Dangers of Seasonal Flu Vaccine in Taiwan?

All the research I’ve done online says that young children should get a seasonal flu shot. Most of those sites assume that the reader lives in an English-speaking Western country. I’ve brought this up with my wife (who is Taiwanese) and she says that the company that produces the seasonal flu shot in Taiwan makes it locally and that the quality is not good. She claims that there are many stories of people getting the shot and developing nasty conditions or dying. I’m naturally skeptical and have heard the nonsense proclaimed by anti-vaxxers back home. I’m am very poorly informed on the state of vaccines produced in Taiwan however and would like to know if anybody knows anything about it.

Since young children are particularly susceptible to the flu, I would prefer if my three-month-old could get the shot, but only as long as there is no risk. I would also have to convince my wife because she doesn’t like the idea. She’s happy with him getting shots for hepatitis and such, but not the seasonal flu shot. Should I be sharing her worries about it or is it just more anti-vaxxer nonsense?

The word-of-mouth horror stories don’t impress me. “My friend’s son got the vaccine and then he died!” That’s really sad, but it doesn’t prove that it was due to the vaccine. I really don’t want to open the entire anti-vaxxer debate here, so I would ask that posters stick to information about the seasonal flu vaccine in Taiwan. Thanks so much, all. I really appreciate it.

I’d be interested in what she knows, especially since Adimmune only recently began clinical trials, hasn’t even begun trials on infants yet, and isn’t expected to release the results until October at the earliest.

From what I can tell, it’s all hearsay and horror stories. I heard the same kind of thing like this last year when I suggested she get it (while she was pregnant).

Statistically and realistically, there have been sevral cases -a handful- with fatal or near fatal adverse reactions to the vaccine. However, considering the amount of people vaccinated, it ddoe snot seem to deviate from the norm. All vaccines will have a small percentage of people who have some kind of adverse reaction.

H1N1 has peaked again and there is a cluster in Taidong, if anyone needs some info.

This case illustrates when and why some problems may arise after vaccination:

[quote]The World Health Organization is investigating reports that the H1N1 vaccine may have triggered a rare sleep disorder in children.

The move comes just days after Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare published data showing that children in that country who were vaccinated against H1N1 were nine times more likely to develop narcolepsy than children who did not get the vaccine


In Canada, the H1N1 vaccine was called Arepanrix. Also manufactured by GSK, it was similar to Pandemrix.

There have been two reports of children developing narcolepsy after receiving the H1N1 vaccine in Canada – both in Quebec – but no indication that case reports are higher because of the vaccine.

“Considering the millions of doses of Arepanrix that were administered in Canada during the pandemic, the occurrence of only two cases of narcolepsy does not suggest a safety concern,” said Sylwia Gomes, senior media relations adviser at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

By comparison, Finland, with a population of 5.2 million, recorded 60 cases of narcolepsy in children and youth age 4 to 19. Of that total, 52 developed the condition in the months after receiving the H1N1 vaccine.

The Finnish report concluded that there was a clear association between vaccination and onset of the sleep disorder, but also stressed that there seems to be a strong genetic factor at play.

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder in which the brain cannot regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. It is characterized by fleeting – and sometimes debilitating – urges to sleep.

Researchers noted that all the children who developed narcolepsy carried a genetic marker for the disease. Not everyone with the human leukocyte antigen DQB1*0602 genotype develops narcolepsy, but their risk is much higher.

It is not clear how the vaccine – or one of the components of the adjuvant – may have triggered onset.
[/quote]
theglobeandmail.com/life/hea … le1899303/

So, the vaccine has to meet an existing component, but even then not all pertinent cases develop a problem.

There are very few flu vaccines licensed for 3-month olds. Both of them that I found that should be available in Taiwan contain thimerosol (mercury), egg protein, and formaldehyde.

I do NOT believe that mercury causes autism. However, it is a known potent neurotoxin at any dose and I have not allowed it to be injected into any of my children. The US FDA ordered all mercury removed from vaccines intended for under-3s in July 1999 with full compliance required by January 2001. They did this because they found that a newborn who received all the shots on the CDC-recommended vaccine schedule on time would have received 240 times the amount of mercury that the FDA itself considered safe for that age group. Flu shots, because they are typically licensed for persons 12 months or even 36 months or older often still contain thimerosol at doses above the FDA-allowable limit.

I would inquire at the clinic that sees your baby for the specific brand names of vaccines that they propose to use and the dosages. That would let us do better research for you.

a view from the ‘street’
my son was 6 months old when h1n1 was at its peak a few years ago. he never got any flu shot… with all the vaccinnes kids get in the first two years, they don’t need another one. if you feed your child properly combined with TLC and common sense, you won’t have problems. the ones that are always sick are running around not wearing socks in winter, a mouth full of candy and a milk bottle filled with grape juice.
you get the flu shot this year, and they will come up with one next year saying it is mandatory. about 30% of kids nationwide didn’t get the h1n1 shot last time around. they were fine.
i remember countless kids being sick for a few days after the last round of shots-on the advice of doctors saying it was okay.
everytime a kid gets a flu shot it knocks their immunity down a notch. only those ‘sick’ kids get those shots.
I am not saying don’t, just use your head. those shots are quite heavy for a small child.
remember when kids started getting sick after those h1n1 shots and only then did int’l gov’ts realize that maybe it wasn’t so great after all.
every year same debate.

Well, I haven’t given him the shot (he developed the croup recently and has since gotten over it) and I think we’ll just weather the first winter. Thanks for all the advice.