alien
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i know i got some vaccinations before the age of 11, but i don't know what they were for, but maybe that covers me from some illnesses already - i don't know. i know they weren't flu vaccinations. there were quite a few people in australia who had bad reactions to the flu vaccine a few years ago. i'm pretty sure it was one of the times where they put multiple vaccines into 1, and it wasn't properly tested, except for on the people who got it i guess. i know it's just a small percentage, but the way i see it is why would i even take that small risk when i hardly ever get sick anyway. if i was sick a lot then maybe i'd consider it. some viruses can effect older people more so maybe it is more important for them to get vaccinated, or anyone with a weak immune system. that's up to them though.
with a quick search i found this
Flu shots with side-effects on offer again
THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 16, 2012 12:00AM
Perth mother Kirsten Button with her toddler Saba, who suffered brain damage after a Fluvax shot in 2010. Picture: Colin Murty Source: The Australian
A FLU vaccine banned for children and found to trigger the most side-effects in adults has again been selected for the nation's flu immunisation program, on the grounds an Australian-made product would guarantee supply.
Taxpayers will spend $117 million on a contract for Australian pharmaceutical giant CSL to supply the nation's seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines until 2016.
CSL's Fluvax product remains banned for children younger than five, having triggered febrile convulsions in one in 100 children in 2010. The federal Health Department's Therapeutic Goods Administration, which has yet to determine the cause of the fits in children, has released new data revealing Fluvax was four times more likely to trigger side-effects in adults than two rival vaccines.
The Australian can reveal that despite the finding, the Health Department has renewed CSL's contract to supply flu vaccines under the National Immunisation Program, which gives free flu shots to the over-65s, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, pregnant women, homeless people and children or adults with underlying health conditions such as impaired immunity, heart or respiratory disease and diabetes.
A Health Department spokeswoman said yesterday CSL was the only vaccine manufacturer able to guarantee sufficient supplies in time for the program to start next month. "CSL is the only onshore manufacturer of influenza vaccine and, as such, is the only supplier that can guarantee sufficient supply of influenza vaccine to allow the national vaccination program to commence on 15 March each year, and ensure protection of people well in advance of the influenza season," the spokeswoman said.
She said Fluvax would not be used in children younger than 10, who would be given Fluarix, which is manufactured by British-based GlaxoSmithKline, or Vaxigrip, which is made by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
Perth mother Kirsten Button, whose toddler Saba suffered brain damage after her Fluvax shot in 2010, said yesterday she was "shocked" the government would award the contract to CSL when it did not know why Fluvax had caused so many febrile convulsions. "What assurance does the public have, when they have not explained to us what happened with Fluvax in the first place?" Ms Button said.
She said Saba had been in perfect health before her flu shot, but 16 hours later was on life support, with brain injury and organ damage.
Now two months shy of her third birthday, Saba has epilepsy and is fed through a tube.
"She doesn't talk, she doesn't walk, she doesn't eat and she can't see properly," Ms Button said. However, the little girl does occasionally reward her parents with a smile.
CSL was awarded the $117m contract in December, and the information was published on the federal government's tender database last Friday.
Sanofi-Aventis was awarded a $69.5m contract while GlaxoSmithKline received a $14.7m contract - both to supply seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines for five years.
The contracts coincide with a new TGA review that reveals the risk of side-effects in adults from Fluvax in 2010 was "modestly higher" than for two rival brands.
Fluvax was 14.5 times more likely to cause a headache and nine times more likely to cause fatigue than Vaxigrip.
The data - based on an analysis of "adverse events" in adults vaccinated during the 2010 flu season - reveals Fluvax was 4.4 times more likely to cause vomiting and 10.7 times more likely to cause injection site pain than Influvac, made in The Netherlands for Abbott Australasia.
A CSL spokeswoman said the "key finding" of the TGA study was that "the safety profile of Fluvax in adolescents and adults continues to be acceptable, and that the vaccine therefore remains suitable for use in these age groups".
She said CSL was close to finishing its investigation into the cause of the convulsions, and would make the results public.
The Health spokeswoman said the TGA data did not show any adults suffered febrile convulsions after Fluvax, and most side-effects concerned pain around the injection area.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...s-on-offer-again/story-fn59nokw-1226272233348
