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Quebec shifts focus from H1N1 to seasonal flu
Vaccinations begin Jan. 11
By Aaron Derfel, Gazette Health Reporter
December 18, 2009
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<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> function resizeImage() { var imgBox = document.getElementById('imageBox'); var photo = document.getElementById('storyphoto'); if (imgBox != null && photo != null) { if(photo.width >= 460) { imgBox.className = 'imagesize460'; } else { if(photo.width >= 300) { imgBox.className = 'imagesize310'; } else { imgBox.className = 'imageboxpadding'; } imgBox.style.width = photo.width + 'px'; } } } function getStoryFontSize() { var storyfontsize = getCookie('storyfontsize'); var storyfontimage = getCookie('storyfontimage'); // use cookied value, if present if (storyfontsize != null) { setClass('story_content',storyfontsize); if (storyfontimage != null) { setClass('fontsizecontainer',storyfontimage); } } else // default it to para14 if no cookie { setClass('story_content','para14'); setClass('fontsizecontainer','size02'); } } function setStoryFontSize(storyfontsize,storyfontimage) { setClass('story_content',storyfontsize); setClass('fontsizecontainer',storyfontimage); setCookie('storyfontsize', storyfontsize, '365', '/', '', ''); setCookie('storyfontimage', storyfontimage, '365', '/', '', ''); } function setCookie( name, value, expires, path, domain, secure ) { // set time var today = new Date(); today.setTime( today.getTime() ); if ( expires ) { expires = expires * 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24; //days } var expires_date = new Date( today.getTime() + (expires) ); document.cookie = name + "=" + escape( value ) + ( ( expires ) ? ";expires=" + expires_date.toGMTString() : "" ) + ( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "" ) + ( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) + ( ( secure ) ? ";secure" : "" ); } function getCookie( check_name ) { // split this cookie up into name/value pairs var a_all_cookies = document.cookie.split( ';' ); var a_temp_cookie = ''; var cookie_name = ''; var cookie_value = ''; var b_cookie_found = false; // set boolean t/f default f for ( i = 0; i < a_all_cookies.length; i++ ) { // split apart each name=value pair a_temp_cookie = a_all_cookies.split( '=' ); // and trim left/right whitespace while we're at it cookie_name = a_temp_cookie[0].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, ''); // if the extracted name matches passed check_name if ( cookie_name == check_name ) { b_cookie_found = true; // we need to handle case where cookie has no value but exists (no = sign, that is): if ( a_temp_cookie.length > 1 ) { cookie_value = unescape( a_temp_cookie[1].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') ); } // note that in cases where cookie is initialized but no value, null is returned return cookie_value; break; } a_temp_cookie = null; cookie_name = ''; } if ( !b_cookie_found ) { return null; } } </SCRIPT>MONTREAL ? Now that more than half the Quebec population has been inoculated against H1N1, the provincial government is gearing up for a new vaccination campaign to protect against the seasonal flu virus.
Those shots will be available as of Jan. 11, an aide to Health Minister Yves Bolduc said Friday.
Marie-?ve B?dard acknowledged the vast majority of people who have fallen ill got infected with the pandemic H1N1 virus, but said authorities don?t want to take chances with the seasonal flu, either.
?We can?t exclude the possibility that the seasonal flu strain won?t make its appearance,? B?dard said. ?We can?t let people who are vulnerable wait until it?s too late.?
Quebecers who are considered at elevated risk for the seasonal flu are those who are at least 60 years old, people with weakened immune systems and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.
Details of the second vaccination campaign will be announced by Alain Poirier, Quebec?s chief public health officer, but it will probably be on a much smaller scale than the H1N1 version.
Meanwhile, all of Montreal?s large vaccination clinics closed Friday night after nearly a million people got H1N1 shots.
Starting Monday, and throughout the holiday period, people can show up without an appointment at their local CLSC clinic for an H1N1 shot.
B?dard said Bolduc is satisfied with the fact that more than 4.2 million Quebecers have been immunized against H1N1. The cost of the campaign has been estimated at more than $200 million.
Since the start of the second wave of infections on Aug. 30, 2,469 Quebecers have been hospitalized and 78 have died.
In its weekly update, the World Health Organization observed that in the northern hemisphere, the peak of the second wave has passed.
? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/heal...mpaign=Feed: canwest/F297 (The Gazette - News)
Vaccinations begin Jan. 11
By Aaron Derfel, Gazette Health Reporter
December 18, 2009
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> showTab("text/html"); </SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> function resizeImage() { var imgBox = document.getElementById('imageBox'); var photo = document.getElementById('storyphoto'); if (imgBox != null && photo != null) { if(photo.width >= 460) { imgBox.className = 'imagesize460'; } else { if(photo.width >= 300) { imgBox.className = 'imagesize310'; } else { imgBox.className = 'imageboxpadding'; } imgBox.style.width = photo.width + 'px'; } } } function getStoryFontSize() { var storyfontsize = getCookie('storyfontsize'); var storyfontimage = getCookie('storyfontimage'); // use cookied value, if present if (storyfontsize != null) { setClass('story_content',storyfontsize); if (storyfontimage != null) { setClass('fontsizecontainer',storyfontimage); } } else // default it to para14 if no cookie { setClass('story_content','para14'); setClass('fontsizecontainer','size02'); } } function setStoryFontSize(storyfontsize,storyfontimage) { setClass('story_content',storyfontsize); setClass('fontsizecontainer',storyfontimage); setCookie('storyfontsize', storyfontsize, '365', '/', '', ''); setCookie('storyfontimage', storyfontimage, '365', '/', '', ''); } function setCookie( name, value, expires, path, domain, secure ) { // set time var today = new Date(); today.setTime( today.getTime() ); if ( expires ) { expires = expires * 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24; //days } var expires_date = new Date( today.getTime() + (expires) ); document.cookie = name + "=" + escape( value ) + ( ( expires ) ? ";expires=" + expires_date.toGMTString() : "" ) + ( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "" ) + ( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) + ( ( secure ) ? ";secure" : "" ); } function getCookie( check_name ) { // split this cookie up into name/value pairs var a_all_cookies = document.cookie.split( ';' ); var a_temp_cookie = ''; var cookie_name = ''; var cookie_value = ''; var b_cookie_found = false; // set boolean t/f default f for ( i = 0; i < a_all_cookies.length; i++ ) { // split apart each name=value pair a_temp_cookie = a_all_cookies.split( '=' ); // and trim left/right whitespace while we're at it cookie_name = a_temp_cookie[0].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, ''); // if the extracted name matches passed check_name if ( cookie_name == check_name ) { b_cookie_found = true; // we need to handle case where cookie has no value but exists (no = sign, that is): if ( a_temp_cookie.length > 1 ) { cookie_value = unescape( a_temp_cookie[1].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') ); } // note that in cases where cookie is initialized but no value, null is returned return cookie_value; break; } a_temp_cookie = null; cookie_name = ''; } if ( !b_cookie_found ) { return null; } } </SCRIPT>MONTREAL ? Now that more than half the Quebec population has been inoculated against H1N1, the provincial government is gearing up for a new vaccination campaign to protect against the seasonal flu virus.
Those shots will be available as of Jan. 11, an aide to Health Minister Yves Bolduc said Friday.
Marie-?ve B?dard acknowledged the vast majority of people who have fallen ill got infected with the pandemic H1N1 virus, but said authorities don?t want to take chances with the seasonal flu, either.
?We can?t exclude the possibility that the seasonal flu strain won?t make its appearance,? B?dard said. ?We can?t let people who are vulnerable wait until it?s too late.?
Quebecers who are considered at elevated risk for the seasonal flu are those who are at least 60 years old, people with weakened immune systems and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.
Details of the second vaccination campaign will be announced by Alain Poirier, Quebec?s chief public health officer, but it will probably be on a much smaller scale than the H1N1 version.
Meanwhile, all of Montreal?s large vaccination clinics closed Friday night after nearly a million people got H1N1 shots.
Starting Monday, and throughout the holiday period, people can show up without an appointment at their local CLSC clinic for an H1N1 shot.
B?dard said Bolduc is satisfied with the fact that more than 4.2 million Quebecers have been immunized against H1N1. The cost of the campaign has been estimated at more than $200 million.
Since the start of the second wave of infections on Aug. 30, 2,469 Quebecers have been hospitalized and 78 have died.
In its weekly update, the World Health Organization observed that in the northern hemisphere, the peak of the second wave has passed.
? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/heal...mpaign=Feed: canwest/F297 (The Gazette - News)
