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Calls to offer free flu jab to anyone over the age of 50
Anna Davis16 Apr 2009
FREE flu vaccinations could soon be offered to everyone from the age of 50.
Currently, only over-65s are eligible for the free jab, but government advisers today said younger people should be vaccinated as well.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's flu subgroup said vaccinating everyone over the age of 60 could be "worthwhile", and also warned that patients as young as 50 are being hospitalised with flu.
It comes after experts warned nearly 100,000 Londoners could be killed by a flu pandemic. The London Regional Resilience Flu Pandemic Response Plan has predicted a death toll of more than 94,000 from an outbreak hitting the capital.
Pulse newspaper revealed that minutes from the JCVI meeting said: "It was thought there is data to show a clear rise in hospitalisations in the over-50s and that vaccinating 60-64 year olds was worth considering.
Royal College of GPs spokesman on immunisation, Dr George Kassianos, said: "For the past six years I've been calling for the age to be brought down to 50 years."
Reader views (5)
Buying no problem. I got my flu jab in Tesco last year for ten quid... in and out in ten minutes.
- Bill, Nottingham, 16/04/2009 17:53
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Nigel,
Many of the current mumps cases are in previously vaccinated students (where symptoms tend to be worse) Ralph's comments are no more scare-mongering than the Standard article.
- Mary, London, 16/04/2009 16:50
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Ralph,
Nothing like a sweeping statement, is there?
"Any person over 65 with five flu jabs behind them are almost assured of getting Alzheimer's. "
So by your own argument, anyone under 65 with five flu jabs behind them is fine from contracting Alzheimer's? Like many diabetics including myself.
And how do you explain my mother for instance. 83 and going strong with no sign of Alzheimer's and many more than five flu jabs behind her.
Nothing like doing your research and getting the facts right 100% of the time rather than proffering an all-encompassing scare-mongering statement that has nothing factual to back it up.
- Deco, London, England, 16/04/2009 14:35
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Sooner or later a lot of people (or their children) are going to end up dead because of listening to rubbish such as Ralph's scaremongering rant.
Flu jabs might or might not provide a degree of immunity against a future deadly avian flu. Their purpose, however, is to protect a degree of protection against the currently circulating flu virii. "Ordinary" flu is not a cold - it usually puts you in bed for several days, and weakens your immunity against other illnesses such as lung infections. It can kill, a risk which increases as you get older.
Your kids need their MMR jab. I know, I nearly died of measles before the jab existed. Another child at my school did die. If you catch mumps as an adult you might wish that you had died - read up about what it can do to your wedding tackle. Rubella won't hurt an adult, but the birth deformities it can cause an unborn child when her mother catches it are catastrophic. Could you ever forgive yourself if that happened?
If you ever eat food cooked or stored in aluminium foil, you'll ingest more aluminium hydroxide that way than you'll get from a jab. If you have as much as a single "silver" (mercury amalgam) filling, that exposes you to more mercury than a lifetime of jabs.
Looking forwards to a free flu jab, was actually considering finding out where to buy them since I'm now in my 50s.
- Nigel, London, 16/04/2009 13:20
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The flu vaccination offers no protection whatever to avian flu and this fact has been publicly acknowledged by some in the real world. The major problem with any vaccination is that they contain adjuvants which are intentionally highly inflamatory so as to provoke a more active immune response. The second most poisonous substance known to man is mercury and this toxin in the form of thimerosol is included in vaccination formulas as a preservative and adjuvant. Another very toxic substance aluminium hydroxide, is widely used with or without mercury, as a preservative and adjuvant. These very toxic substances are believed to be a cause of autism, Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinsons. Any person over 65 with five flu jabs behind them are almost assured of getting Alzheimer's. These serious neurotoxins widely prescribed by doctor's should be banned forthwith and anyone with any sense should avoid the highly toxic flu jab. The vaccinations given children contain these neurotoxins and excitotoxins so it is not surprising autism is fast becoming an epidemic.
- Ralph, London, England, 16/04/2009 12:26
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