The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has denied a link between swine flu vaccinations and reports of children feeling unwell after receiving the shot.
The denial came after several reports from around the nation said many children began to feel unwell after receiving a locally produced vaccine against influenza A(H1N1).
On Thursday, Taichung City’s health bureau said 36 students from the city’s Zhongshan Junior High School felt dizzy, fainted and vomited after receiving the shots.
However, the students were fine after they were sent to hospitals for treatment, the bureau said.
Similar incidents were reported at Kuang-rong Junior High school in Sanchong (三重), Taipei County, on Thursday, where 24 students were hospitalized after they felt dizzy following vaccinations.
The students were fine after they were sent to a hospital for observation.
Saying that doctors have noted that signs of vaccination dizziness could be easily triggered by psychological stress, Taichung City Education Bureau Director Chang Kung-ming (張光銘) suggested that teachers give students pep talks before they receive shots to help reduce their fears.
“Most children will feel a little dizzy after the shot. It is probably because the children are too nervous, but I can assure you that feeling unwell has nothing to do with the vaccine,” CECC spokesman Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said at a separate setting.
Chou’s remarks were backed by Huang Li-min (黃立民), a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics.
Huang said that flu symptoms were a normal side effect of receiving a flu shot.
“As long as these symptoms go away within a few days, they are considered normal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chou said the death of a Kaohsiung County boy on Wednesday night was not related to him receiving the vaccine.
Chou said the boy received his vaccination shot on Nov. 19.
He was sent to hospital four days later because of a fever, but died on Nov. 25.
“Initial research shows his death had nothing to do with the vaccination,” Chou said.
The CECC yesterday said that approximately 7 percent of the nation’s population, about 1.6 million people, had received A(H1N1) influenza vaccine shots.
Starting on Monday, the next group to receive vaccination shots in the national anti-A(H1N1) inoculation drive will be high school students, followed by young adults aged between 19 and 24 beginning on Dec. 1.
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