Did you get your flu vax yet? - Page 3

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  1. Admin
    Jan 1, '11 by
    Quote from indigo girl
    Keeping a Sense of Proportion about Swine Flu

    BBC - Fergus's Medical Files: Keeping a sense of proportion about swine flu

    Are they rationing the vaccine in the UK? It sure sounds like it. And, they might just be guessing wrong about the time frame necessary for doing so...


    (hat tip Avian Flu Diary)
    I doubt they are rationing Influenza vac rather than limiting it to certain groups. Looking on the Department of Health UK website the criteria hasn't changed much since I left 3 years ago. Vac is recommended to everyone over 65, Live in residential/nursing home, main carer for elderly or disabled person, under 65 but suffer from a chronic disease of heart disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, kidney disease, low immunity due to cancer or steroid treatment, TIA or stroke, MS or cerebral palsy, splenectomy/sickle cell and pregnancy,

    http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/.../dh_119314.pdf

    These are the recommendations for swine flu and haven't been updated since 2009

    http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/.../dh_110617.pdf

    Pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza: clinical management guidelines for pregnancy : Department of Health - Publications
  2. Guide
    Jan 1, '11 by
    OK, but if this particular virus has an affinity for the under 65 yr olds, it makes no sense to me. It is not the elders that are most impacted by swine flu.
  3. Guide
    Jan 2, '11 by
    The 2011 H1N1 Pandemic Fiasco

    Here is some commentary from Dr. Niman at Recombinomics about the flu vax chasing a moving target, and some of the changes in the swine flu virus that he is noticing. He has been criticized by many as being an alarmist, but he does make some interesting points about manipulation of data. Is that what really happened? I do know that many young people that I worked with, and the children of my colleagues became very ill. Some of them started to get better then relapsed, a sign of secondary infection, and pneumonia, requiring possible hospitalization if not treated. Access to Tamiflu tx made them better.
    Quote from www.recombinomics.com

    The testing requirement and associated gross undercounts were eventually applied to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, leading to major misconceptions about the spread and gravity of the outbreak. Infections in schools were underplayed because only lab confirmed cases were cited and the vast majority of infected students were not tested. This allowed schools to remain open and the high levels of H1N1 undisclosed. It also created a gross undercount of cases, which extended to severe and fatal cases.

    The gross undercount was magnified by comparisons to historic levels of seasonal flu deaths. In the United States the annual number was 36,000, but these were deaths of the frail and elderly who were estimated by death certificates and clinically defined cases, not lab confirmation.

    These very different approaches in estimating seasonal and pandemic H1N1 deaths led to false comparisons, including media reports claiming the H1N1 was an infection that was much milder than seasonal flu, when lab confirmed deaths in young adults were compared to estimates of deaths of patients who were well over 65 years of age and battling long term health problems.
  4. Guide
    Jan 2, '11 by
    Children's flu epidemic feared by doctors as virus escalates | Society | The Observer

    And, now they will go back to school, this sounds very familiar. At least this year, they will be doing more than saying wash your hands, I hope.

    Quote from www.guardian.co.uk
    The flu outbreak gripping Britain is set to become a "children's epidemic" as new figures show that the number of under-fives being brought into doctors' surgeries with the illness doubled over the Christmas period.

    Across England the highest incidence of flu is in the under-four age group – 184 cases per 100,000 babies and infants. Among the over-65s, the incidence last week was 36 cases per 100,000, while the average across all ages was 124 per 100,000 – a rise of 50% on the previous week. An epidemic is defined as 200 cases per 100,000 of population.

    The new figures only include those patients who have attended their doctors' surgeries. Professor Steve Field, a Birmingham GP, said many people may not be seeking treatment because opening times are limited over the holiday period and are instead coping with their illness at home.
    (hat tip crofsblog)


    Didn't they just decide not to give the vax to kids under 5?

    BBC - Fergus's Medical Files: Keeping a sense of proportion about swine flu

    Quote from www.bbc.co.uk
    Last night the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said it did not believe that healthy children under five should be given the flu vaccine.

    Professor Andrew Hall, chairman of the JCVI said: "The committee considered the issue of offering vaccination to healthy children either 0-4 years and/or 5-15 years of age. However, although there is a high incidence of influenza-like illness currently in these age groups, a significant proportion of this is due to other viruses such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). In addition, only a very small proportion of those with severe disease are in these age groups. Based on previous seasonal influenza epidemiology, it would be hoped that influenza circulation will have subsided within a month.

    We do not believe that seasonal or pandemic vaccine should be used for these or other healthy person groups. The greatest gain will be achieved in increasing vaccine uptake in the clinical risk groups."