Seasonal Flu Vaccination For Young Children Can Be Resumed

The Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer has issued a Health Information Update on the use of seasonal flu vaccination for young children. The update advises that if parents of children under five years of age wish to have their children vaccinated against seasonal flu, they should discuss the use of Vaxigrip or Influvac vaccine with their GP or vaccine provider.

Continued close monitoring of side effects with this year's seasonal flu vaccine in children under five years of age has shown that the higher than usual incidence of fever and febrile convulsions appears to be confined to the vaccine Fluvax, manufactured by CSL, and does not appear to be associated with Vaxigrip or Influvac.  In particular, data from Australia and New Zealand shows that rates of fever and febrile convulsions associated with Vaxigrip and Influvac are similar to those seen with trivalent seasonal flu vaccine in previous years.

Parents are encouraged to speak with their doctor about vaccination if a child has an underlying medical condition where flu could be harmful to the child, and to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of vaccination in each individual child.

It has still not been possible to identify a biological or other basis that would explain the higher than expected observed rates of fever and febrile convulsions with Fluvax, but investigations are continuing.

It should be noted that influenza itself often causes fever in young children which can lead to febrile convulsions, and that all flu vaccines can cause this side effect which, if handled properly, is usually short lived.

More information is available on the Immunise Australia Hotline at 1800 671 811, and in the Health Information Update on the Department of Health and Ageing’s website.

HealthInsite, healthdirect Australia’s gateway to reliable health information online, has a topic page on Influenza Vaccines with links to information on this issue and systematic reviews of the evidence on influenza vaccines.