Health officials prep swine flu immunization plan
He emphasized that there would be two separate vaccines this year, one for the seasonal flu and another for the H1N1 flu. “The seasonal flu vaccine will be available in early October and although we don’t have a date yet for the H1N1 vaccine, it is expected to arrive in October as well,” Kumar said, adding that although the results of the safety studies for the H1N1 vaccine have been published, a final date for distribution has still not been determined.
“The good news is that the studies have shown the vaccine to be safe and effective just like the regular seasonal flu vaccine,” Kumar noted.
Health officials said that at its weekly meeting on 15 September, the HSA’s Flu Response Team reviewed international guidelines and formulated a vaccine strategy for the Islands. The meeting was also attended by a visiting team from PAHO, headed by Dr Ernest Pate, regional representative based in Jamaica.
According to the recommendations, pregnant women, children and adults with chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, respiratory conditions (asthma), and immunodeficiency, as well as health care workers, are all priority groups for H1N1 vaccine.
“After we have vaccinated those groups, we will work our way through the rest of the population – children ages 6 months to 4 years; healthy children ages 5-18 years; healthy adults aged 19-49 years, followed by other age groups,” Kumar explained.
The Cayman Islands reported its first H1N1 case a little over three months ago on 4 June, and confirmed one H1N1 death in July.
“There have been 101 swine flu (H1N1) cases confirmed to date with about 2,000 flu-like illness cases that were appropriately treated and recovered at home,” Kumar stated.
Although to date the H1N1 flu causes mild to moderate illness in most patients, HSA Medical Director Dr Greg Hoeksema reminded the public that there could still be severe cases that would need hospitalization or even cause death. “We anticipate that these severe cases will occur again in the Cayman Islands with the fall flu wave just as they have with the first wave here and around the world. That is why the vaccine will be an important part of the strategy to minimize the impact of H1N1 in Cayman,” Hoeksema added.
Local flu statistics as of 12 September indicated that 76% of all confirmed flu cases (a total of 101 cases) since June were due to the pandemic H1N1 virus. The other 24% were confirmed as being various strains of seasonal flu viruses. The majority of the cases (48%) occurred amongst older children and young adults in the 10-39 age group.
Flu cases have now stabilized and there has been only one confirmed case of H1N1 in the last four weeks, but residents are still being cautioned residents to stay vigilant. For more information on H1N1 visit www.CaymanPrepared.ky or www.hsa.ky. The Health Services Authority also offers the public direct responses to their flu queries through its flu email and message system – flu@hsa.ky. This complements the 24-hour flu hotline (926-2812) manned by HSA staff.
Category: Headline News
My son is asthmatic. Not sure what to do….should I allow him to get the vaccine or should I not allow it and let far worse things potentially happen?
!!!Poison!!!
http://swinefluswindle.com/
*SNIP
Some facts that you need to be aware of about the swine flu vaccine…
Swine Flu Vaccination Poses Serious Threat to Your Health
Baxter Files Swine Flu Vaccine Patent A Year Ahead Of Outbreak
– Jedi Dread –