Thousands of children in Oxfordshire have been given a meningitis jab blamed for causing blackouts, fits and headaches, writes Victoria Owen.

Most complaints about the C-strain inoculation injections relate to ten to 12-year-olds. Many youngsters around the country have had to be airlifted to hospital for treatment. But Oxfordshire Health Authority chiefs have had no reports of any of the 40,000 children in the county to have received the Chiron jab to have been affected by it.

The vaccination is one of two brands used in a nationwide campaign to combat lethal meningitis C since last year. Although Oxfordshire's inoculation programme was also launched in 1999, nurses only started using the controversial brand in March. It means that all county five to ten-year-olds have been given the Chiron jab to fight against the brain infection.

OHA district immunisation co-ordinator Judith Moreton said she had not heard of any reported side-effects in Oxfordshire.

She said: "We would have known about it, because the side-effects are almost immediate. We don't want parents or pupils to be concerned, because it is better to have a few headaches than a potentially life-threatening illness." John Mitchell, education spokesman at Oxfordshire County Council, said: "We take advice from Oxfordshire Health Authority and pass this on to parents. It's up to the parents to take that on board."

Politicians are to discuss safety concerns surrounding the injection, which has been blamed for causing adverse reactions in nearly 5,000 UK children. Dr Evan Harris, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said: "The danger is that this will be another scare which undermines the effectiveness of the vaccine programme.