Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
H1N1 vaccines for pregnant women not yet ready
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
October 16, 2009 5:56 PM
<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>Pregnant women are thought to be among those at greatest risk of severe illness if they contract the H1N1 flu — but they may not have immediate access to the shot recommended for them when immunization gets underway.
With about two weeks to go before Canada's biggest-ever immunization program is expected to begin, federal health officials said Friday they don't know whether any doses of the non-adjuvanted vaccine ordered for pregnant women will be ready then or not.
"It's really too soon to speculate what will be available, when. That's the bottom line," chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said at a news conference in Vancouver with federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
GlaxoSmithKline is producing 50.4 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine for Canadians and about 1.8 million of those will not contain an adjuvant, which is an additive that boosts the immune system to make the vaccine more effective.
Pregnant women are being advised to be the first in line to be vaccinated. But because there is no safety data on the use of adjuvanted vaccines in pregnant women, they're also being told to get the non-adjuvanted vaccine if possible.
Federal health officials say there are no particular safety concerns about adjuvants but, as a precautionary measure, Canada ordered both versions of the vaccine.
Butler-Jones confirmed that the first batch of vaccine produced at GlaxoSmithKline's Quebec factory did not contain the version ordered for pregnant women.
"But we are working to make sure that all are available for everybody quickly over the next month," he said.
Butler-Jones said that, as of Friday, federal officials could not predict what doses of the vaccine will be available at what times.
"At this point, we don't know. Everything is still in process,"he said.
No exact date has been set for the H1N1 vaccine to be ready for use, but the target is the first week of November. Health Canada has not approved the vaccine yet and Aglukkaq said it will not be authorized for distribution until the regulator is satisfied that it is safe and effective.
"We are not going to rush through this," she said.
Pregnant women who were planning to rush out and get their vaccine can still safely get the adjuvanted vaccine, health officials at the news conference insisted.
"I wouldn't hesitate to recommend adjuvanted vaccine to pregnant women," said British Columbia's chief public health officer Dr. Perry Kendall.
Dr. Danielle Grondin, assistant deputy minister of infectious disease and emergency preparedness at the Public Health Agency of Canada, implored pregnant women to get immunized and said the risks posed to them if they contract the flu are "far, far, far higher" than any risk the H1N1 vaccine may pose.
"The adjuvant is safe. Iwould take it,"she said.
Pregnant women, especially those in their third trimester, were identified Friday as one of three groups at the greatest risk for severe or fatal cases of H1N1 flu by world health officials at a meeting in Washington, D.C. Children under two and people with chronic lung disease, including asthma, made up the other groups.
The uncertainty about Canada's vaccine availability for pregnant women quickly prompted reaction from the government's critics.
"Other countries are already well into the immunization of their general populations, and yet here in Canada, we can't even protect our most vulnerable. We're telling pregnant women and other vulnerable people to go to the back of the line. It is completely unacceptable," said Liberal health critic Carolyn Bennett in a statement.
The Liberals also said the government is causing confusion and issuing mixed messages about the vaccine.
Aglukkaq and Butler-Jones in fact spent the week travelling across Western Canada, hosting town hall meetings and press conferences, in order to dispel any confusion or myths about the pandemic and the vaccine that is being counted on to stop it.
They said Friday there has been a slight increase in influenza activity across the country, particularly in British Columbia, but it's not enough to signal the second wave of the pandemic.
In the United States, however, officials there reported an "unprecedented" number of flu cases for this time of year. Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the national centre for immunization and respiratory diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also reported that 86 children under 18 have died from the pandemic virus. Forty-three of the deaths have been reported since Aug. 30. Normally, about 40 to 50 children die during a regular flu season that stretches from September to May.
"These are very sobering statistics, and unfortunately they are likely to increase," Schuchat said.
The U.S. has begun immunizing its population, but Schuchat said the country is experiencing a delay in vaccine production and will not have as much available this month as originally thought.
http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-44...zdC9GNTYvfjMveHVUNm9HQ1R2Nzgvc3RvcnkuaHRtbA==
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
October 16, 2009 5:56 PM
<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>Pregnant women are thought to be among those at greatest risk of severe illness if they contract the H1N1 flu — but they may not have immediate access to the shot recommended for them when immunization gets underway.
With about two weeks to go before Canada's biggest-ever immunization program is expected to begin, federal health officials said Friday they don't know whether any doses of the non-adjuvanted vaccine ordered for pregnant women will be ready then or not.
"It's really too soon to speculate what will be available, when. That's the bottom line," chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said at a news conference in Vancouver with federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
GlaxoSmithKline is producing 50.4 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine for Canadians and about 1.8 million of those will not contain an adjuvant, which is an additive that boosts the immune system to make the vaccine more effective.
Pregnant women are being advised to be the first in line to be vaccinated. But because there is no safety data on the use of adjuvanted vaccines in pregnant women, they're also being told to get the non-adjuvanted vaccine if possible.
Federal health officials say there are no particular safety concerns about adjuvants but, as a precautionary measure, Canada ordered both versions of the vaccine.
Butler-Jones confirmed that the first batch of vaccine produced at GlaxoSmithKline's Quebec factory did not contain the version ordered for pregnant women.
"But we are working to make sure that all are available for everybody quickly over the next month," he said.
Butler-Jones said that, as of Friday, federal officials could not predict what doses of the vaccine will be available at what times.
"At this point, we don't know. Everything is still in process,"he said.
No exact date has been set for the H1N1 vaccine to be ready for use, but the target is the first week of November. Health Canada has not approved the vaccine yet and Aglukkaq said it will not be authorized for distribution until the regulator is satisfied that it is safe and effective.
"We are not going to rush through this," she said.
Pregnant women who were planning to rush out and get their vaccine can still safely get the adjuvanted vaccine, health officials at the news conference insisted.
"I wouldn't hesitate to recommend adjuvanted vaccine to pregnant women," said British Columbia's chief public health officer Dr. Perry Kendall.
Dr. Danielle Grondin, assistant deputy minister of infectious disease and emergency preparedness at the Public Health Agency of Canada, implored pregnant women to get immunized and said the risks posed to them if they contract the flu are "far, far, far higher" than any risk the H1N1 vaccine may pose.
"The adjuvant is safe. Iwould take it,"she said.
Pregnant women, especially those in their third trimester, were identified Friday as one of three groups at the greatest risk for severe or fatal cases of H1N1 flu by world health officials at a meeting in Washington, D.C. Children under two and people with chronic lung disease, including asthma, made up the other groups.
The uncertainty about Canada's vaccine availability for pregnant women quickly prompted reaction from the government's critics.
"Other countries are already well into the immunization of their general populations, and yet here in Canada, we can't even protect our most vulnerable. We're telling pregnant women and other vulnerable people to go to the back of the line. It is completely unacceptable," said Liberal health critic Carolyn Bennett in a statement.
The Liberals also said the government is causing confusion and issuing mixed messages about the vaccine.
Aglukkaq and Butler-Jones in fact spent the week travelling across Western Canada, hosting town hall meetings and press conferences, in order to dispel any confusion or myths about the pandemic and the vaccine that is being counted on to stop it.
They said Friday there has been a slight increase in influenza activity across the country, particularly in British Columbia, but it's not enough to signal the second wave of the pandemic.
In the United States, however, officials there reported an "unprecedented" number of flu cases for this time of year. Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the national centre for immunization and respiratory diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also reported that 86 children under 18 have died from the pandemic virus. Forty-three of the deaths have been reported since Aug. 30. Normally, about 40 to 50 children die during a regular flu season that stretches from September to May.
"These are very sobering statistics, and unfortunately they are likely to increase," Schuchat said.
The U.S. has begun immunizing its population, but Schuchat said the country is experiencing a delay in vaccine production and will not have as much available this month as originally thought.
http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-44...zdC9GNTYvfjMveHVUNm9HQ1R2Nzgvc3RvcnkuaHRtbA==