TAIPEI: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced yesterday it will seek to amend the law to allow obligatory autopsies to be performed on controversial deaths involving vaccinations, following the report of a boy who died after getting vaccinated against influenza A(H1N1).

CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw explained that mandatory autopsies will allow health authorities to find out the exact cause of any controversial death related to vaccinations in a short period of time, so that the authorities can allay public doubts on the safety of vaccines and prevent panic.

The 7-year-old child, who lived in central Taiwan, passed away on Monday, several weeks after receiving the H1N1 inoculation on November 19.

The boy's father, who works as a physician, called the 1922 H1N1 vaccination consultation hotline on December 2 after his son developed a high fever and a skin rash the day after getting the vaccination.

Health authorities, however, could not determine what was making the child ill and treatment they prescribed failed to save the boy.

Following the boy's death, the Department of Health (DOH) was criticized for failing to swiftly and seriously respond to the case.

But DOH deputy chief Chang Shang-chun and CDC experts had immediately called an emergency telephone conference with the boy's father in an attempt to offer help, according to CDC Director-General Steve Kuo.

After preliminary discussions, the experts concluded the death was unrelated to the H1N1 vaccine and that an immune-system problem could have been one of the causes of the death, Kuo said.

The conclusion, however, has failed to convince the heartbroken father that the H1N1 vaccine was not the cause of his son's death.

Chou expressed regret yesterday that despite all the efforts the DOH has taken to address the case, it still has not been able to stem public panic amid the island-wide H1N1 immunization.

He pointed out that under the standard procedure regulated in the vaccine injury compensation program (VICP), a probe into controversial vaccine injuries or deaths can be launched only at the request of the victim's family members.

"If they are not willing to ask for an investigation nor allow an autopsy, it is not possible to swiftly find out the cause," Chou said.

Chou declined to say whether the family has refused to have an autopsy conducted. The boy's family could not be reached for comment.

Under the existing law, autopsies can be performed only on people who die of unidentified contagious diseases.

Meanwhile, the Taichung District Prosecutors' Office has launched an investigation into the latest death allegedly caused by the H1N1 inoculation.

It is reported that since the H1N1 immunization program began on November 1, a total of 424 out of 4.81 million people who received the inoculation have complained of serious symptoms, including high fever, after getting the shot.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/24/2009 page2)