Sweden edition

Six-month-olds should be vaccinated: Sweden

Published: 12 Nov 09 16:56 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23236/20091112/

Swedish health authorities have lowered the recommended age-limit for the swine flu vaccine from three years old to six months as the number of cases has doubled in the last week.

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"The flu spreads easily among children,” professor Jan Liliemark from Sweden's Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket) said in a statement.

"Kids under the age of four risk being hit worst by the infection."

Pandramrix, the vaccine used in Sweden, is medically approved for children from the age of six months.

But Swedish authorities have chosen not to recommend routine vaccinations to children under the age of three because information about side effects on small children is scarce.

The decision is based on various grounds, partly in relation to a recent Spanish study where 51 small children where vaccinated.

Other grounds for the recommendation include feedback within Sweden on the vaccine's side effects and the fact that 5,000 young children in high-risk groups have already been vaccinated.

The number of cases of swine flu in Sweden has doubled in the last week according to statistics from Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (Smittskyddsinstitutet.)

The biggest increase has been noting among children under the age of four.

The latest prognosis from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control suggest that around that one million Swedes will contract the A/H1N1 virus before the pandemic is over.

The agency states that countries should prepare for at least 20 percent of the population to become infected without widespread vaccination. But an early vaccination programme has halved that figure for Sweden.

”That figure sounds reasonable”, said Annika Linde from Smittskyddsinstitutet.

”But had it not been for the vaccination campaign the figure would have been a lot higher.”

Three million Sweden have already had the jab and it is estimated that around half the population will be vaccinated within a month.

TT/Christine Demsteader (news@thelocal.se)

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Your comments about this article:

The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.

18:24 November 12, 2009 by "green Swede"

This article is typical of the media coverage regarding the vaccine,I have a two and and half year old daughter and a son who will be four in january,but I'm none the wiser regarding if it's a good idea or not to have them vacinated?????????

Report abuse »

18:30 November 12, 2009 by Nemesis

This is a very good idea.

Lowering the age at which people are vaccinated will reduce any potential pool of infection.

@ "green Swede"

Vaccinate your child.

Report abuse »

19:09 November 12, 2009 by Osokin

Ask advise from people on the internet, yeah !

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19:31 November 12, 2009 by "green Swede"

osuckin,it's a f**king discussion forum,based partially on newspaper articles,CHRIST!!!!!! besides there's a difference between opinion and advice,a consensus of opinion can always help at least send me in the right direction,do you think I would act on the opinion of just one doctor,when they are known not to all agree on the benefits of being vacinated...YEAH!!!!!

Report abuse »

19:44 November 12, 2009 by Blazing Saddles

My 10 month old daughter was vaccinated last week. She seems fine to me.

Report abuse »

00:18 November 13, 2009 by uunbeliever

@green swede, you need a hug.

Report abuse »

00:35 November 13, 2009 by LaQueen

check www.theflucase.com before get vaccinated!!!! or you will regret it as hell!!

Report abuse »

02:24 November 13, 2009 by raffe

LaQueen,

Your remarks with all the exclamation marks are as hysterical as the website you are referring to. Have you actually read what this woman is writing about governments and pharmaceuticals and their global conspiracy? You've got to be kidding me...

Ofcourse that's just my opinion, just as you are entitled to yours...

Report abuse »

07:45 November 13, 2009 by Nemesis

@ LaQueen

Thank you for proving you are a conspiracy theorist.

Childrens lives are potentially at stake.

If I had my way, everytime someone dies who is not vaccinated, I would have everyone of you conspiracy thoerists tried for murder.

Your irrational arguements are you alone. Stop trying to misinform people and potentially put lives at risk.

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#10

07:45 November 13, 2009 by miau

@green swede, I agree, the media coverage (internationally) has been atrocious. If you asked people on the street (including me) what the swine flu is, or details about the vaccinations, you would get very few details, despite saturation media coverage. Shame on the media! The authorities are just as responsible for the lack of education. Having said that, I did get an invitation yesterday for a vaccination, with a link to more information on the Skåne web site. See http://www.skane.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=265292 (in English).

Report abuse »

#11

08:06 November 13, 2009 by Luckystrike

Take vitamins everyday. I do, feel great, have not been ill in years. *Touch Wood*

No chance in hell i'll take the vaccination, not for any particular reason, just dont like drugs that are not even half properly tested according to normal standards.

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#12

10:29 November 13, 2009 by MTTRN

Vaccinate your child so that its immune system craps out and it dies quicker.The vaccine manufacturers are not interested in your child taking the vaccine when it grows up because this is a waste of time. A partial reduction of humanity is urgently required.This planet cannot support so many of us at the same time and they do not want us to go live on other planets(the means for which they have had for decades) as their control over humanity would be impossible. We have to stay here, be sick, die prematurely and never realise our true potential while thinking this is the most normal thing in the world.

Report abuse »

#13

10:47 November 13, 2009 by willowhisper

I am so utterly sick of people here talking conspiracy. Do you realise how many of us have no choice regarding vaccination? Do you know what damage you do to those who have no choice because of serious underlying illnesses? Can you be so selfish and unfeeling, with no regard for what YOU are putting us through with this kind of talk? I can only surmise that there seems to be quite a lot of very immature kids that post on this website and talk utter garbage, just to 'get attention'. I have nothing against people who are against vaccination in principle. Don't get vaccinated if you don't believe in it. State your reasons like a grown up...and if you have to, post your links, but please spare a HUGE thought for those of us who have NO CHOICE through no fault of our own, but than be vaccinated. I have Asthma ans Diabetes. This makes me doubly at risk and right now I can't even get vaccinated because I was ill when the vaccination started. Now the vaccine has run out and I have to wait. Every day is a challenge to try to keep hands clean and so on.. and all those around me have to walk on glass because if they get sick.. I could die. or be very seriously ill.

However old you are, please think and try to write with others feelings and difficulties in mind. This website is fast becoming just a place for kids to talk garbage and seems very unmoderated.

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#14

12:29 November 13, 2009 by Skallywag

Well said Willowhisper

I agree and have seen many many stupid comments from people that are rascist, sexist, chauvinistic (and many more ists and istics.) I actually got so annoyed and reported it to the editor by email and was informed by the editor that comments were monitored and if deemed inapproariate were removed, that never happened. I do not believe that comments are monitored anyway by the Editors at the Local. I also have a right to have my opinion as well:->>

I have been reading the local for a few years now and the comment section is relatively new but I agree it is abused and there some wacky individuals who simply like to post nonsense.

My opinion is take the comment section away and return the Local to the way it was, as it was fine. Let people simply read the news. The reader can chose to believe the story or not and if that story merits further reseach then one can take on the research by ones self.

Have a nice weekend (ohh I am sure the conspiracy theoriests out there, will say, it is not possible to have a nice weekend as one is being watched all the time.)

Report abuse »

#15

12:43 November 13, 2009 by Nemesis

@ MTTRN and Luckystrike,

Your deranged conspiracy theory nonsese is noted. Psychiatry is free in Swedeen, you can book an appointment through a local doctor.

If you don't like Swedish healthcare, leave Sweden.

You can sell your belongings at blocket.se

You can sell your home at hement.se

You can book a flight out of Sweden at flysas.com

Goodbye.

Report abuse »

#16

13:14 November 13, 2009 by crofab

Ok, this discussion is great and all, but has anyone noticed the hilarious expression on the face of the baby in the picture? That is the saddest looking baby I have ever seen. I sure know the baby's position on vaccination!

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#17

13:20 November 13, 2009 by Luckystrike

Yes, because "Vitamins" is a very deranged conspiracy.... nob head

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#18

13:33 November 13, 2009 by gerillataktik

"Six-month-olds should be vaccinated: Sweden"

Does The Local really need to clumsily work Sweden into as many headlines as possible? If The Local is supposed to be "Sweden's News in English", shouldn't it be obvious which country they're talking about. The word "Sweden" is often used in headlines, instead of naming the actual authority responsible. That reinforces the superficial outsider perspective that permeates The Local's reporting.

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#19

13:59 November 13, 2009 by Skallywag

MTTRN (even sounds suspiciously like a virus) u have to be a virus and have to be from one of those other planets, that we are supposed to be able to travel, to and from. So you must have got stuck on one of those Rocket ships and are here against your will. Well I agree with Nemesis and you should go back.

Report abuse »

#20

15:16 November 13, 2009 by Qasqot75

for the guy with diabetes i want you to try check this video and related videos.for more info contact me on cird2007@yahoo.com

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#21

20:43 November 13, 2009 by hayja83

@ LaQueen :

Nice Try!

People should must not forget all the recent cases of mysterious teenage deaths that have occurred since the realise of the cervical cancer vaccine:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218030/Teenage-girl-left-brain-damaged-receiving-cervical-cancer-jab.html

I can relate and must add that not all people and or nations believe in universal vaccination, especially without any proven data to suggest what the potential adverse reactions might be. To those people out there who have never meet someone who has suffered from an adverse medical reaction, you should know that the long term effects can be far worse than a quick death. As no one i.e. government agencies and the public at large, even wants to hear the pleas of those who 'claim to have suffered an adverse reaction' it's all just to expensive to help the rehabilitation of these such people in question and hard earned Tax money would be needed to pay for the ongoing disabilities that ravage the lives of these poor souls.

Nevertheless people within communities from all around the world will still be sheep and follow the mainstream consensus choosing to vaccinate without question, it's only the quality of their children's lives that is at stake!

Report abuse »

#22

21:47 November 13, 2009 by newswede

Not even the manufacturer recommends this for children under 2. But I'm sure this "study" of 51 kids in Spain proves more that the manufacturer knows.

I'm against it at this stage - not so much the vaccine, but the adjuvants used in them or added to them on site. Extremely nasty stuff - in a very measurable amount.

Some funny things I've noticed in Sweden:

A) Doctors don't wear gloves religiously. Just the other night I saw another flu shot scene where they give the shot, hold the tissue over the puncture and the woman actually wiped the (drop or two) blood away with her bare hands. LOL Oh yeah!

B) 90% of the people I see do not cover their mouth when sneezing/coughing.

C) Off topic: Nobody I talk to knows ANYTHING about the Lisbon Treaty.

Report abuse »

#23

21:50 November 13, 2009 by KipHamilton

It is always good to question, but today we have the luxury of our loss of fear about contagious diseases. No longer do we regularly feel gut wrenching fear when we hear of a new epidemic of smallpox, or polio, or cholera etc. We have that luxury because of modern medicine, which for all its problems, has eradicated those fears in much of the world. For all intents and purposes, it has eradicated smallpox, polio, cholera, typhoid, tetenus and on and on. What a gift. While certainly of value, thousands of years of traditional medicines did little to stop these scourges of mankind. We have forgotten the terror of what it was like before.

Report abuse »

#24

21:59 November 13, 2009 by insect

Crofab

Yes I also noticed the baby's expression and thought to myself, that baby is not very happy with what is about to happen, or the camera, or the people in the room.

Report abuse »

#25

23:04 November 15, 2009 by Authentica

The vaccine is called Pandemrix and not Pandramrix. Thanks, The Local.

Report abuse »

#26

10:44 November 16, 2009 by willowhisper

Very well said Kip...people do forget... and some people never have been through those times. Yes we may compromise our immune systems to an extent by having vaccinations, and we may be become drug resistant, but what else would we have done ? Just sit around and allow everyone to go on dying of these diseases? Scientists, for all the evils they have supposedly been responsible for in this modern age, have managed to save huge numbers of lives, that would otherwise would be dead. There will always be struggles of the species in one way or another. If anyone knows about Darwin's theories, you will know that. The biggest battle in man versus virus/bacteria. But if it wasn't it would be something else. Conspiracy theories regarding vaccination like this are ridiculous. For a start, the first people to be vaccinated are Dr's and nurses and health care workers. If governemnts were trying to lower populations through mass vaccination with bad vaccine, do you think they would start with medical people? Thats daft. There are so many other ways they could ......wars for example.. Mans biggest enemy is man anyway...and that is a fact.

Report abuse »

#27

19:29 November 16, 2009 by "green Swede"

Jeeze,I should have known better,what was I thinking?

@uunbeliever,"need a hug" meaning? btw do you have kids?

Report abuse »

#28

20:38 December 1, 2009 by Southerner

Hi guys,

I have noticed that The Local mentions a Spanish report, do not say which one or gives any reference ;)

For your information at November 17th 2009, the recommendation in Spain is to vaccinate children of 6 months and older ONLY when they suffer from some serious health conditions.

The spanish authorities do not recommend massive vaccination by the moment, although they bought vaccine for 3/4 of the population time ago ...

Hope you find complementary information useful.

Vi ses.

Report abuse »

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