§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether any children whose death has been officially recorded as a cot death had been known to be in receipt of whooping cough vaccine 48 hours beforehand.
§ Mr. John PattenSince 1964 there have been 13 yellow card reports of sudden infant deaths where combined diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine had been given during the previous 48 hours. The receipt of a report does not necessarily imply a causal relationship between the vaccination and the sudden infant death.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many High Court writs have been received by his Department served by, or on behalf of, those suffering brain damage as a result of whooping cough vaccine.
§ Mr. John PattenThere have been eight such cases.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he intends amending the whooping cough advice pamphlet issued by the Health Education Council in the light of the recently published statistic that one in 20,411 vaccinated against the disease has suffered brain damage and not one in 100,000 as at present stated in the pamphlet.
§ Mr. John PattenWe have no plans to ask the Health Education Council to revise its leaflet. I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. and learned Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Mr. Knox) on 31 July 1984 at columns243–44. We are not aware of data since then which invalidate that advice.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress has been made in discovering an alternative whooping cough vaccine for which the necessary research funds have been provided.
§ Mr. John PattenResearch on the development of an alternative whooping cough vaccine at the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Porton Down, is making good progrees. Arrangements for the production of the vaccine for clinical trials are now under discussion as the next stage of development.