FLU SHOTS MAY RUN OUT
WebPosted Tue Nov  7 19:08:14 2000

TORONTO--Unusually high demand for flu shots is leading to a shortage of 
the vaccine on both Canadian coasts. 

 Health departments in both Nova Scotia and British Columbia are running 
low. 

 Flu vaccine 

 Officials in Nova Scotia are asking doctors to vaccinate only those at 
high risk. Those include people over 65, those with chronic illnesses 
and health care workers. 

 The vaccine shortage began with Ontario which has decided to offer a flu 
shot to everyone free of charge. 

 In Ontario, 7.9 million doses have been purchased as part of the mass 
vaccination campaign funded by the province. But it won't cover all of 
the 11.7 million residents. 

 Canada's vaccine is produced in France. And with a fixed amount of doses 
purchased months in advance, not everybody is going to be able to get a 
shot. 

 "It will hopefully vaccinate people who are at high risk of catching the 
flu," says Dr. Lorie Kiefer, a medical specialist with Toronto Public 
Health. 

 She and Dr. Donald Low, Mount Sinai Hospital's microbiologist-in-chief, 
are recommending that those at the highest risk of catching or spreading 
the infection get vaccinated first. 

 Healthly adults, on the other hand, should wait until late November to 
get their shot. 

 "Also, flu shots for kids (over 6 months of age) can hopefully protect 
the whole family," says Low. "But they may not be worth the price for 
most adults outside Ontario." 

 He says that immunizing young children, especially those in day care, 
can keep the flu from spreading to siblings and parents. 

 Young children have the worst hygiene habits. Studies have shown that 
people in households of children who got the flu shot were much less 
likely to suffer flu-like illnesses than those of children who didn't 
get vaccinated against the virus. 

 The effect was particularly strong among siblings, aged 5 to 17, for 
whom having a vaccinated younger brother or sister in the house dropped 
the rate of flu-like syndromes by 80 per cent and cut missed school, ear 
aches and antibiotic prescriptions each by 70 per cent. 

 The flu kills some 2,000 Canadians a year – 90 per cent of whom are 
over the age of 65. 

 Low says, "Just because flu vaccine may not be cost effective doesn't 
mean there aren't significant health benefits" from widespread 
immunization. 

 "With the current vaccine you have to get it every year because we don't 
know what the infection will look like in advance," he says. 

 You should not worry about getting the flu from the flu shot. It's an 
inactivated vaccine, which means at worst, you could get a mild reaction 
in the form of a sore arm, muscle aches, slight fever and a general 
feeling of being tired. 

 There's good news for next year's batch of flu shots. Stanford 
University has produced an aerosol vaccine, which is awaiting approval 
from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If passed, a flu squirt can 
replace the flu shot. 

 
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