A Brisbane doctor says he did not alert authorities to the death of a two-year-old girl after a flu shot because he saw no link between the two events.
Parents and health authorities are anxiously waiting for word on whether the flu vaccine administered by private GP Dr Amir Eskandari caused the death of Ashley Epapara.
Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young says an initial autopsy has shown no sign that the vaccine was to blame for Ashley's death. Ashley was found dead in her cot on April 9, a day after she and her twin sister were given the seasonal flu vaccination.
The Queensland coroner is investigating the cause of death.
Since the toddler's death, seasonal flu shots have been linked to adverse reactions in scores of children, mostly in Western Australia and Queensland.
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Federal authorities have suspended seasonal flu shots for children under five.
Dr Young says a series of tests will be necessary to determine if the vaccine played a role in Ashley's death
. "There is no definitive evidence here that the vaccine has caused the death," she told reporters in Brisbane. But she acknowledged the coroner's investigation was not complete and more tests were under way. "... It could still come out. We need to wait and see.
"But at this stage there's nothing jumping out and saying this child died as a result of receiving the vaccine.
"Dr Young said she had done everything possible to find out more about the girl's death after it was reported by the media on April 9. But the report provided no name, and efforts to find out more from police and Brisbane hospitals were fruitless.
Dr Young said she also contacted the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which had no notification of any vaccine-related death.
Once the media provided a name on the weekend, a more thorough investigation was launched.
Dr Young said Queensland Health staff had contacted the dead girl's family on Tuesday morning and would continue to liaise with them.
Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas said he ordered Dr Young to investigate as soon as he learnt via the April 9 media report that there may have been a vaccine-related death.
If problems were traced to the vaccine it would be a matter for Canberra as the girl had been vaccinated by a private GP, with a federally regulated drug under a federal program, Mr Lucas said.
He said the girl's GP was required by law to advise Queensland Health if he suspected she'd had an adverse reaction to the vaccine, but "no notification took place".
Dr Young said her staff had spoken to the GP on Tuesday, adding that the matter would be referred to the medical board.
"The GP was aware of the death and did not notify us," she said. Dr Eskandari has defended himself, saying he didn't report the death because he didn't think the vaccine was to blame.
"We gave swine flu injection, and after that nothing happened. They were totally fine ... Ashley was fine," Dr Eskandari told Network Ten.
"They don't know exactly what's happened, we don't know that. So we're just still waiting."
He said he followed strict procedure before giving the vaccine and welcomed the medical board investigation.
Dr Young said there had been 41 adverse reactions to the seasonal flu vaccine in Queensland, including 15 in children under five.
Mr Lucas said there'd been 209 adverse reactions to swine flu but did not specify how many involved young children.
Dr Young said she was concerned that high-risk adults, such as the elderly, might now avoid having seasonal flu shots.
"Older people are absolutely safe to go and have this.
If they've got any risk factors, if they've got chronic disease or they're elderly, they really must go and have this," she said.
