§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children have been damaged by whooping cough vaccine in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 30 November 1984, c. 625]: It is not possible to say how many children have suffered such damage. Data on damage by whooping cough vaccine are analysed in the document, "Whooping Cough", published in 1981 by HMSO, which contains reports by the Committee on the Safety of Medicines and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. It includes the results of a special study which concluded that
… it seems likely that permanent damage as a result of pertussis immunisation is a very rare event and the attribution of a cause in individual cases is precarious".We have no grounds for believing that there has been any change in this position.