H1N1 vaccine safe, top health officials stress

Canada's top health officials urged people in Nunavut on Tuesday to get the swine flu vaccine when it is made available next month.

The vaccine for the H1N1 influenza virus is still on track to be ready, for any Canadian who wants it, by the first week of November.

Mass vaccination is the only way to stop the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said at a town hall meeting hastily organized in Iqaluit on Tuesday.

"We're in a very unique position in Canada where we will have vaccine sufficient for the total population," Butler-Jones, head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, said at the meeting.

"It is safe and it is effective. Vaccines are one of the safest and most effective tools of modern medicine."

Earlier rollout possible

Canadian clinical trials for the vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline,are beginning this week. At the same time, officials are collecting data from other countries to make sure the vaccine is safe before it isreleased.

Butler-Jones said provincial and territorialplans do include the possibility of an earlier start date if Health Canada approves the vaccine sooner.

"It's been part of the planning all along, so that as soon as the vaccine is authorized that we're in a position to start to deliver it," he told reporters.

At Tuesday's town hall meeting, health officials handedthe crowd of mostly health-care workers and journalists a list of nine "myths" about flu vaccines, such as claims thatvaccines do not work and come with side effects.

Officials stressed that side effects from any vaccine are extremely rare, and that the H1N1 flu vaccine is the best defence against the virus, especially for pregnant women.

Co-ordinated Canada-wide campaign

Health officials have committed to a co-ordinated national rollout for the vaccination campaign.

The vaccine will not be provided early to the most vulnerable candidates, such as pregnant women or people in British Columbia, where some outbreaks of the H1N1 flu have already been reported this fall.

"I think we all have responsibilities as individuals to take the precautions necessary to prevent the spread of this virus across the country," said federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who also attended Tuesday's forum in Iqaluit.

"I'm certainly going to receive the vaccine, and I'm going to encourage my family and my son and my husband to receive the vaccine, because it is safe."

Aglukkaq and Butler-Jones are expected deliver similar messages about the swine flu vaccine at public meetings to be held in Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver.

Study may explain Nunavut's outbreak

Nunavut experienced a large outbreak of H1N1 infections earlier this year, with most cases mild. Sixty-six people from Nunavut have been hospitalized with the virus to date. One person has died from it.

The impact of an anticipated second wave of swine flu cases is not yet known, but a recent Canadian study may help explain why Nunavut washarder hit than other Canadian jurisdictions.

The study, published in Monday's online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that of 168 Canadian patients who died or were hospitalized with confirmed or probable cases of swine flu, 67.3 per cent ofthem were women. As well, the average age of those patients was around 32.

The study also found that 25.6 per cent of those patients were aboriginal, which include Inuit and First Nations people.

The report noted risk factors such as pregnancy, lung disease and a history of smoking among patients.

"Predominantly, our population is young, [we have] a high rate of pregnant women, we have poor nutrition, our population has poor lung health," said Dr. Geraldine Osborne, Nunavut's deputy chief medical officer of health.

"We know this. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for everybody in Nunavut to avail of this opportunity to be immunized against H1N1."

The Nunavut government is planning mass immunization clinics to be held in all communities starting next month.