John Howard is wasting $41 million taxpayer dollars on a vaccine that caused so many adverse reactions when it was introduced in the UK, that a parliamentary inquiry was called into its use. More than 16,000 reactions and 12 deaths were reported to the UK Government within 10 months of starting a Meningococcal vaccination campaign - more reports than in 37 years of DPT (triple antigen) vaccination.

As if that were not bad enough, this is not even the right vaccine for Australia. Between 75-90% of all cases of Meningococcal Meningitis in Australia are caused by the B strain of the bacteria. The vaccine which we are using, covering only 3 out of 13 C strains, is completely ineffective against Meningococcal B.

In addition, it's manufacturer, Wyeth, states clearly in its package insert that this vaccine has never been tested for effectivness and the safety tests did not contain a proper control group.

Nobody in their right mind would want their children to suffer from Meningococcal Meningitis or Septicemia. This vaccine, however, will do nothing to prevent these illnesses and may itself cause quite serious problems in those who receive it.
Parents have the right to be fully informed on all health issues - and vaccination is no different.

Since the begninning of this campaign, the Australian Vaccination Network has received many reports of serious reactions to Meningitec. If any reader's children react to this or any other vaccine, they should be aware that they can report that reaction to the following toll free number - 1800 007 468.

According to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC-7th Edition Australian Immunisation Handbook, pp22-23), the following reactions MUST be reported if they occur following a vaccine:

Abscess
Acute flaccid paralysis
Allergic reaction
Anaphylactoid reaction or anaphylaxis
Arthralgia or arthritis
Brachial neuritis
Death
Disseminated BCG
Encephalopathy or encephalitis
Fever - over 40.5
Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Hypotensive-hyporesponsive episode (shock-collapse)
Local reaction (severe)
Lymphadenitis
Meningitis
Orchitis
Osteitis
Osteomyelitis
Parotitis
Rash (severe or unusual)
Screaming (persistent)
Seizure
Sepsis
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
Thrmobocytopenia
Toxic-shock syndrome
Vaccine associated paralytis poliomyelitis
Other severe or unusual event

It is only through proper collection of reaction reports that we will discover how safe our vaccines actually are.

Thank you,
Meryl Dorey
National President
The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.