A total of 66 young children at a school in Co Kildare have been mistakenly given an incorrect vaccine by the Eastern Health Board.
The children, aged five and six, were administered a three-in-one vaccine containing pertussis - or whooping cough - as well as diphtheria and tetanus, instead of a two-in-one vaccine containing only diphtheria and tetanus. An inquiry has been ordered by the board into how one of its doctors gave the wrong vaccine to the pupils of St Conleths primary school in Newbridge last
Wednesday.
Some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated for whooping cough because of fears of side-effects, including brain damage. However, doctors argue that extensive research has shown that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any risks.
Dr Brian O'Herlihy, the EHB's Director of Public Health, conceded that a "mistake" had undoubtedly been made. "I do not, know how it happened", he said. "I presume the wrong batch was collected from the point of storage. The packaging and presentation of some vaccines is very similar."
He conceded that children who had received the injections might have a temperature or soreness in the arm, but said that these symptoms could also have been caused by the two-in-one injection.
A 24-hour helpline has been set up for concerned parents. However, Dr O'Herlihy said that he wanted to assure parents that there was "no risk to children whatever". He added: "No adverse reactions, apart from those already mentioned, are expected." _
The children, having reached the age of five or six, had become due for a final booster injection against diphtheria an4 tetanus.
Medical experts insisted last night that the substitution of the three-in-one vaccine for the two-in-one would have little impact on the typical healthy child. However, they conceded that the board could not have known whether all of the children who received the injections were "typical".
The manufacturers of vaccination products provide doctors with a list of warnings about increased risks for some children. One key element is whether the child has had a bad reaction to the pertussis vaccination in the past. A detailed record of the child's immunisations would be needed to show whether this applied to any of the children vaccinated in Newbridge.
Other risk factors include a family history of epilepsy or where a child has shown signs of neurological illness.
The mother of one of the children said that she had got a "terrible fright" when she was informed of the error. "We are very annoyed and upset by what happened. It is very frightening ... God forbid that any of the children have an adverse reaction", said the woman, who asked not to be named.
Another parent, Mrs Mary Frances McGivern, described the mistake as "scandalous" and said that the local parents' association would be seeking a meeting with the EHB. On Thursday night six health board doctors and four public health nurses travelled to Newbridge to visit parents in their homes and inform them of the mistake.
A spokeswoman for the EHB said that she had no comment to make on the possibility of any of the parents taking legal action because of the incident.
The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said he had been notified of the incident and had asked the EHB to conduct the inquiry as "expeditiously as possible".