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Top doctor says very few adverse reactions to H1N1 vaccine
3 a, }+ e' l; Q' F) y. t) K+ l6 i+ s(CP) – 6 hours ago
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e8 _& A6 F7 ` m' OOTTAWA — The country's chief public health officer says few Canadians have suffered serious side effects from the swine-flu shot.; @$ u R, b! p: y) w! h+ l8 A
$ {9 U& \# Z, h3 D& C$ YDr. David Butler-Jones says that of the 6.5 million people who have received the H1N1 vaccine, only 36 have had serious adverse reactions.
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1 `( \5 Q+ u4 P: I( U"With any vaccination campaign, we expect to see some cases of serious adverse events," he said. "They are very rare, but they are part of all mass-vaccination campaigns and we expect to see a small number of them.", a/ ~; j5 P( F" `* H
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More serious reactions can include life-threatening illnesses, hospitalizations, disabilities or deaths.+ t. g7 _- g; q
/ |8 b' Y2 d5 K" a& fOne person is believed to have died from a serious reaction to the vaccine, Butler-Jones said, but the death hasn't yet been conclusively linked to the flu shot. He said it's possible the elderly person who died suffered from an underlying condition.# l% @0 G! v4 Q- \- y `
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All the serious side effects came after shots of the adjuvanted vaccine, which contains a compound to boost the vaccine's potency. Butler-Jones said that's likely because the vast majority of people being vaccinated are getting the adjuvanted vaccine.* \/ A1 m; y3 g; @
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A version of the vaccine without the booster is being held for pregnant women.1 b" V+ g% D) E3 R; Z3 d$ K( l: s
/ H1 j1 G9 p4 j# F0 u$ }) f2 EButler-Jones said the serious side effects from the H1N1 shot fall into two categories: allergic reactions, or fevers and convulsions.
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Mild effects, such as nausea, soreness, headaches and fever, are far more common reactions to the swine-flu shot - just as they are for all vaccines./ a- I4 l- z: [# @* f# L
0 A- u9 E5 h. @' x6 ?, r. jThe federal government says it will list adverse reactions to the H1N1 vaccine on its www.fightflu.ca website.
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& i7 M, d+ V s8 s2 [& c/ |# ~So far, 198 people have died of swine flu. By comparison, seasonal flu kills between 4,000 to 8,000 Canadians each year. |
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