Doctors have been put on alert for Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) i. e. a paralysis of the breathing muscles, a deadly disease with a link to swine flu vaccines. The syndrome affects around 1,500 people in Britain every year, attacking the nervous system and resulting in temporary paralysis.

With swine-flu vaccinations scheduled to start in the next few weeks, the Health Protection Agency has warned neurologists to look out for an increase in GBS, in which paralysis of the breathing muscles can cause death by suffocation.

A mass immunisation programme in the U. S. that saw swine flu vaccinations blamed for more deaths than swine flu itself, led to a link being made between the vaccination and the cause of death.

Over 40-million Americans were vaccinated after swine flu broke out at an army base in 1976. The programme had to be abandoned after hundreds of cases of GBS were diagnosed and 25-people died from it.

Elizabeth Miller, HPA Head Of Immunisation, in a letter to the Association of British Neurologists said: 'GBS has been identified as a condition needing enhanced surveillance when the swine flu vaccines are rolled out.'

With 13-million Britons due for the jab from October onwards, the warning adds to concerns about its safety, especially for those suffering from asthma, diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, or who have a compromised immune system.

It is held that normal seasonal flu vaccine should be given at the same time.