parkmedical.com.au

•    The Western Australian Health Department has reported an increase in fever and febrile convulsions in   children aged 5 years and under following seasonal flu vaccination.
•    Fever and febrile convulsions are recognised adverse reactions following immunisation in small children and generally have no long term consequences. It is unclear whether the reported increase in WA is simply because of a higher vaccination rate this year, or a real increase in the rate of febrile convulsions.
•    The temporary suspension of the program for children aged 5 years and under is a precautionary measure while the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) urgently reviews data from WA to determine what factors were involved in the adverse reactions seen in WA. A similar situation has not been reported in NSW but further investigation is underway.
•    Seasonal flu vaccination for people six years of age and over continues to be recommended.
•    The Australian Government’s Department of Health and Ageing has issued a press release with more information. This is available from: http://www.health.gov.au under ‘media centre’ and ‘Departmental media releases’.
•    There do not appear to be any implications for the swine flu vaccines (Panvax® and Panvax Junior®), which can continue to be administered to people aged six months and older.
•    For the latest information on the seasonal flu vaccination program in NSW please refer to the NSW Health seasonal flu vaccination website: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/PublicHealth/Immunisation/programs/seasonal_influenza- 2010.asp.

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