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Top doctor says very few adverse reactions to H1N1 vaccine
, o1 u9 L3 _/ U7 U(CP) – 6 hours ago
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$ y- ]/ T% i$ G" LOTTAWA — The country's chief public health officer says few Canadians have suffered serious side effects from the swine-flu shot.
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Dr. David Butler-Jones says that of the 6.5 million people who have received the H1N1 vaccine, only 36 have had serious adverse reactions. L( u4 A. }; }* o& q
! G2 Y% D/ L/ c- b4 f+ `"With any vaccination campaign, we expect to see some cases of serious adverse events," he said. "They are very rare, but they are part of all mass-vaccination campaigns and we expect to see a small number of them."
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More serious reactions can include life-threatening illnesses, hospitalizations, disabilities or deaths.% D% I, l7 O' f! }8 f+ z; Q) L& e
2 A" L+ |) m/ i: }1 ^One person is believed to have died from a serious reaction to the vaccine, Butler-Jones said, but the death hasn't yet been conclusively linked to the flu shot. He said it's possible the elderly person who died suffered from an underlying condition.
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7 `) l+ Z) H( ~/ nAll the serious side effects came after shots of the adjuvanted vaccine, which contains a compound to boost the vaccine's potency. Butler-Jones said that's likely because the vast majority of people being vaccinated are getting the adjuvanted vaccine.
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9 }$ W# c; g7 O' `5 F: XA version of the vaccine without the booster is being held for pregnant women." [6 n0 r- N3 O' [9 h0 |
0 r/ J. Z1 c2 S4 {6 Z4 Q# KButler-Jones said the serious side effects from the H1N1 shot fall into two categories: allergic reactions, or fevers and convulsions.
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Mild effects, such as nausea, soreness, headaches and fever, are far more common reactions to the swine-flu shot - just as they are for all vaccines.
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& N5 |5 u6 t0 _: ~$ g: ~7 {$ HThe federal government says it will list adverse reactions to the H1N1 vaccine on its www.fightflu.ca website.
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So far, 198 people have died of swine flu. By comparison, seasonal flu kills between 4,000 to 8,000 Canadians each year. |
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