Seasonal flu shot may increase H1N1 risk: early data

Preliminary research suggests the seasonal flu shot may put people at greater risk for getting swine flu, CBC News has learned.

"This is some evidence that has been floated; it hasn't been validated yet, it's very preliminary," cautioned Dr. Don Low, microbiologist in chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"This is obviously important data to help guide policy decision. How can we best protect people against influenza?"

It's important to validate the information to make sure it's not just a fluke, and that the observation is confirmed elsewhere such as in the Southern Hemisphere, which just completed its seasonal flu season, Low added.

The four Canadian studies involved about 2,000 Canadians in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, sources told CBC News. Researchers found people who had received the seasonal flu vaccine in the past were more likely to get sick with the H1N1 virus.

Researchers know that theoretically when people are exposed to bacteria or a virus, it can stimulate the immune system to create antibodies that facilitate the entry of another strain of the virus. Dengue fever is one example, Low said.

www.cbc.ca...

Was just watching the news on CBC and they say people who get the seasonal flu vaccine are 2 times more likely to get swine flu. The article on the CBC site is posted above. Looking forward to hearing what everybody thinks about this news. My city in Winnipeg, Manitoba is scheduled to give out seasonal flu shots between October 14th to 16th. Will be interesting to see if they still go ahead with the seasonal flu shots or not.


Winnipeg: Three-day flu vaccine blitz a WRHA test run for H1N1

"Next month, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority will launch a three-day, seasonal flu shot blitz to test its ability to handle the second wave of H1N1 flu."

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 23-9-2009 by ZombieSlayer]

Interesting turn of events, to say the least. CBC just reported that they may not go ahead with the vaccinations.

More fodder for the notion that it's not to keep you well, but to make you sick instead.

related:

www.cbc.ca...

reply to post by ZombieSlayer




Bold is mine

The four Canadian studies involved about 2,000 Canadians in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, sources told CBC News. Researchers found people who had received the seasonal flu vaccine in the past were more likely to get sick with the H1N1 virus.

Just what I have been trying to explain to people.

Note that they said "in the past". Getting the flu shot gives you very short term immunity and you have to keep taking the shot for the current flu to stay immune.

However, people who have gotten the flu have a long term immunity to the same strains of flu, and if it changes significantly and they catch it, they will still have lesser effects.

Good catch. S&F

You know, this doesn't surprised me, as the vaccination any vaccination will cause a reaction on the immune system of the persons vaccinated, occurs this will cause the body to become more susceptible to any virulent type of diseases floating around.

Specially for those that have already compromise immune system and more so small children.

That is why the idea of starting regular flu vaccinations early was a bad idea.

Is true when somebody said if the flu doesn't kill you the vaccinations will

Most of the people around here that I know have the flu have all said they just got their flu shot a week ago. Well, Im not taking that flu shot. My son however has the flu and not had the shot.

FYI if you get the nasal spray flu vaccine and get this swine flu with in 2 weeks you can NOT take tamiflu.

Information is the best tool for fighting an influenza outbreak. By informing people on how to avoid the influenza virus you basically can stop it in it's tracks or at least keep it to a minimum. We are living in the information age which is something they did not really have back during early pandemics.

People have multiple sources of information today and the speed at which it is circulated is far greater then the speed at which the virus can spread.

Mixing vaccines
In another development on Thursday, the World Health Organization announced that a panel of experts will look at the unpublished Canadian data that suggests previous seasonal flu shots may put people at greater risk of catching the swine flu virus.

The UN health agency has already contacted researchers worldwide to try to corroborate the preliminary Canadian findings, but the effect has not been seen elsewhere, Marie-Paul Keany, WHO's vaccine research director, told a teleconference with reporters from Geneva.

She praised the Canadian investigators as well known and credible, but noted the new data needs to be reviewed

www.cbc.ca...

The MSM silence is deafening on this dramatic news. Getting your seasonal shot before the findings are released could be a risky thing to do. It's sort of like having a bullseye painted on your back when the Swine flu hits later this year.

reply to post by ZombieSlayer


"The UN health agency has already contacted researchers worldwide to try to corroborate the preliminary Canadian findings, but the effect has not been seen elsewhere, Marie-Paul Keany, WHO's vaccine research director, told a teleconference with reporters from Geneva. "


I wonder WHO is funding these researchers "elsewhere"?

reply to post by nepafogo


It's a strange thing, alright...

On Sunday Quebec joined Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia in suspending seasonal flu shots for anyone under 65 years of age. Quebec's Health Ministry announced it would postpone vaccinations until January, clearing the autumn months for health professionals to focus on vaccinating against H1N1, which is expected to the more severe influenza strain this season.

[...]

So far, the study's impact is confined to Canada. Researchers in the U.S., Britain and Australia have not reported the same phenomenon. Marie-Paule Kieny, the World Health Organization's director of vaccine research, said last week the Canadian findings were an international anomaly and could constitute a “study bias.”

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Provinces are dropping the seasonal flu shots like the proverbial hot potato, with the exception of New Brunswick for rearons only those who may live there know. All I can think of is the large military base.

That the impact has only been felt in Canada is a mystery that seriously needs looking at.

Some more details are starting to emerge on this study.

What remains to be seen is just when the findings are published. It's at that time that other governments and jurisdictions are likely to take more notice.

What is certain in my opinion right now is that it is being studiously ignored.

The unpublished study suggests that those under 50 years of age are at a higher risk of being infected with the swine flu virus after receiving the annual flu shot.

Details of the study, coupled with skepticism in some quarters about the new H1N1 vaccine, could place territorial and provincial inoculation programs in disarray with fewer people turning up for either shot.

Lead authors, Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Gaston De Serres of Laval University, have submitted their findings to an unnamed scientific journal and may not comment until it is published.

Their paper found that consistency across four epidemiologic studies and one animal experiment suggested "an association that cannot be dismissed on the basis of chance and is unlikely to be explained entirely by bias."

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Surprise, surprise.
Personally I trust the Canadian studies more than the WHO.

Canadian flu shot study unlikely to change policy: WHO

International influenza vaccine experts are apparently not convinced that Canadian researchers have found a true link between getting a seasonal flu shot and catching swine flu.

The consensus that emerged from a World Health Organization teleconference Friday on the controversial data seemed to be that the Canadian findings are likely due to some confounding factor or factors in the data themselves and may not reflect a real increased risk, according to a WHO official who helped pull together the meeting.

"From a WHO point of view, the fact that the findings are not replicated in other countries I think is reassuring for us that this is an outlier, if you like, the unexpected findings that are coming out of Canada," said David Wood, co-ordinator of the quality, safety and standards team of WHO's department of immunization, vaccines and biologicals.

"Most people are still looking at this as some sort of undetected confounding in the data, that for some reason is giving the results that are there."

www.cbc.ca...