New 5 in 1 vaccine
Expert rejects autism link to five-in-one jab
(Filed: 09/08/2004)
A new five-in-one vaccine to protect babies from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and polio is safe, according to a top health official.
Campaigners have voiced fears that the vaccine could cause the problems linked to the MMR vaccine, which they blame for causing autism.
But Dr David Salisbury, the head of immunisations at the Department of Health, dismissed fears that an infant"s immune could be "overloaded" by the five-in-one jab.
"We will actually be giving children far fewer ingredients, not more, so all the mumblings that have been going on about overloading the immune system are the wrong way round," he said.
"That is even if you believe the immune system can be overloaded. This isn"t a real risk anyway."
Dr Salisbury also said the introduction of the new jab had nothing to do with fears that the mercury-based preservative thiomersal, which was used in the old whooping cough vaccine, could cause autism.
"I have read a lot that this is to do with fears of an mercury-autism link and that is the reason for this change," he said. "It is not."
He said the new jab was being introduced for two reasons. Firstly to replace the live oral polio vaccine, which carries a very small risk of causing paralytic polio, with an inactivated vaccine.
Secondly the new jab will introduce a new "acellular" whooping cough vaccine instead of the "whole cell" vaccine, which the Government had been committed to doing for some time.
"They are equally as effective but the acellular vaccine gives fewer temperatures, fewer sore arms and fewer grizzly children in the 48 hours after they are immunised," he said.
Dr Salisbury said the use of thiomersal as a preservative in the jab would breakdown the protection offered by the new polio vaccine.
The new vaccine, made by Aventis Pasteur under the brand name Pediacel, will be administered to babies over two months old and will be distributed to surgeries over a two-week period in September.
There will also be new vaccines for pre-school and teenage immunisations boosters.
Dr Salisbury urged parents to make sure their children were immunised before and after the new jab is introduced.
"If you delay protecting your baby, particularly against whooping cough, then you leave your child at risk," he said.
"Whooping cough does kill and the people it kills are babies too young to be immunised or those where immunisation is delayed."
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Posted by : Phoenix , Date : 2004-08-10 , Time : 02:56:01 , From IP : 172.29.3.246
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