Another report on H1N1 vaccine. Sukla P.S.: But before that, let me repeat my observation on responses to vaccination, in general:
Quote ... it is just not irresponsible to launch any blanket campaign against vaccination/immunisation but also utterly criminal in its effects, if not in terms of intent. Even under the hallowed banner "anti-imperialism" or whatever. The struggle for a rational drug policy or fair pricing or affordable and accessible vaccines/drugs or the likes will make any sense only when we acknowledge that these are something (at least potentially) highly positive or desirable. Immunisation campaigns have, I understand, played a major role in significantly bringing down mortality rates. MNCs or no MNCs. ... That does not mean one should not demand highest level of transparency before a vaccine is introduced and administered on mass scale. That we must do. For any vaccine and any drug. Without exception. But far more so in case of which is going to be applied on a mass scale. Unquote http://pediatrics.about.com/od/swineflu/a/409_vaccine.htm Swine Flu Vaccine - H1N1 VaccineSwine Flu H1N1 Basics By Vincent Iannelli, M.D. <http://pediatrics.about.com/bio/Vincent-Iannelli-M-D-8777.htm>, About.com Updated September 05, 2009 About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board <http://www.about.com/health/review.htm> As the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is a new virus, no swine flu vaccine is available to prevent infections. And unfortunately, the seasonal flu vaccine that many of us receive will not provide any protection against the swine flu virus. Experts are already working on a swine flu vaccine though. The CDC has already provided a candidate vaccine virus to several laboratories and manufacturers so that they can produce pilot lots of swine flu vaccines which are already being tested to make sure they are safe and effective. It is important to note that the decision to make a swine flu vaccine is separate from the decision as to whether or not to recommend that people actually receive the vaccine. Experts will likely still have to see what happens throughout the next few months to see if they will recommend that people get a swine flu vaccine. Swine Flu Vaccine It is estimated that the swine flu vaccine won't be ready until mid-October 2009. Can the swine flu vaccine be combined with the seasonal flu vaccine? No, as vaccine companies had to be done making seasonal flu vaccine before they can likely even get started on the swine flu vaccine. Once the swine flu is ready, who will get it? CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that swine flu vaccine should first go to: - Pregnant women - Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age - Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel - All children and young adults from 6 months through 24 years of age, and - Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza That will take up about 159 million doses of swine flu vaccine. If supplies of swine flu vaccine are limited, priority should go to: - Pregnant women - Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age - Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel - Children 6 months through 4 years of age, and - Children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions Next, as swine flu vaccine improves to the point that all priority groups have gotten vaccinated, everyone from the ages of 25 through 64 years will get vaccinated too. Lastly, people 65 or older, who have the least risk from the swine flu will be offered the swine flu vaccine. Finding Swine Flu Shots Although five companies are making H1N1 swine flu shots, including Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, GSK, Medimmune and CSL, doctors won't be able to directly order swine flu vaccine from them. Instead, the federal government is purchasing all of the swine flu shots and then is distributing them via a centralized distribution program. Pediatricians and other health care providers should begin to preregister <http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/statecontacts.htm>1 now if they want to receive swine flu vaccine to give their patients. Parents might also want to ask their pediatrician if they are going to participate in the swine flu distribution program to make sure they have a place to get their kids a swine flu vaccine when they first become available in October. Although the swine flu vaccine will be free, pediatricians will likely charge a small vaccine administration fee to their patients. Swine Flu Vaccine Trials The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, will soon start swine flu clinical trials to make sure the new swine flu vaccines are safe and effective. They are to be conducted at eight university research hospitals and medical organizations across the United States, including Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, and Emory University in Atlanta. The first clinical trials <http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jul2009/niaid-22.htm>2 will test whether one or two doses are needed and will test both 15mcg and 30mcg doses of vaccine. Although the trials will start in adults, if the vaccines are safe, they will also be tested in children. 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine Although it is true that we don't currently have a swine flu vaccine, there once was a swine flu vaccine that was made to target the swine flu H1N1 strain that was found at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Because of fears that this swine flu strain was similar to the flu strain that caused the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, a vaccination program immunized more than 40 million people in the United States between October 1976 to December 1976. The immunization program was stopped early because the swine flu pandemic didn't occur, and the swine flu vaccine was thought to cause many side effects, including Guillain-Barre syndrome <http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/infectiousdiseases/Guillain-Barre-syndrome.htm>3. How many cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome were there? About 40, or 1 per million people vaccinated. Even that was considered too high though in light of the fact that there didn't seem to be any cases of swine flu that season. Source: CDC. Use of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine. Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2009. Accessed September 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr58e0821a1.htm4 PandemicFlu.gov. Draft Guidance on Allocating and Targeting Pandemic Influenza Vaccine. Accessed April 2009. http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/prioritization.html5 Plotkin: Vaccines, 5th ed. Sencer, David J. Reflections on the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccination Program. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2006. WHO. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 briefing note 2. Accessed July 2009. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090713/en/index.html6 This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/swineflu/a/409_vaccine.htm ©2009 About.com, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company <http://www.nytco.com/>. All rights reserved. ------------------------------ Links in this article: 1. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/statecontacts.htm 2. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jul2009/niaid-22.htm 3. http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/infectiousdiseases/Guillain-Barre-syndrome.htm 4. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr58e0821a1.htm 5. http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/prioritization.html 6. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090713/en/index.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
