PARENTS in Worcestershire are divided over Government proposals to give children under two years old the flu jab.

The joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, which advises the Department of Health, said vaccinating babies could cut health costs by preventing flu epidemics and the expense of treating them.

However, some medical experts fear that children could suffer strain on their immune system through an overload of preventative jabs.

Children already receive injections for diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and bacterial meningitis in their first four months.

And at about 13 months babies are also given the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Some parents have been reluctant to expose their children to more jabs since the MMR controversy three years ago linking it to autism and bowel disorders. No scientific evidence of a link between autism and MMR has been found, but Worcester mum Mary Dhonau, of Waverley Street, says her son Peter became autistic within a month of receiving the combined jab.

"My gut reaction would be to proceed with caution," she said. "It might be wise to vaccinate children who are vulnerable - those who have asthma and so on.

"But this is another invasion on a vulnerable child's immune system - what happened to immunising yourself naturally by being exposed to the illness in the first place?"

But mum of two children under the age of two, Hannah Bloor, of The Holloway in Droitwich, said she would rather her children were immunised against flu - than seeing them go through the illness.

"It seems sensible to me as it would stop the spread of flu - and mumps and polio are quite rare nowadays because children have been vaccinated against them for so long.

"It would be good news if it worked in the same way with flu." A Department of Health spokesman said the committee's advice had been received and was being considered.

PARENTS in Worcestershire are divided over Government proposals to give children under two years old the flu jab.

The joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, which advises the Department of Health, said vaccinating babies could cut health costs by preventing flu epidemics and the expense of treating them.

However, some medical experts fear that children could suffer strain on their immune system through an overload of preventative jabs.

Children already receive injections for diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and bacterial meningitis in their first four months.

And at about 13 months babies are also given the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Some parents have been reluctant to expose their children to more jabs since the MMR controversy three years ago linking it to autism and bowel disorders. No scientific evidence of a link between autism and MMR has been found, but Worcester mum Mary Dhonau, of Waverley Street, says her son Peter became autistic within a month of receiving the combined jab.

"My gut reaction would be to proceed with caution," she said. "It might be wise to vaccinate children who are vulnerable - those who have asthma and so on.

"But this is another invasion on a vulnerable child's immune system - what happened to immunising yourself naturally by being exposed to the illness in the first place?"

But mum of two children under the age of two, Hannah Bloor, of The Holloway in Droitwich, said she would rather her children were immunised against flu - than seeing them go through the illness.

"It seems sensible to me as it would stop the spread of flu - and mumps and polio are quite rare nowadays because children have been vaccinated against them for so long.

"It would be good news if it worked in the same way with flu." A Department of Health spokesman said the committee's advice had been received and was being considered.