Another article of interest? You probably won't see this reported
much. Sorry, I'm done. Y'all keep your CS generators handy and working!
Annie
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/sep2409canada.html
Unpublished Canadian data on seasonal flu shots and H1N1 stir concern
Robert Roos * News Editor
Sep 24, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Canadian researchers reportedly have found
as-yet-unpublished evidence that people who had a seasonal flu shot last
year incurred a higher risk of H1N1 infection, but US and World Health
Organization (WHO) officials say they are not aware of any similar
findings elsewhere.
The Canadian Press (CP) reported that a series of studies in British
Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario seem to suggest that people who received a
seasonal flu shot last year were about twice as likely to contract the
pandemic H1N1 virus. The findings are spurring an effort by some
Canadian public health officials to delay, reduce, or cancel seasonal
flu vaccination campaigns this fall.
Details of the findings and the methods that led to them have not been
released, as the authors have submitted a paper to a journal and
therefore are barred from discussing them, according to the story. But
many people in public health in Canada have heard about the data.
The lead authors are Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia
Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston de Serres of Laval University
in Quebec, the story said.
In response to a question at a WHO news briefing today, Dr. Marie-Paule
Kieny, director of the agency's Initiative for Vaccine Research, said
the WHO is looking into the reported findings. The WHO is trying to
assemble a group of experts to review the Canadian data, she said.
So far, "Investigators in other countries have looked at their own data
and whether they could find similar observations, and none of the other
countries have been able to find anything like that," Kieny added. She
said the findings could be real or could be the result of a study bias
or other methodologic problems.
She also said many years of experience with seasonal flu immunizations
have yielded no other evidence that they cause this type of problem, but
the report warrants investigation.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was not
aware of any similar observations in this country. "This is unpublished
data and most importantly nothing that our scientists have seen in the
United States," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner told CIDRAP News. "We believe
it is advantageous for seasonal and 2009 H1N1 vaccines to be taken as
soon as available."
According to the CP story, several infectious disease experts said that
British and Australian researchers have not seen the phenomenon observed
by the Canadian authors, either. One of the experts called the lack of
confirmation elsewhere a "red flag."
Skowronski, the co-author, acknowledged that her paper needs the
scrutiny of the peer-review process to uncover any methodologic
problems, the CP reported. "We need to be assured that every stone was
turned over to make sure what we're reporting is valid," she was quoted
as saying.
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