Health: Influenza Vaccination

Baroness Knight of Collingtree Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

The noble Baroness makes a very valid point. Those types of patient are in the most vulnerable category—the immunocompromised—and it is, I understand, a feature of the normal contract to ensure that those patients are protected to the maximum extent.

[Baroness Knight of Collingtree]

My Lords, does my noble friend recall a recent report from experts that stated that the present flu vaccine is very much less than universally good for the job that it is trying to do and that further experts reported that work was being done on a more effective vaccine that needs to be given only once a lifetime and that would do the job properly? Is there any further news about that possible development?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation issued a statement in November last year saying that there is good evidence that some new vaccines are demonstrably more effective in children in particular than the non-adjuvanted inactivated vaccines that are currently available. The JCVI concluded that,

“the live attenuated intranasal vaccine and adjuvanted inactivated intramuscular vaccine once available should be the vaccines of choice for use in children according to their market authorisations”.

However, it also said that a further review of data would be needed on the safety of these vaccines in certain groups, including asthmatics and those who are immunocompromised. There is further work to do in this area.