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Pregnant women to get priority for H1N1 vaccine By Christina Spencer, Sun Media -- OTTAWA ? Pregnant women will get priority for immunization against the H1N1 swine flu, Canada?s chief public health officer said Wednesday. But officials haven?t decided who else goes to the front of the line, even though the United States has announced its list of priority groups for inoculation, said Dr. David Butler-Jones. |
August 06, 2009 |
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OTTAWA ? Pregnant women will get priority for immunization against the H1N1 swine flu, Canada?s chief public health officer said Wednesday.
But officials haven?t decided who else goes to the front of the line, even though the United States has announced its list of priority groups for inoculation, said Dr. David Butler-Jones.
?Pregnant women, because of the risk, will be one of the groups that we would hope to immunize early on,? he said.
Pregnant women are four times more likely than other healthy women their age to suffer severe illness if they contract H1N1, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data, published in Wednesday?s online version of The Lancet, also showed of 45 deaths from H1N1 in a two-month period, six (13%) were among pregnant women. ?That a higher proportion of influenza-related deaths in the USA have been in pregnant women is concerning,? the study concludes.
Pregnant women tend to spurn vaccination generally for fear it could harm the fetus. Still, American officials named expectant mothers as one group at the head of the queue when a swine flu vaccine is available this fall.
The others named yesterday in the U.S. were: Health care and emergency services workers; children, adolescents and young adults up to age 24; caregivers for children under six months; and adults with certain medical conditions.
In Canada, setting priorities will be more drawn-out. Identifying groups is less urgent here than in other countries, Butler-Jones said, because Canada will have an ample supply of vaccine. ?It?s not a choice of whether people will be immunized or not; it?s just a question of when.?
Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said all Canadians who ?need and want? the vaccine will get it.
She said she was ?optimistic? clinical trials would start in October and an immunization program for H1N1 would ?most likely? begin in November.
Canadian health experts want to learn as much as they can about the disease before deciding who gets the vaccine first. And, Butler-Jones said, they want to hold public consultations before rolling out the vaccine. But, ?clearly those who are at greatest risk of severe disease, health-care workers and others are going to be earlier on in that process.?
? with files from Althia Raj
christina.spencer@sunmedia.ca
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