More than 900 unused doses of H1N1 vaccine have been pulled out of circulation in Manitoba after health authorities received word other vaccines from the same batch have been causing higher rates of allergic reactions than expected.
Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief public health officer, said the Public Health Agency of Canada's monitoring of the H1N1 immunization program identified about 1 in 20,000 people in Manitoba were suffering severe allergic reactions to one particular lot of the vaccine, which is about five times the usual rate in other flu vaccines and what had been expected for the H1N1 shot.
"We've been asked by the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, to not use this vaccine at this time," Kettner said. "Nobody knows if anything's wrong with it at all. All we've observed so far is a somewhat higher rate of anaphylactic reaction."
Kettner said the batch of vaccine in question was distributed across the country and other provinces are also being asked to hold whatever they have left of that lot.
In Manitoba, 63,000 doses from the lot arrived during the week of Oct. 19. It was distributed to clinics in Winnipeg, Brandon, and the Parkland and Northeastman health regions, as well as to a third-party organization. It was made available as of the first week of immunization, and the vast majority has been used up. Only 930 doses remain unused: 630 in Northeastman and 300 with the organization.
Kettner stressed anyone who would have suffered a reaction to the shot would have done so within 15 to 20 minutes of getting it, and there is no lasting danger to anyone who received a shot from the lot.
Three people in Manitoba suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction to the shot from that batch, all of whom were properly diagnosed and treated at their injection clinics, with none suffering any lasting effect, he said.
Meanwhile, Manitoba Health provided its weekly statistical update on the H1N1 flu yesterday, revealing 251 more cases have been confirmed in the past week, while another person with a confirmed case has died. It is the second death from H1N1 in Manitoba this fall and the ninth since the virus appeared in the spring.
The WRHA is advising its H1N1 immunization clinics will only be open to pregnant women and healthy people age 10 to 65 until it receives more adjuvanted vaccine. Its supply of adjuvanted vaccine will likely all be used up by early this morning, leaving it only with the unadjuvanted variety to use in its clinics today and tomorrow.
The unadjuvanted version is not recommended for children younger than 10, adults older than 65, or anyone with a weakened immune system.
The WRHA's 12 mass clinics will be open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, while two special Saturday clinics will operate during those same hours tomorrow at the University of Manitoba and at the Holy Eucharist Parish Centre on Munroe Avenue.
More adjuvanted vaccine is expected to arrive in Manitoba early next week.
hat-tip Tonka
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