Health officials prep swine flu immunization plan

| 17/09/2009

(CNS): Cayman is now planning a vaccination strategy to deal with a probable second wave of H1N1 flu cases this fall, health officials said yesterday. Having met with Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representatives, they said they had gone to great lengths to get sufficient H1N1 vaccine to immunize all residents, but did not expect to have enough doses for everyone right away. “As global stocks will be inadequate, we will vaccinate the high risk groups first, and as more vaccine becomes available, we will move on to the rest of the population,” Medical Officer of Health Dr Kiran Kumar said.

He stated that there would most likely be a surge in flu cases this fall, with seasonal flu coupled with the pandemic H1N1. “And, as all countries around the world, we will only have a limited amount vaccine immediately available,” he added.

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.

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  1. Anon says:

    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?

  2. Jedi Dread says:

    !!!Poison!!! 

    http://swinefluswindle.com/

    *SNIP

     

    Some facts that you need to be aware of about the swine flu vaccine…

    • The swine flu vaccine will contain a squalene oil adjuvant which was in the anthrax vaccines given to troops in the Gulf War of 1991 that led to 1 in 3 of those vaccinated developing Gulf War Syndrome.  Over 30 countries sent troops to the Gulf War and only 4 of them vaccinated their service men and women against anthrax.  Only men and women from those 4 countries developed Gulf War Syndrome.

       
    • Squalene is found in human body but when injected via a vaccine the immune system attacks it as a threat. The immune system then turns on the squalene in parts of the body where it is produced naturally. This immune response does not stop as the body continues to produce squalene. This leads to chronic and debilating diseases like those experienced by the victims of Gulf War Syndrome.



      Swine Flu Vaccination Poses Serious Threat to Your Health

       
    • Baxter International, one of the pharmaceutical corporations producing a swine flu vaccine submitted a patent for their vaccine to the US patent office on August 28, 2008. How is this possible when the virus was only “discovered” in Mexico in 2009?



      Baxter Files Swine Flu Vaccine Patent A Year Ahead Of Outbreak

       
    • In February 2009 Baxter “accidentally” sent vaccine material contaminated with the birdflu virus to 16 laboratories in Europe.

    – Jedi Dread –