|
LEARN MORE
IMAGE SOURCE: MSNBC Web site/ image of Jordan McFarland
|
CDC Says These Are Actual Numbers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that since April there have been at least 4,000 swine flu deaths reported in the U.S. – about four times the estimate previously used.
That number includes deaths from related pneumonia and bacterial infections. Until now the CDC had put the guestimate at 1,000.
NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor, tells her audience this morning that the reporting data is catching up to the actual numbers of flu cases since April. She encourages the flu vaccine as well as most other childhood vaccinations and assures her audience they are safe.
Dr. Snyderman has been criticized for holding dual roles as a broadcast medical correspondent while working for Johnson & Johnson, a conflict-of-interest which reportedly contributed to her dismissal from ABC News.
Availability
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has just received FDA approval for its H1N1 swine flu vaccine. The 7.6 million doses will be produced at a facility in Quebec and will begin shipping vials next month to fill the U.S. order by the end of the year. GSK is one among five vaccine makers to eventually produce a total of 250 million doses of vaccine.
Sanofi Pastuer promises to meet production by years’ end for 75 million doses. Novartis says expectations were too high but it’s working quickly.
Death Rates
A newly published study in The Lancet finds that while babies and young people are most likely to get sick from swine flu, the elderly have higher death rates.
Researchers looked at more than 63,000 cases in Mexico. 10 percent of those ages 70 and older who got sick died compared to 0.9 percent of those ages 20 to 29. Among those who were vaccinated the risk of infection fell by 35 percent.
Teen Suffers Serious Reaction
A Virginia teen has suffered a rare illness after the swine flu shot.
While the CDC says there is no link, Jordan McFarland, 14, was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome 18 hours after receiving the H1N1 vaccination.
The boy, a high school athlete, is in a wheelchair suffering from severe headaches, muscle weakness and spasms. GBS attacks muscles through the body’s own immune system causing weakness, paralysis and sometimes death.
He will need to use a walker and have extensive physical therapy.
The CDC says it’s gathered five reports of GBS in people after receiving the swine flu vaccine in addition to Jordan’s case. In 1976, about one case of GBS was seen in every 100,000 people vaccinated against the swine flu.
GBS is the most severe adverse reaction being tracked by the CDC so far, among 1,700 reports of reactions.
Consumers Should Know
In public health the risk-benefit ratio is considered when pursing any public policy. The National Vaccine Information Center’s Barbara Lo Fisher says that assuming any side effect is a coincidence may discourage doctors and hospitals from reporting adverse events in a timely manner.
Doctors are supposed to report adverse events to the government’s VAERS (vaccine adverse event reporting system) system, but it is a voluntary system and there are no sanctions for not reporting, making it difficult to get a handle on any side effects.
For example, Jordan’s family was advised by CDC officials to report Jordan’s case themselves. The CDC includes GBS in its list of potential side effects but says since 1976, “flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to GBS.”
Fisher is encouraging tougher reporting requirements to get a true picture of any side-effects of vaccinating. She believes as little as one percent of actual events is being reported.
The CDC reports side effects of the H1N1 vaccine include fainting, headache, fever, nausea, life-threatening allergic reaction, though very rare.
People who have an allergic reaction to eggs should not be vaccinated since the formulations are grown in egg. #