MDs back flu shots for every Canadian

[Guest guest]

[Over my dead body! Living in Ontario, where flu shots are free to all,

and working in a hospital, I'm frequently reminded to get my flu shot.

Does anyone know of a one-sheet counterpoint to the flu vaccine that I

can print off and use to question those who have bought into this

frenzy? -- David]

 

MDs back flu shots for every Canadian

 

By ANDRÉ PICARD

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Tuesday, Nov 9, 2004

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041109.wfluu09/BNStory/Nati\

onal/

 

Photo caption: Flu clinic in Calgary: Influenza is Canada's

sixth-leading cause of death, contributing directly or indirectly to

4,725 deaths in 2002.

 

Ottawa — Canada should become the first country in the world to

systematically vaccinate all citizens over the age of six months against

the flu, a blue-ribbon panel of scientists recommends.

 

In a statement to be made public today, the Canadian Task Force on

Preventive Health Care says that doing so could reduce cases of

influenza by as much as 93 per cent.

 

Universal vaccination would sharply reduce deaths among the elderly

(almost 5,000 of whom die annually in Canada from flu-related

illnesses), cut sick days among workers and schoolchildren, lower

health-care costs and potentially save the economy hundreds of millions

of dollars each year.

 

" Ideally, we would like to have everyone immunized against influenza, "

said task force member Joanne Langley of the Department of Community

Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University.

 

" Universal vaccination would likely be of great benefit and unlikely to

cause any significant harm, so we are recommending this approach, " she

said in an interview.

 

The only people who should not be vaccinated against influenza are

babies under the age of six months, people who are allergic to eggs or

thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative used in the flu vaccine), and

those who have had a severe reaction to a previous flu shot.

 

While the task force recommendations are not binding, they are highly

influential. The panel of epidemiologists, health-care researchers and

clinicians is charged with advising Canada's deputy health ministers on

prevention measures.

 

The task force also provides a comprehensive guide, known affectionately

as the red brick, that is the standard reference tool for Canadian

physicians and policy makers on prevention measures.

 

Only Ontario and Yukon have universal vaccine programs (in which

everyone is entitled to a free flu shot), but the task force is

recommending the approach be extended nationwide.

 

Currently, health advisory groups say seniors, children aged six to 23

months and anyone with a chronic disease such as heart disease or

respiratory illness should get an annual flu shot.

 

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization, which advises Health

Canada, says people should receive flu shots if they want them, but

doesn't recommend targeting everyone in the country.

 

Vaccinating all 32 million Canadians would cost about $125-million a

year. This year, about 11 million Canadians are expected to get a flu

shot, at a cost of about $45-million.

 

Research conducted in the United States suggests that immunization is a

good investment because each vaccination against the flu will save the

economy $45 (Canadian), most of it from preventing sick days.

 

On average, a person who comes down with influenza loses 2.8 days of

work, or an average of $500 in wages, according to U.S. government

statistics.

 

Dr. Langley said the recommendation, which is published in Tuesday's

edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, stands despite

growing concern over a shortage of vaccine.

 

" It's an unfortunate collision of events, but the process started way

before the shortage came to light, and the recommendation remains sound

even if all healthy people won't be able to get the vaccine, " Dr.

Langley said.

 

She said universal vaccination could obviously not begin until next

year. In fact, orders for next year's vaccine would have to be made

within months. Production of the vaccine, which is cultivated in eggs,

begins in February and is completed in September.

 

The task force also gave its blessing to new drugs that are used to

treat influenza, sold under the brand names Tamiflu and Relenza, saying

they are " moderately effective " in preventing the flu in people who have

not been vaccinated. They cautioned, however, that the drugs are

expensive and difficult to get in Canada.

 

About one in five Canadians contracts influenza each year. In healthy

adults and older children, the illness causes fever, cough, headache and

muscle pain, which usually abates in three to four days. One-third of

those who fall ill visit a physician or an emergency room, and flu is

the leading cause of absenteeism at school and work during the winter

months.

 

In those at higher risk, such as the frail elderly and people with

chronic illnesses such as pulmonary and heart disease, the flu can be

deadly. According to the task force report, young children are also at

high risk of severe side effects from the flu.

 

Influenza and pneumonia claimed 4,725 lives in 2002, according to

Statistics Canada. Virtually everyone who died was over 65 and had an

underlying, chronic health condition.

 

In its report, the task force reveals that young children are also hit

hard by the flu; proportionally, as many children aged six to 23 months

as seniors are hospitalized with the flu.

 

" Children are vulnerable because it's often their first encounter with

the virus and they have no immunity, " Dr. Langley said.

 

Children, unlike adults, require two doses of the flu vaccine, one month

apart.

 

Unlike Canada, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends only

that people over age 65 and those with chronic illnesses be vaccinated

against the flu. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has

recommended the vaccine for everyone over the age of 50, for children

aged six to 23 months, and for everyone in close daily contact with

children under the age of 23 months, including parents, siblings and

daycare workers.

[Guest guest]

look up thermasol ---the persertive they use----and see what it

causes----they re having big shakeups over the thermasol used in

baby shots causing autism and addh-----they stopped using

thermasol in dpt shots here in states in 1996 i think but

its still in mmr and flu vaccines its terrible my son

quit the navy after 24 years cause of those shots they were

gonna have to get ----anthrax wasnt it ???? use religion as

a cause not to get them here in states u can do that GL

mary

 

 

-

" David Elfstrom " <listbox

 

Tuesday, November 09, 2004 12:26 PM

MDs back flu shots for every Canadian

 

 

 

 

[Over my dead body! Living in Ontario, where flu shots are free to all,

and working in a hospital, I'm frequently reminded to get my flu shot.

Does anyone know of a one-sheet counterpoint to the flu vaccine that I

can print off and use to question those who have bought into this

frenzy? -- David]

 

MDs back flu shots for every Canadian

 

By ANDRÉ PICARD

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Tuesday, Nov 9, 2004

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041109.wfluu09/BNStory/

National/

 

Photo caption: Flu clinic in Calgary: Influenza is Canada's

sixth-leading cause of death, contributing directly or indirectly to

4,725 deaths in 2002.