CHILDREN in Oxford could be among the first in the country to receive a new vaccine for swine flu as early as next month.

The city is one of five selected to lead a trial for children aged between six months and 12.

A bid for funding for the trial is now with the NHS National Institute for Health Research, which is expected to give its approval over the next few days.

If the proposal is given the go-ahead the voluntary trials could begin in September.

The latest development comes after a team from Oxford University urged the Department of Health to rethink its policy of giving the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to children.

They warned healthy children could suffer more harm than benefit from Tamiflu or another anti-viral drug, Relenza.

The new drug to be trialled is called Pandemic H1N1 2009 adjuvated influenza vaccine.

Bristol University’s professor of paediatrics, Adam Finn, who has helped to organise the proposed vaccine trials, said the vaccines being piloted were “unlikely” to have any serious effects on children.

He said the trial would help the Department of Health make decisions on vaccination programmes, as there was currently no information on how effective the vaccines would be on children.

He said: “We will be able to provide information on how well the vaccines work.

“If you look at the cases of people who are sick enough to be in hospital or die, the proportion of those cases who were younger is higher than we would normally see in seasonal flu. That’s the reason for doing the study.”

In Oxford, it is understood the trials will be overseen by Prof Andrew Pollard, who leads the Oxford Vaccine Group.

Children taking part would be carefully monitored, with any reactions recorded.