NSW: Vaccination program a knee jerk reaction, mother says

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NSW: Vaccination program a knee jerk reaction, mother says

The mother of a seven-year-old boy who died from meningococcal disease says governmentplans for a national vaccination program are a knee-jerk reaction.

SUE-ANNE SANIG lost her son STEPHEN in June last year after the boy was sent home froma hospital on the New South Wales central coast after being diagnosed with gastro-enteritis.

Mrs SANIG says the government should be putting money into developing a vaccine againstthe B strain which causes the most cases of meningococcal disease.

The vaccine being used in a $41 million government-funded program from next year protectsagainst the C strain.

Mrs SANIG says there should also be routine blood testing for every child with a hightemperature and treatment with antibiotics if the infection proves to be bacterial.

She says Norway has developed a vaccine for its particular B strain, New Zealand isworking on it, but Australia isn't doing any medical research into B at all.

AAP RTV jjs/jmt/rp

KEYWORD: MENINGOCOCCAL MOTHER (SYDNEY)