‘X’ gender: Germans no longer have to classify their kids as male or female

Germany has become the first European country to allow parents of babies born with no clearly-defined gender characteristics to leave the ‘male/female’ field on birth certificates blank, creating a ‘third sex’ category in the public register.

The law, passed in August, comes into force on November 1. It was prompted by results of a 2012 study by the German Ethics Council, which found the rights of intersex people weren’t protected well enough.

The legislation is meant to prevent parents from making hasty decisions on controversial genital surgeries for their not-entirely-male-or-female newborns, done to make one of the two gender characteristics prevail.

½ UK children in poverty live in cold, damp homes

More than half of British children in poverty are living in cold, damp homes, a new survey has found.

The study of 2,000 10-17-year-olds by the Children’s Society charity revealed that 76 percent of British children are "often worried" about how much money the family had.

More than 53 percent said their home was too cold last winter and 24 percent said it was "much colder" than they would have liked.

One in four (about 26 percent) also said their home suffered from damp or mould.

Britain Could Create First ‘Three-Parent Baby’ Through IVF

We've seen genetically modified mosquitoes, genetically modified plants, and genetically modified cows, but could we soon be dealing with our own genetic alterations – genetically modified humans? 

As the months and years pass, scientists seem to be getting closer to ‘manufacturing’ humankind, with some of the most recent ‘advancements’ revolving around a new approved drug therapy that is designed to ‘correct genetic errors’.

The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics.

The first baby with three parents could be born as early as 2015 after a landmark decision to move ahead on a controversial genetic treatment.

Britain could become the first country to sanction the creation of babies with three genetic parents, despite fears it might lead to ‘designer babies’.

The Government will publish draft regulations later this year that will bring techniques a step closer to giving women affected by devastating hereditary diseases the chance to have healthy children.

The techniques involve replacing defective DNA in the mother’s egg with material from a donor egg.

The resulting healthy child would effectively have two mothers and a father.

For the first time the ‘germ line’ of inherited DNA from the mother would be altered which, critics say, marks a turning point in the ethics of test-tube babies.

But the Government’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said the alteration did not affect fundamental DNA that determines an individual’s make-up such as facial features and eye colour.

She compared the new techniques to replacing a defective ‘battery pack’ in a cell that would virtually eliminate the chance of a severe disease in the child.

She said: ‘Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these diseases being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them.

‘It’s only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can.

‘What we’re going to do now is start to develop the regulations, to consult on the regulations, and then to take them into Parliament.’

If MPs approve the regulations at the end of next year, the first patients could be assessed and approved for treatment in 2015.

It is expected that between five and ten healthy babies with three parents could be born each year to couples who might otherwise face the heartbreak of seeing them severely disabled and often dying prematurely.

In these cases, a healthy child would inherit the parents’ nuclear DNA, along with mitochondrial DNA from a donor.

Dame Sally denied the UK was leading the way to designer babies. She said there was a ban on changing nuclear DNA which ‘I don’t see changing in the foreseeable future’.

She said: ‘I do think quite carefully about ethics, I always did as a clinician and I still do, perhaps because my father was a theologian.

'I am comfortable with this. I think we will save some five to ten babies from being born with ghastly disease and early death without changing what they look like, or how they behave, and it will help mothers to have their own babies.’

One in 6,500 babies is born seriously affected by a mitochondrial disorder which can lead to hearing and vision loss, heart, lung and liver problems, and bowel disorders. An estimated 12,000 people in the UK live with the diseases.

The move to consult on regulations which would legalise the technique comes after a consultation requested by the Government and run by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which found there was ‘general support’ from the public.

Many experts in the field support the techniques being actively developed at a new laboratory in Newcastle funded by the Wellcome Trust, as well as in the US.

Draft regulations which would permit licensed IVF clinics to offer the treatments to women with a family history of severe mitochondrial disease will be published later this year.

Josephine Quintavalle, from the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said the proposals were already causing worldwide concern.

She said: ‘This controversial announcement – presented simply as innovative genetic treatment when it is in effect an endorsement of highly contentious germ line modification of the human embryo – is hardly unexpected, given the enthusiasm already shown by both the Nuffield Council (on Bioethics) and the HFEA.

‘Our focus now turns to Parliament, where we hope that the proposals to create three-parent embryos will be voted down.’

Dr David King, director of Human Genetic Alert, added: ‘These techniques are unnecessary and unsafe.’

source

Vaccine Injured African Children Used as Lab Rats

It is no exaggeration to suggest that African children whose lives have been destroyed by a vaccine—given for a disease that isn't a concern to them—were used as lab rats by the Gates Foundation, PATH, UNICEF, and WHO. 

Their existence proves the vaccine is extremely dangerous. Nonetheless, it was hailed as a success. ~ Gaia Health Summary


In December 2012, vaccine tragedy hit the small village of Gouro, Chad, Africa, situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Five hundred children were locked into their school, threatened that if they did not agree to being force-vaccinated with a meningitis A vaccine, they would receive no further education. These children were vaccinated without their parents' knowledge. This vaccine was an unlicensed product still going through the third phase of testing.

Within hours, one hundred six children began to suffer from headaches, vomiting, severe uncontrollable convulsions and paralysis. The children's wait for a doctor began. They had to wait one full week for a doctor to arrive while the team of vaccinators just carried on vaccinating others from the village. More children became sick.

When the doctor finally came, he could do nothing for the children. The team of vaccinators, upon seeing what had happened, fled the village in fear.

Fifty children were finally transferred to a hospital in Faya and later taken by plane to two hospitals in N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad. After being shuttled around like cattle, these sick, weak children were dumped back in their village without a diagnosis and each family was given an unconfirmed sum of £1000 by the government. No forms were signed and no documentation was seen. They were informed that their children had not suffered a vaccine injury. However, if this were true, why would their government award each family £1000 in what has been described as hush money?

Interestingly, during the time the children spent in the hospital, two more children joined them from another village.

To read the full stories of this tragedy, please see references at the end of this article from previous Vactruth world-exclusive reports. [1,2,3,4]

Since this time, Vactruth has been passed a series of secret documents, which fill in some missing gaps in this story and expose just how corrupt the organizations behind this tragedy really are.


The Exclusive, Heartbreaking Details
On January 14, 2013, arrangements were made for seven female patients between the ages of 8-18 to be evacuated from the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN)  in N'Djamena and transferred by air to a clinic in Tunisia. This was scheduled to take place between January 16 and 22.

The documents in our possession state that the Chadian government arranged for the patients to be accompanied by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toingue, Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of the National General Referral Hospital; Dr. Moumar Mbaileyo, anesthesiologist employee of the National General Referral Hospital; and Mr. Dihoulne Kakiang, state-certified nurse, employee of the National General Referral Hospital.

On January 29, 2013, a letter passed between The Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of HGRN-N'Djaména and Mr. Director General of the National General Referral Hospital, stating:

Mr. Director General,

Herewith I have the honor of putting into your hands the report of the mission completed in Tunisia between 15 and 22 of January 2013 regarding the medical evacuation of 7 patients.

The Chief of Service.

Vactruth now has this report.


A Parent's Worst Nightmare
The report states that seven female patients between the ages of 8 and 18 had suffered adverse reactions after receiving the meningitis A vaccination during a national campaign, which took place on December 11, 2012, for the prevention of this illness. These patients had originally been taken to the Regional Hospital of Faya, before being transferred on December 26, 2012, to the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN) in N'Djamena.

Arrangements were later made for a medical evacuation to transfer these patients to Tunisia for further tests and treatment.

According to the report, the departure took place in N'Djamena on January 15, 2013, at 10:50 pm after a long wait at the Hassan airport in N'Djamena because of the late arrival of the plane.

The journey took place on board a Tunisian plane chartered by the International Medical Society (SMEDI). The party consisted of seven patients, three members of the medical team and seven parents (two men and five women) who accompanied the sick children.

Interestingly, the document states that the party did not fly alone. The government report states that twenty other passengers traveling to Tunisia for the same reason (medical evacuation) also joined the party. Sadly, there were no further details on these patients in the report.

Were these patients also vaccine-damaged by the meningitis A vaccination, and where did these twenty other sick patients come from?

Just before the plane took off, an 18 year-old patient had what the report describes as a 'shaking episode,' and was given a 10 mg vial of diazepam before boarding the plane. Other than this incident, the flight went well.


The Specialists Say "Case Closed"
The group arrived in Tunisia on January 16, 2013, and was received by SMEDI agents who took care of the police formalities (entry visa) before dividing the group into three parties. The patients were transported by ambulance to the clinic, the medical staff was taken to a hotel, and the patients' parents were taken to a center.

On the afternoon of January 16, the three medical staff were introduced to SMEDI's Director General, M. Ghazi Mejbri, to get acquainted. This was followed by a work session with the medical coordinator, Dr. Folla Amara. In the course of this meeting, the condition of the patients was discussed and plans were arranged for their care.

The patients were taken to the neurological department of SMEDI's La Sourka clinic. The clinic had received the children's medical records in advance and was reported to have conducted their own clinical and biological tests on the patients before meeting with the medical team that had accompanied them.

On January 17, a meeting took place with Professor Rachid Namai ("chef de clinique"), Dr. Kefi and Dr. Mabet. It was concluded that the children's 'shaking attacks' or convulsions were of no consequence. On the paraclinical level, the report stated that the serum tests of five patients did not reveal any anomalies, nor did the EEGs of six patients.

The EEG of the seventh patient showed minor anomalies in the immediate post-critical phase, but was reported to have stabilized. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) was to take place on all seven patients. After the meeting, the team visited the patients who were all reported to be well, except for one child who had developed tonsillitis and had to receive appropriate treatment.

On January 19, a second meeting took place at the La Soukra Clinic during which they examined the patients' medical records that gave the results of all the medical tests that had taken place. Among the biological perturbations there was reported to be one case of persistent thrombopenia (a lower than normal number of blood cell fragments called platelets), two cases of of elevated immunoglobulines E (Ig E) and five cases of gram negative bacteria directly upon examination—culturing has not been contributory.

The report stated that, generally speaking, the patients showed a raised tendency for hypoalbuminemia (swelling), hypo creatininemia (renal dysfunction), and hyper glucorrhagia (no definition found).

The MRI results showed no anomalies, and the HIV and hepatitis serologies were negative. The medical team found the children's health to be satisfactory. The report states that the children had no infectious cause for their illness and the hypothesis of an immuno-allergic reaction was deemed to be more probable.

At this point, it was decided to close the investigation due to the advice from specialists and followed up with epidemiological and pharmacodynamical studies.


No Reason For Concern?
On January 21, the mission members visited the clinic at La Soukra for a last time. They found all patients waiting for their stay to end. The report states that a short meeting took place with the chief of service who promised to give his medical report shortly. The mission ended with a visit to the Dr. Naoui Mohamed Néjib's laboratory where the biological tests of all the patients had been performed.

The mission members left Tunisia on January 22, 2013, around 2:00 pm and arrived in N'Djaména at 4:00 pm.

They concluded that the medical evacuation to Tunisia had given them the opportunity to investigate more thoroughly seven patients who had developed post-vaccination reactions during the national vaccination campaign against meningitis.

It was stated that, generally speaking, the clinical state of the patients did not give any reasons for concern and that the paraclinical balance of the majority did not show major perturbations.

The mission was deemed a success.

The report was signed by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toïngé in N'Djaména on January 28, 2013.


Determined Parents Won't Give Up
The parents tell a very, very different story. According to parents and relatives, these children were locked into their school, threatened with no education and forcibly vaccinated without their parents' knowledge.

They state that the children are still desperately ill and that they have no way of getting any medical care. After the mission, they were left in Faya and had to make their own way back to the village.

The children are still suffering severe convulsions. One relative told me:

The children drop suddenly to the ground and shake violently before going paralyzed. We do not know what is wrong and we want answers. No one will help us. Our children were well and fit, we have never had meningitis in our area, so why did they vaccinate our children with this vaccination?

Our children have since become aggressive in their behavior and have a rash all over their bodies. They are having terrible frightening convulsions. Why won't anyone help us?

I have been informed that the parents have formed an activist group to put out their plea to the world.


Unanswered Questions
The parents ask:

Were the vaccines used on our children out-of-date?

Had some of the batches used been spoiled in the heat?

Did the vaccinators vaccinate our children inadvertently with an unsafe product?

Was the maximum duration of four days without refrigeration respected and adhered to?

Were the vaccinators adequately trained?

They state:

All this disturbs us and makes us fear the worst effects for the future. We do not know what is going on behind the scenes and what the Minister of Health, the organizations involved with the tragedy (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH WHO, MVP and UNICEF) are saying or are going to do. As parents, our priority is to get back the health our children. We feel that it is very sad that [our] entire city is paralyzed and is suffering from epilepsy. We were hoping that our government would make a stand and save our children but it has so far failed to do so. Therefore we call assistance for everyone in the world to intervene.

Our needs as listed below:

• A health specialist, an organization or an individual to assist the sick children, who are innocent victims and help them to get their health back.
• Human rights organization or an individual lawyer who could help the parents' association with legal issues and get justice for the children against the Chad government, WHO, MVP, PATH, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indian company Serum Institute of India Ltd.
• Parents need independent and freelance journalists to help them to get media coverage and tell the world what has happened to the children of Gouro, Chad.

Conclusion
The parents' requests are simple and the same as any other parent left in this impossible situation. They feel deserted and betrayed by the Chadian government, who have left their children to die, while at the same time announcing the vaccination program to be a success. All the parents are very angry and are pleading with the world to help. They state they need lawyers, doctors, medication and above all, support.

This whole debacle has been a coverup from the very beginning. One of the children's relatives has told me that there has never been a case of meningitis in this part of Africa. So, why vaccinate children needlessly for a disease that does not exist in this area? Worse still, according to my source, this particular part of Chad is not even on the meningitis belt, and yet this vaccine was given to these children. He could be right, as according to a map attributed to the Gates Foundation, it is not.[5]

The abnormal tests demonstrate that the vaccines caused these problems (especially the abnormal immunoglobin levels).  Had the doctors done more specific tests proving vaccine damage (especially anti-myelin antibodies), they would have found abnormal levels, which indicate vaccine injury. Did they avoid doing these tests on purpose?

It seems very likely that these children, who are now sick and vulnerable, were used as lab rats and have since been left to die by some of the biggest organizations known to mankind. Five months have passed and a lot of covering up the truth has gone on and still, the world waits for answers. The children of Gouro and their parents want the following organizations –  PATH, WHO, UNICEF,  and the Gates Foundation — to make a public apology and to own up to what has happened. They want and need accountability.

This is a violation of the Nuremberg code and these government "officials" are guilty of crimes against humanity.

VacTruth wishes to thank medical research journalist and author Desiree Rover who translated all reports and documents from French.



Christina England



Sources:
http://vactruth.com/2013/01/06/paralyzed-after-meningitis-vaccine/
http://vactruth.com/2013/01/13/children-paralyzed-by-vaccine/
http://vactruth.com/2013/01/25/paralyzed-symptoms-in-head/
http://vactruth.com/2013/02/12/vaccine-cover-up/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/5837851502/

Police shot children as young as 12 with 50,000-volt Taser linked to causing fatal heart attacks

A schoolgirl, 12, is one of 24 young children to be hit with a full 50,000-volt

But at least 194 children aged 16 or under have been shocked with Tasers at lower levels in the last three years
Young people's charities and human rights organisations claim use of Tasers on children may cause heart problems later on


A 12-year-oldgirl was shot by police with a 50,000-volt Taser.
The girl, who was  brandishing  two knives and threatening to harm herself, was one of more than 20 children shot by officers using the electric stun guns, figures show.
Police said the Taser was used to  detain the girl and ‘prevent serious harm to both her, the public and the officers’ after she began behaving ‘aggressively’ in St Helens, Merseyside, in July 2011.


Although the girl was unhurt in the incident there are fears that being hit with a Taser can increase the risk of  fatal heart attacks.

The schoolgirl was one of  more than 20 children stunned with the weapons in the past three years,  according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
They included six children aged 14, four aged 15 and 13 aged 16.
Scores of other children, some as young as 11, have been threatened with the weapons.


In total, at least 194 children aged 16 or under have had Tasers used on them in the past three years, according to figures uncovered by the investigative agency OpenWorld News.
Of these, at least 24 were actually shot by the Taser – a barb attached by a wire to deliver an electric shock of up to 50,000 volts.


Last night young people’s charities and human rights organisations said the use of Tasers on children was deeply worrying. The high-powered weapons should be fired on children only as a last resort, they said.
Amnesty International’s Oliver Sprague said: ‘In the United States more than 500 people have died after being shocked by a Taser and, in many instances, the coroner declared the Tasers a contributory factor.’
Tasers are increasingly being carried by British police after being introduced in 2004. Many officers on the beat can now carry the weapons after just a short training course.
At least six children were ‘drive-stunned’ by Tasers – where the electric device is held directly against the body.

Another 97 children were ‘red dotted’, with officers pointing the Taser at the child and pinpointing exactly where the barbs would hit their body with a red ‘sniper’ dot.
This included a 15-year-old targeted by Devon and Cornwall Police after he threw a glass at shop staff and took up a ‘fighting stance’ with his eyes ‘squinted’ as officers approached.
The use of the stun weapons against young children comes despite advice to the Home Office that Tasers are more likely to cause heart problems in children.
The advice, from independent scientific body Defence Sub-committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons, was published in the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Taser guidelines.

It notes ‘children and adults of smaller stature as being at potentially greater risk from the cardiac effects of Taser currents than normal adults of average or larger stature’.
Penelope Gibbs, chairman of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, a coalition of more than 25 voluntary bodies campaigning for youth justice reform, said the findings were ‘really shocking’.

‘The number of incidents indicate that the police are not using other techniques to calm potentially vulnerable or disturbed teenagers,’ she said.
A total of 27 forces provided responses on the use of Tasers against children during 2010, 2011 and 2012. But the true figure of Taser use on young children is likely to be much higher.

• A 14-year-old girl in Nottingham was accidentally shot as officers tried to arrest a suspect in the city.
•  A 14-year-old burglary suspect armed with a screwdriver was shot in Gwent, south Wales.
•  A 14-year-old was shot with Taser in Northumbria after the teen attacked another person with cosh - a truncheon-like weapon.
•  A 14-year-old was shot by armed officers in Warwickshire who was alleged to have been armed with a knife and 'being racially abusive'.
•  A 14-year-old boy was drive-stunned in York for resisting arrest.
•  A 12-year-old girl armed with a knife was red-dotted in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, by armed officers.
•  A 15-year-old was shot in Frome, Somerset, after an alleged assault.
•  A 15-year-old was Tasered in Nottinghamshire after apparently being violent towards an officer and carrying a knuckle duster.

James Drummond

Thousands of kids’ products contain toxic chemicals

More than 5,000 products, including clothing, toys and bedding, contain toxic chemicals that could be dangerous for children’s health, yet stores still stock them and consumers know little about their content, an advocacy group reported this week.

"For most products in our homes, including children’s products, we simply don’t have standards," said Erika Schreder, science director for the Washington Toxics Coalition and author of the report released Wednesday based on toxic chemical data from Washington state. "Manufacturers are allowed to use just about anything they want to."

The report, called "Chemicals Revealed," identified more than 5,000 products such as footwear, car seats and arts and crafts supplies that include developmental or reproductive toxins and carcinogens. Those include such toxic metals as mercury, cadmium, cobalt, antimony and molybdenum. Manufacturers also reported using phthalates in clothing, toys, bedding and baby products. Phthalates, hormone-disrupting chemicals, most are often used to make plastics pliable.

The Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States, a coalition of consumer advocacy groups, looked at products sold in Washington state. The state in 2008 began requiring retailers to report whether they’re selling products that contain one of 66 chemicals identified by the state as being of high concern to children.

The legislation required major companies making children’s products to report to the Washington State Department of Ecology beginning last year. The report covers certain children’s products sold in the state from June 1, 2012, to March 1, 2013.

Major retailers who reported using the chemicals in their products include Walmart, Gap, Gymboree, Hallmark and H&M.

Retailers aren’t required to report the exact product, however, just product categories. The report identified Hallmark party hats containing cancer-causing arsenic, for example, but because of the limited data that manufacturers and retailers are required to disclose, it’s impossible to specify the exact party hat.

Among the other products identified in the report: Graco car seats containing the toxic flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A, Claire’s cosmetics containing cancer-causing formaldehyde, and Walmart dolls containing hormone-disrupting bisphenol A.

The groups praised manufacturers and retailers for providing even limited data, saying that the information is critical for understanding the presence of toxic chemicals. Yet to truly protect children, Schreder said, manufacturers need to identify safer ways to make their products and stop using harmful chemicals. The organization also backs efforts to ban two fire retardants in Washington state.

To find out more, consumers must press the individual retailers and manufacturers for more information, said Sarah Doll of Safer States, which is part of a network of environmental health groups nationwide.

“The biggest thing that this does is to demonstrate a system that’s broken, and to ask for better protection,” Doll said. “You can actually go to the retailer and say, ‘I want you to ask your suppliers if these products contain those chemicals.’”

Only Maine has a similar program, but other states may follow Washington’s lead in the absence of federal rules. A federal Government Accountability Office report issued in March found that the Environmental Protection Agency is limited under the Toxic Substances Control Act authority.

Of the 83 chemicals EPA has prioritized for risk assessment, the agency initiated seven assessments in 2012 and plans to start 18 additional assessments this year and next, the GAO report found.

The report also found it may take several years to complete these initial risk assessments and, at the agency’s current pace, more than a decade to complete all 83. The EPA does not have the toxicity and exposure data needed for 58 of the 83 chemicals prioritized for risk assessment, the report found.

Two Democratic senators, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013, which would give the EPA more tools to collect health and safety information on chemicals, screen them for safety and require risk management when chemicals cannot be proven safe.

"The one saving grace of our national chemical policy is that it at least allows the states to act. Right now they are shedding the only light we have on what toxic chemicals end up in products," said Andy Igrejas, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, an organization of state groups devoted to reducing the toxicity of consumer goods.




source

Update: Flu vaccine backlash

Flu vaccine backlash

Flu vaccination ban goes national after fever, convulsions in children

Doctors are being advised to stop giving the flu vaccine to children.
Seasonal flu vaccinations across Australia for children under five have been suspended after 23 children in Western Australia were admitted to hospital with convulsions following their injections.
One child, aged 1, remains in a coma in a Perth hospital.
He couldn't cry - his head was hanging down in the car seat and he couldn't move. I was petrified - it was one of the worst experiences of my life.

Commonwealth chief health officer Professor Jim Bishop yesterday announced the suspension while authorities urgently review data from around the country.
WA's chief public health officer Tarun Weeramanthri has defended the response time in closing down the state's juvenile flu vaccine program amid revelations that children were presenting with convulsions more than two weeks ago.

More than 60 children around the state may have had adverse reactions to the vaccine, including fevers, vomiting and febrile convulsions - a type of fit brought on by a high fever.
One child remains in a critical condition in hospital after being given the vaccine. Dr Weeramanthri said he had few details on the child's condition but they were "seriously ill".
He said a national process set by the Therapeutic Goods Administration had been observed in responding to the reactions. Under the process the best clinical information was collected from as many doctors as possible and an assessment made on the "totality of that".
"We take all reports very seriously and we believe we've acted in a very timely fashion," Dr Weeramanthri said.

"We've been monitoring the situation, we've been talking to clinicians and we've acted as soon as we can."
He said that since this year's vaccine program started a month ago, 23 children under the age of 10 had presented to Princess Margaret Hospital with convulsions related to vaccinations they had received less than 12 hours before.
Another 40 convulsion cases had been detected in the past month in children at other metropolitan hospitals and in Bunbury. Doctors are now working to determine how many of those children received the flu vaccine.

Aside from the convulsions, affected children were suffering fever and vomiting within 12 hours of their flu shots.
A teleconference today with state, territory and TGA officials confirmed the picture in other states would not be available for "a few days".
Dr Weeramanthri said the TGA was assessing the geographical spread of symptoms across Australia, and directly testing batches of vaccine for any impurity.

Health authorities are also working to determine if the entire Fluvax drug, or just batches, have caused the symptoms, and whether an alternative vaccine should be used.
University of Western Australia school of Paediatrics and Child Health Associate Professor Peter Richmond said that only Fluvax - produced by Australia's biggest biopharmaceutical company CSL - was being used to vaccinate children in WA.

Dr Richmond said researchers were trying to determine whether it was the entire vaccine, or just batches, that had caused the problems which today prompted Australia's chief medical officer to tell doctors to stop giving the vaccine to children.
He said the side effects had been largely limited to children under the age of five and he would not recommend that anybody in other groups - including elderly people - cancel their flu shots.
"This is not a long-term safety issue with vaccines," Dr Richmond told WAtoday.com.au.
He recommended parents of young children who had received only the first of the required two vaccination doses hold off on the second dose for now.
This was despite the fact children who had no side effects from their first dose were unlikely to receive complications from their second.

Dr Richmond said the first dose provided partial protection against the flu anyway.
He said researchers were examining whether an alternative drug to Fluvax could be used for the second dose - generally scheduled for four weeks after the first.
Researchers were also trying to determine if the problem with Fluvax was temporary only - and whether the drug could still be used in coming weeks for the second dose.
He stressed that the vast majority of children receiving Fluvax had suffered no complications.

Commonwealth chief medical officer Jim Bishop issued a national warning to GPs not to use the vaccine followed a decision last night by the WA government to suspend the free vaccination program for children under five over concerns it was causing high fevers and convulsions.

"We suggest doctors and health professionals vaccinating children don't use the seasonal flu vaccine for the moment, until we can get the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to investigate this in more detail," Professor Bishop told ABC TV.
He said the concerns stemmed from a significant rise in the number of children developing a fever after receiving the vaccine.
"We need more information about what’s happened in WA, but also what we can now find out from all the other states from their experience," Professor Bishop said.
"If this has been brought up as a possible side-effect of this drug, then we ought to at least suspend its use until we know more."

In light of the seasonal flu shot suspension, Professor Bishop suggested children get vaccinated against swine flu instead, because that could be a health risk this winter too.
He said there did not appear to be any side effects from the swine flu vaccine Panvax.
"It is safe to have the swine flu vaccine," Professor Bishop said.
"The TGA's assessment of clinical trials and the advice of its expert committees is that Panvax is a safe, effective vaccine for prevention of the H1N1 influenza.
"It is expected that the dominant flu this winter season will be swine flu and the specific Panvax vaccine is available free for all Australians."

'I was petrified'
Perth mother of two Bea Flint said her 11-month-old boy Avery had a seizure after receiving the first dose of the two-dose flu vaccination on Saturday.
Mrs Flint said that after the 9am vaccination she noticed Avery had a minor temperature about 2pm. She treated him with Panadol and by Avery's 7pm bedtime he seemed "OK".
However, at 7.45pm, Avery started whimpering and moaning.
When Mrs Flint got to his cot the baby had vomited and was lying on his side having a seizure.
"In the car driving to the hospital he was just whimpering," she said.
"He couldn't cry - his head was hanging down in the car seat and he couldn't move.
"I was petrified - it was one of the worst experiences of my life."
By the time Avery arrived at St John of God Hospital in Murdoch, he was burning up with a fever of 39.5 degrees.
The doctor who treated Avery told Mrs Flint her baby was the fifth child with similar symptoms admitted to the hospital that day.

Health Minister Kim Hames last night advised of the state-wide suspension as a precautionary measure.
He said the suspension came after a significant rise in the number of children who had developed a high temperature after receiving the vaccine.
He said some children had gone into febrile convulsions, a fit caused by a high fever, following the vaccinations.
Dr Hames said it was unclear if the fevers were related to the influenza vaccination but the precautionary measure was the most responsible course of action.
Fevers in most instances are treatable.

"People should give Paracetamol according to the instructions and tepid sponging to keep the temperature down." Dr Hames said.
"On rare occasions children can have a convulsion as the result of the high temperature and sometimes that can be prolonged, which can be a risk to the child."
He said parents should not take children under the age of five to be vaccinated against influenza until further notice.






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Flu vaccine backlash: 800 children in Europe develop narcolepsy after swine flu vaccine

Eight hundred children in Europe have developed narcolepsy after taking the swine flu vaccine, according to Reuters.

Reuters reported the children in Sweden and across Europe came down with the sleep disorder after being vaccinated with the Pandemrix H1N1 vaccine which is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

Regulators there have ruled Pandemrix should not be given to anyone under the age of 20.

Emmanuel Mignot, a Stanford University sleep disorder specialist, said "there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Pandemrix increased the occurrence of narcolepsy onset in children in some countries - and probably in most countries."

Everyday Health reported about 30 million people received the vaccine and that a link between the sleep disorder and Pandemrix has been under investigation since 2010.

However, the company said there was not enough information to link the two.

Meanwhile, Finland, Sweden, France, Norway and Ireland have seen a recent  increase in narcolepsy, according to Everyday Health.

Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being immunised in 2009 with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

Emelie is plagued by hallucinations and nightmares. When she wakes up, she’s often paralyzed, unable to breathe properly or call for help. During the day she can barely stay awake, and often misses school or having fun with friends. She is only 14, but at times she has wondered if her life is worth living.

Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being immunized with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.

[...]

Emelie’s parents, Charles and Marie Olsson, say she was a top student who loved playing the piano, taking tennis lessons, creating art and having fun with friends. But her life started to change in early 2010, a few months after she had Pandemrix. In the spring of 2010, they noticed she was often tired, needing to sleep when she came home from school.

But it wasn’t until May, when she began collapsing at school, that it became clear something serious was happening.

As well as the life-limiting bouts of daytime sleepiness, narcolepsy brings nightmares, hallucinations, sleep paralysis and episodes of cataplexy - when strong emotions trigger a sudden and dramatic loss of muscle strength.

In Emelie’s case, having fun is the emotional trigger. "I can’t laugh or joke about with my friends anymore, because when I do I get cataplexies and collapse," she said in an interview at her home in the Swedish capital.

Narcolepsy is estimated to affect between 200 and 500 people per million and is a lifelong condition. It has no known cure and scientists don’t really know what causes it. But they do know patients have a deficit of a brain neurotransmitter called orexin, also known as hypocretin, which regulates wakefulness.

Research has found that some people are born with a variant in a gene known as HLA that means they have low hypocretin, making them more susceptible to narcolepsy. Around 25 percent of Europeans are thought to have this genetic vulnerability.

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interesting:

Update Flu vaccine backlash