Chronically ill next up for H1N1 vaccine
Published Friday November 13th, 2009
Pandemic: Health officials to begin next week inoculating people with lung conditions
New Brunswickers with chronic lung conditions will be the primary target of pandemic influenza vaccination clinics across the province next week, says the province's chief medical officer of health.
Dr. Eilish Cleary said Thursday that individuals under 65 years of age who have chronic asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cystic fibrosis will now take priority as other front-of-the-line groups have been offered the shot.
By the end of this week, all First Nations communities will have held a H1N1 clinic and all pregnant mothers will have been offered the vaccine.
All children less than five years old should have also been given the opportunity to receive the shot by the end of next week, freeing up clinics to a new portion of the population.
"Because we have already achieved some of our priority group targets, we will now be turning our attention to providing more access for people with chronic diseases," Cleary said, in an update on the pandemic's spread in the province.
Cleary said that some of the more than 145,000 New Brunswickers who have already been vaccinated have been individuals with chronic diseases.
New Brunswick's two regional health authorities have been working with dialysis units and cancer specialists to reach specific patients. Clinics specifically aimed at chronic illness groups will be posted on the government's website in the coming days.
Although the province continues to battle vaccine shortages, Cleary said she is still optimistic that all New Brunswickers will be offered the vaccine before Christmas.
"We are still hopeful that we can achieve that, however, we cannot be certain because we do not yet know how much vaccine we are getting next week, for example," she said. "If we start getting a good and constant supply of the vaccine we will be hopeful."
The H1N1 implementation plan in Canada was been significantly stalled after the vaccine's manufacturer switched a production line to make more of the unadjuvanted product for pregnant women.
The adjuvanted vaccine contains compounds that help boost immunity.
Provinces receive their vaccine supply through the Public Health Agency of Canada and the vaccine is delivered weekly to provinces on a per capita basis.
Cleary said there has been no indication from the federal government as to when higher volumes of the vaccine will be made available.
The province's chief medical officer of health also said Thursday that the spread of the virus has not reached its peak in New Brunswick.
The number of hospitalizations has jumped to 68 in the province to date and five of the cases were serious enough to put patients in an intensive care unit.
Last Friday, 38 people were hospitalized with the H1N1 virus.
"Although the number (of hospitalizations) seems high, in fact many of them are short-stay admissions," Cleary said.
Cleary said a large portion of the cases requiring hospital care involve young children with symptoms of dehydration, something not typical to the regular flu season.
Approximately 40 per cent of the hospitalizations involve people under the age of 20.
No deaths have been reported in the province.
A sixth H1N1 influenza-related death was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday.
This week, New Brunswick took receipt of 23,000 doses of adjuvanted vaccine and 19,100 doses of unadjuvanted vaccine.
While the shipment arrived at the province's serum depot on Monday and health authorities took delivery on Tuesday, the unadjuvanted vaccine has yet to receive authorization o be distributed from federal regulators.
"We do anticipate to get that (approval) before week's end and we are planning to use that as soon as we can," Cleary said.
Cleary also urged people with chronic lung disease to take proof of their illness with them when they go to a clinic, since clinic officials may request documentation of their chronic disease. A prescription or labelled medication will suffice as proof.
"The people with chronic lung disease have certainly been identified as a high-risk group," Cleary said, explaining why the group has now been identified.
"It was a combination of science based on the epidemiology, and the logistics of working with the vaccine we've got."
More Actualités
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
