A letter from the head of immunization at the Department of Health has said that for children who are less than five years of age doctors should stock alternative vaccines for kids who are due to have the seasonal flu vaccine this winter.

There were reports that in kids who took the jab there were convulsions that were caused by high fever among children in Australia.

There were febrile convulsions in one in 100 children given the jab, made in Australia by CSL and marketed in the UK by Pfizer.

Though it has not been clear as to what caused these symptoms as these were not caused by any other flu vaccines. There were no such signs among adults given the vaccine.

The World Health Organisation had stated that the three strains found in seasonal flu vaccines were the most common in circulation that year. This year the vaccines contain the pandemic strain H1N1.

The letter to all GPs from Prof David Salisbury, said, "Epidemiological information from Australia indicates that there has been a higher than expected increase in febrile convulsions in children related to the use of Fluvax.”