Health experts hit back at anti-vaccine campaign

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

Pro-vaccine groups are concerned about parents declining meningococcal B vaccine injections for their children because of fears over its safety.

More than 100 central Auckland parents may have cancelled injections since Monday, when the vaccination of 25,000 pre-schoolers in the area began.

This follows community groups questioning the vaccine's safety and highlighting side-effects.

The Health Ministry maintains the vaccine has been proven safe in trials and in the mass vaccination campaign.

Meningococcal vaccine strategy director Dr Jane O'Hallahan hit back at what she called the "fallacies and misinformation promulgated by a small group of activists with an anti-immunisation agenda". The vaccine was "the best protection we can offer" while the disease was at epidemic proportions, she said.

Clinical trials found side-effects such as soreness from the injection, irritability in toddlers and headaches in older children were common.

But Dr O'Hallahan said the reported side-effects were temporary.

* On Monday the Herald quoted a document from the vaccine's maker as saying chronic fatigue syndrome was among the very rare reactions noted. But Dr Nikki Turner, of the Immunisation Advisory Centre at Auckland University, said the trials found the rates of the syndrome were no different to those for patients who had received a placebo.