Treyfish
Moderator
<!-- START Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. -->
<!-- END Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. -->
<!-- // .ad -->
<!-- // #section-header-ads -->
<!-- END Story Header Block --><!-- START primary content/left column --><!-- Story Toolbar-->
<!-- // .article-tools --><!-- End Story Toolbar-->Adam Cresswell, Health editor | October 09, 2009
<!-- // .module-subheader -->Article from: The Australian
HEALTH authorities have issued a nationwide safety alert over the syringes handed out under the federal government's swine flu vaccination program, after a health worker who is allergic to latex suffered a severe reaction to the jab.
Western Australia has asked GPs and others offering the vaccine to stop using the Chinese-made syringes, which are distributed by the federal Health Department, and is now trying to fill orders from 200 GPs for 40,000 latex-free versions.
Other states have issued urgent alerts to doctors and nurses, asking them to first quiz patients on whether they are allergic to latex -- and to use a different syringe if they are.
Allergy experts have described the alerts as "incredibly cautious", saying latex sensitivity is less common than it was 15 years ago, and it was very unlikely enough rubber could disperse into the injection solution to cause a problem.
The 26-year-old Perth woman who suffered the anaphylactic reaction has fully recovered since the incident on Monday, and it remains unclear if latex caused her symptoms.
But the episode has triggered another flurry of concerns over elements of the roll-out of the swine flu vaccine, which has already been attacked on operational grounds.
Despite warnings being sent to GPs in WA on Tuesday, the first warning appeared on the federal Health Department's website on Wednesday, with alerts going to NSW, Queensland and Victoria the same day.
South Australia alerted its doctors yesterday morning, but the message did not make it through to some GPs.
Peter Rischbieth, a GP in Murray Bridge, 80km southeast of Adelaide, knew nothing of the alert when contacted yesterday afternoon, despite having already immunised 14 patients against swine flu that day. His practice has immunised 400 people in the past five days.
"If the media have found out about it before the healthcare providers, that probably means things aren't going as swimmingly as you'd like," Dr Rischbieth said.
North Sydney GP Paul Fitzgerald, already concerned over the added risk posed by the multi-dose vials used to supply the vaccine, said the new requirement to ask patients for possible latex allergy "increases the risk of error".
"It's yet another problem that we have to look out for ... if you try and re-engineer the way a large professional group works, you are going to have errors."
The Chinese syringes that triggered the issue conform to Australian regulatory standards. But because latex is not normally found in Australian syringes, health authorities say many doctors do not ask about latex allergy before vaccinating their patients.
Connie Katelaris, professor of immunology and allergy at the University of Western Sydney, said the latex bungs were coated in silicone, and health officials had been "incredibly cautious" in issuing the alerts.
While latex allergy used to be more common among healthcare workers, who are frequently exposed to latex, allergy rates even in this group were now thought to be only slightly higher than the general population rate of about 1 per cent.
An even smaller number would have symptoms severe enough to cause a problem from a vaccination, she said.
"It's very, very unlikely that any measurable level of latex would be found in any liquid in contact with it," Professor Katelaris said.
A federal Health Department spokeswoman rejected criticisms of the vaccination program, saying the syringes met Australian standards and were registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
The reaction "is not related to the vaccine, and is extremely rare", she said:tiphat:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26184986-23289,00.html
