hasn't been any firm recommendation. But, certainly, the AMA supports any initiative that
will make influenza vaccine more freely available to the community."

AAP jb/jm/cdh

KEYWORD: FLU

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