Live webchat with Professor David Salisbury, Dept of Health director of immunisation, Mon, November 2, 1pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

We're very pleased to have Professor David Salisbury, the Department of Health's director of immunisation, as our guest for a live webchat this Friday, 30 Oct, at 1pm.

Professor Salisbury, who originally trained as a paediatrician, and also works extensively for the World Health Organisation including his role as chairman of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Vaccines, is a timely guest given that the swine flu vaccination
programme is now being rolled out. Pregnant women are one of the first 'at-risk' groups being offered the jab.

There has already been a large amount of discussion about the vaccine, so this is your chance to put your questions, concerns and comments to the government's top vaccines expert.

As usual, if you can't join us on the day, please post your question here and Prof Salisbury will try to answer as many as possible.

xposts

Not sure BigTech can get away with smug for too long today though, huh, Justine?

awwww I'm busy monday. Put aside the time to enjoy this today.

y waitingwaiting Fri 30-Oct-09 13:31:04
applemark.... has it thats interesting? Personally, I would prefer not to have any murcury at all, expecially as I have already had some amalgam fillings removed in this pregnancy! maybe Dr Salisbury can shed some light on this.......

I thought taking thme out was more dangous?

Ohyoubadbadkitten, that's all the more reason to give the vaccine to the third world countries who don't have the sanitation and health to help them like we do. We Westerners can survive without the vaccination purely because we drink clean water and eat healthily (well, most of us!)

Right tigerlady, so you're happy with what you consider a risk for all those poor Third World-ers but not your PFB? That sounds like a well-thought through position.

LoveBeingAMummy .....taking out the fillings?? I didnt have an option, they were under a crown which had gone bad and I incredible tooth ache!! yes, you should leave the fillings well alone... if you can!

You know, in some ways, I would rather see the vaccine go to the third world first. But at the same time, we had a really bad time with dds asthma and a virus recently. Knowing that this strain is particularly hard on asthmatics (with a relatively high proportion of people contracting it developing pneumonia) then selfishly I'd rather like her to have it asap.

Ok am so sorry guys but we're going to have to reschedule to Monday lunchtime. We'll confirm time as soon as we can.

VulpusinaWilfsuit, I think you'll find the things that are worrying westerners about what's in vaccines are not high on people in the Third world's list of priorities... most of them are lucky to reach their 10th birthday! They live day to day, because that's all they can do, so not dying from flu today is more important than whether they get asthma or cancer in 10 or 20 + years time!

boohoo
thank you for trying so hard. (please can you make it at 12, that would be ever so kind (hastily reschedules diary))

FYI, I have asthma and am 7 weeks pregnant BUT I won't be having the vaccine.

I completely understand that tigerlady. I still don't think it's an ethical position, if you seriously think there is an additional healthrisk.

oh dear, never mind....

Bummer about Prof Salisbury. TigerLady, I am very keen that vaccines should be made safer and there should be more accountability in the industry, but really, saying we'd all be ok with clean water and sanitation and no vaccination is middle class rubbish.

shame - I'd been hoping to catch the end.

Lots of people are asking about adjuvants and also about whether immunity in the mother will be passed to babies if they breastfeed. So PLEASE can we have some reply to both issues?

Get well soon DH computers!

It's not really middle class rubbish. Clean water alone would clear up at least sixty to seventy per cent of the developing world's health issues. At least. A conversational figure given to me by a pharmaceutical head honcho. Sanitation played an enormous role in reducing infectious disease over the last 150 years, and (along with improved nutrition) in reducing morbidity and hence mortality.

Stufitllllama and Tigerlily
I agree that sanitation and related issues make the biggest difference to morbidity and mortality in developing countries. This does not, however, justify carrying out clinical trials in these countries on the basis that they need a vaccine more than we do despite the risks involved.

Wherever a clinical trial is carried out it must be a well controlled study and all participants must be informed of and understand the risks involved and be able to give their informed consent.

Your assertion that Campaspe should not have been put in that position does not take into account the fact that it is a choice as to whether a clinical trial is entered into or not.

Has the vaccine been tested on pregnant women who have now given birth?

There were women who participated in the clinical trials who became pregnant during the trial period.

FullMooniMarmite,
There was no mention of carrying out clinical trials in third world countries, I'm not sure where you got that idea. We weren't discussing trials we were discussing administering the vaccine to the masses and who would benefit most.

sanitation is of course extremely important. But even in the UK if there were no polio vaccination, polio would again return. An awful lot of untreated sewage is still released into the sea in the UK, and if polio were once again circulating children who swam in the sea would run the risk of becoming paralysed or dying. You just cannot get around that. And in the face of a measles epidemic, I think many who question vaccines now may change their minds pretty rapidly if they saw that even one child had died [and not only immuno-compromised children die in epidemics in the Western world]

It is criminal though that single vaccines are not offered on the NHS and that there is so much complacency about vaccine safety.

If anyone's interested, there are some recent articles on the swine flu vaccine from an American doctor (I know, but they seem to be slightly more on the ball in this case than any of the Brits). Ignore the ranting american voice on the videos (it's enough to put anyone off), just read what's written underneath... if you want to, no pressure!
swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx

Sorry Tigerlady perhaps I misunderstood, I thought you were responding to the comment about Campaspe's child being offered to take part in a clinical trial. Your first comment was that it would be a risky trial and that Campaspe should not have been put in that position. I think I must have extrapolated that your next comment about administering the vaccine to developing world populations meant as part of a clinical trial.

I understand what you mean about immediate survival being a more immediate need but I do still stand by my point that I don't believe it appropriate to consider it unethical to carry out a trial in one population but fine to administer (as part of a trial or not) to another.