§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the simultaneous administration of anthrax and pertussis vaccine following the letter from Dr. Metters of 21 December 1990; and if he will make a statement. [174196]
§ Mr. CaplinResearch into the simultaneous administration of anthrax and pertussis vaccines is being addressed as part of the Ministry of Defence's Vaccines Interactions Research Programme, which is overseen by an independent research panel. The Programme includes a study by the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) which has specifically attempted to address and extend tests that NIBSC carried out using anthrax and pertussis vaccines in 1990, and which led to the communication from Dr. Metters.
The preliminary results from the NIBSC study have been published and are available on our website at http://www.mod.uk/issues/gulfwar/research/interact.htm. The final results are being submitted for publication in peer reviewed scientific Literature.