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Archive Number 20091121.4009
Published Date 21-NOV-2009
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (112): Canada (MB), vaccine reaction

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009 (112): CANADA (MANITOBA), VACCINE REACTION
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Date: Fri 20 Nov 2009
Source: China View, Xiunhua News Agency [edited]
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/20/content_12512546.htm>


A/H1N1 pandemic flu vaccine withdrawn in Canada due to high number of 
allergic reactions
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About 170 000 doses of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine are 
being withdrawn in Canada from Friday [20 Nov 2009] after health 
officials reported an unusually high number of allergic reactions. 
Health officials in the western province of Manitoba reported 
Thursday [19 Nov 2009] a higher-than-usual number of allergic 
reactions after using vaccine from a batch manufactured by a factory 
of the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Quebec. Usually one 
or 2 allergic reactions are expected for a batch of that size, but 
Manitoba has recorded 6 severe allergic reactions.

GSK said Friday in a statement that the recall was a precaution and 
they would investigate to see whether there was something wrong with 
the batch. Another province which has been using the vaccine did not 
report any rise in adverse reactions.

Of the 6.6 million people that had been vaccinated, there have been 
36 serious adverse reactions, Dr. David Butler-Jones, the country's 
Chief Public Health Officer, said earlier this week. One person was 
believed to have died from a serious reaction to the vaccine, but the 
death had not been conclusively linked to the flu shot, he said.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[This report is posted for the record. In view of the absence of 
reactions in a different Canadian province using the same vaccine and 
the low incidence of allergic reaction reported globally so far, it 
is unlikely that there is a systemic problem with the GSK vaccine. 
More likely these allergic reactions reflect a problem with a single 
batch of the vaccine, or problems at the level of vaccine administration.

Normal reactions to influenza vaccines include a sore arm and mild 
flu-like symptoms for a short period of time after injection of the 
vaccine. In general influenza vaccines, including the pandemic (H1N1) 
2009 virus vaccine, are cultured in eggs, and in very rare cases 
there may be an anaphylactic reaction to egg protein.

The HealthMap/ProMED-maill interactive map of Canada showing the 
location of the province of Manitoba can be accessed at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/007x>. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (111): Norway, mutants  20091121.4005
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (110): UK (Wales), Tamiflu 
resistance  20091120.4000
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (109): Saudi Arabia, Hajj 
pilgrims  20091120.3997
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (108): PAHO update  20091118.3981
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (107): epitope analysis  20091118.3980
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (106): Ukraine, WHO  20091117.397
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (105): rhinovirus interference  20091117.3969
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (104): pandemic activity  20091116.3961
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (103): Ukraine  20091116.3959
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (102): Iran  20091115.3946
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (101): Afghanistan, Pakistan  20091115.3945
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (100): Ukraine (DT)  20091114.3940
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (90): Venezuela, Yanomami  20091105.3820
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (80): Ukraine susp. RFI  20091031.3764
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (70): Nepal  20091016.3563
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (60): bacterial coinfection  20090930.3410
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (50): oseltamivir-resistance  20090917.3260
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (40): global update  20090906.3138
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (30): assumptions  20090813.2879
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (20): Peru, 33 percent 
asymptomatic  20090730.2668
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (10): vaccine  20090720.2577
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - Viet Nam: patient data  20090708.2450]
...................cp/ejp/dk

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