Strange Recall News on Swine Flu Vaccine for Kids

Kids' Swine flu shots recalled; not strong enough

As if we needed any more bad news on the Swine Flu vaccine:

Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday....

Dr. Anne Schuchat, a CDC flu expert, stressed that parents don't need to do anything or to worry if their child got one - or even two - of the recalled shots. The vaccine is safe and effective, she said.

The issue is the vaccine's strength. Tests done before the shots were shipped showed that the vaccines were strong enough. But tests done weeks later indicated the strength had fallen slightly below required levels.

On the one hand, the article indicates the hundreds of thousands of doses are being recalled for losing their effective strength but don't worry "The vaccine is safe and effective".

What?

It is both safe and effective yet it is being recalled - does this make any sense?

Or is this pronouncement something like "The vaccination was a success but the patient still got the flu".

Not Good News - Tamilflu resistant Swine Flu reported in North Carolina

Now this could really suck if it becomes prevalent:

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC

Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.

The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.

Tamiflu — made by Switzerland's Roche Group — is one of two flu medicines that help against swine flu, and health officials have been closely watching for signs that the virus is mutating, making the drugs ineffective.

More than 50 resistant cases have been reported in the world since April, including 21 in the U.S. Almost all in the U.S. were isolated, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The BBC reported another cluster of five Tamiflu-resistant cases this week in Wales, in the United Kingdom.

The CDC has sent three disease investigators to North Carolina to help in the investigation there, said Dave Daigle, a CDC spokesman. CDC testing confirmed the Tamiflu-resistant cases.

All four cases at the hospital were very ill patients in an isolated cancer unit on the hospital's ninth floor, and it is believed they all caught the flu while at the hospital, said Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.

Three of the four patients died and one is recovering, he said. Flu seems to have been a factor in each death, but they were very sick so it was hard to say that it was the primary cause, he added....

It is really not good news if one of the two leading antiviral medications (the other being Relenza) becomes ineffective in dealing with the flu.

The Swine Flu Blues 3 - Fever Free and Coughing

Well, woke up today feeling lousy but no fever.

Of course my digital thermometer says I'm 94 degrees so I just may be dead and not know it, or I need a new thermometer.

The cough remains but I'm clearly on the mend. Hopefully it clears up so I can get to work Monday and get out of this house.

In other news, apparently the H1N1 vaccine works well on adults in one dose even if it fails miserably for kids. Natasha after being exposed to all three of us in full flu mode is still 100% fever free. Good to know they got something right with the vaccine.

The only lingering effect so far is a profound belief that Christopher Walken is a horribly neglected and underrated actor. I mean the man has only won ONE Oscar - where's the justice in that?

Swine Flue Blues 2 - So far So Good

The fever is lower today. No serious complications to report, it just feels as yucky and lethargy inducing as any other flu. Captain Trips this is not.

The only weird effect with this flu so far is that this scene from SNL keeps going through my mind:


Contagious isn't it?

The Swine Flu Blues - A Personal experience with H1N1

Well, I went to bed yesterday feeling pretty lousy and running a fever and felt worse and more feverish this morning.

I was quite sure what I had, thanks to the two lovable little disease vectors in my house.

So I called ahead and then went to the doctor and after they had masked up they started to examine me.

The test for swine flu, for those of you who are curious, involves shoving a swab all the way up your nose until it feels like its stirring your brains. The swab is then put in a test tube and tah da! I've officially got H1N1A, and the case gets reported as a statistic to Oakland County Community Health! Yay me!

The doc told me the CDC is not recommending Tamilflu for my age group and general good state of health, but recommended talking plenty of ibuprofen, zinc and vitamin C, and a prescription anti-cough medication. As long as I don't have trouble breathing it should be just fine. I was also given a N95 mask to wear while walking out of the office to the car. The kids, showing the compassion for which they are famous, have hand drawn a cute pig snout on the mask to recognize my swine flu.

It feels just like any other flu - chills, sweats, coughs, sneezes, general lethargy and wanting to sleep a lot. No going to work until I'm fever free for 24 hours which apparently takes a few days so I'll be working from home for a while. Blogging will be fit in in between bouts of passing out.

One Vaccine shot doesn't do it - Kids now with Swine Flu

Yes, even with the vaccination extravaganza and their each getting a shot, both my kids have now been diagnosed by their doctor with swine flu.

Apparently one shot for kids is insufficient and only gets them a 63% resistant to not getting the flu. A second shot increases that to 75%.

Of course they're diagnosed 11 days after getting the flu shot, so no time to get a second shot even if we could have found one.

Basically it is a pandemic and it sucks. The pediatrician's usual caseload is 17 patients per day, today she had 34 many with the flu.

At the moment the kids are a bit cranky, tired and cold with fevers and bundled up in blankets watching Dora. They'll be at home the next 7 days so they don't spread it to anyone else.

On the upside the doctor prescribed Tamilflu for them and Meijer, showing an amazing example of good corporate citizenship, was giving away the pediatric Tamilflu dosages for free. Good on Meijer for this, and yes, good corporate citizenship like this should be rewarded. It didn't hurt as a start that my wife then spent about $107 shopping in Meijer while waiting for the prescriptions to be made (each pediatric dose is specially mixed and takes time to be mixed to fill the script.).

Hopefully, this too shall pass with no lingering effects and we'll all look back on it as no big deal beyond a case of the cruds and an inconvenience.

Oakland County H1N1 Swine Flu Immunization Follies

Oakland County's immunization process hasn't exactly been run perfectly.

Yesterday, my wife on finding out from a neighbor that they still had immuniztion shots available took the kids to the Pontiac Silverdome where there was a mass immunization clinic going on.

After almost 3 hours waiting, 50 minutes of it outside in the cold the kids were immunized (at least partially, they aparently are supposed to receive a second shot at some point to get further resistance but who knows when and where that will be available), but likely exposed to tons of germs from the lots of people they were stuck hanging around with. On the upside, one of the nice people in line with her turns out to be a university student and after chatting Natasha gave her a lift back to her dorm to spare her from having to walk back in the cold. On the downside this morning Natasha has cold-like symptoms.

Mass immunization clinics are not a great idea. Certainly, not an efficient use of time nor great for exposing potentially sick people to each other, not to mention have them stand out in the cold to weaken their immune systems before mixing with hundreds of strangers.

But they do make for great press and publicity, which was apparently the point:

Michiganians clamor for H1N1 vaccine
Clinic at The Palace draws hundreds as state health officials add six to swine flu death toll

The virus is rampant. The vaccine is scarce. Oakland and Macomb county health departments are only holding mass clinics to administer the vaccine. Wayne County is taking appointments, but the wait is so long that the next available appointment isn't until January.

State health officials are recommending residents call their doctor but they don't know how many physicians have the vaccine. The Michigan Medical Society also doesn't know how many providers have gotten the vaccine, and some residents say their doctors don't have the shot.

Amazingly, one of the workers at the event told my wife when she asked why they're doing them en masse like this was that "They wanted it for the media coverage". No explanation as to who they were but apparently a nice mass immunization event gives the impression that officials are doing something. Great reason, that.

First, why not begin the immunizations at the greatest vector for flu transmission and some of the most at risk populations? Schools! Have the parents send in permission forms, have the kids immunized indoors in comfort in their classrooms or nurses' office and have it done quickly and efficiently. Have immunization at colleges and universities to get the at risk population of students vaccinated quickly and efficently without having to require them to make it to the Palace.

The last bit of brilliance at the immunization extravaganza - no gloves. When asked, the person giving the vaccine told my wife they weren't required to be worn by direction from the CDC, and besides they would have to take them off after each shot. So instead you have potential disease transmission from the shot giver to everyone she comes in contact with. Perfect.

Hopefully next time instead of these mass immunizations they'll plan smarter for efficiency with less focus on looking pretty for the media.

What the Flu was that?

I've been a bit out of it for a couple of days due to what may have been a flu brought home by my favorite little disease vector, my 5 year-old eldest daughter.

Of course the little one got it too and they both proceeded to rub their faces in mine guaranteeing that I'd share their experience.

Basically it was two days of a decent low-mid range fever coupled with a feeling that someone was dropping concrete blocks on my head for fun -- repetitively and continuously.

Pretty much all better now with just a left over occasional cough at night.

I don't think it was swine flu as no one here even oinked once. If it was, it is not at all the deadly pandemic they're making it out to be, at least not this time around.

Swine Flu Follies

First, this cartoon at Protein Wisdom is hillarious. For Flu-omic relief, go see it.

Second, while Obama and Health departments around the country are closing schools to prevent the spread of Swine Flu (And the CDC), we're being told by the same people that closing the border with Mexico won't help reduce the spread of the flu. Anyone else understand the cognitive dissonance of those two pronouncements?

Third, Howard Markel and Alexandra Minna Stern in an opinion column for the Detroit News worry with much handwringing that Mexico and Mexicans will be blamed for the Mexican (oops sorry Markel and Stern, Swine - oops sorry, the Pig Growers Association just protested) H1N1 flu.

They say that closing the border would be counterproductive. While giving a history of various prejudicial and scapegoating acts against various victims throughout history for both incidences of disease and economic downturns, they never stop and explain why closing the border would be "counterproductive".

They claim its a matter of blaming the victim, but leap to that conclusion without any real substantiation, and then claim such blaming of the victim is alleged to have happend - real proof there. Once would think that the authors

Howard Markel is director and Alexandra Minna Stern is associate director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Both are historical consultants on pandemic preparedness planning for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

would use the scientific method rather than emotion in their analysis.

During an epidemic outbreak it makes sense to quarantine and slow the spread of people from affected areas while flooding those areas with medical assistance and scientists to try and understand and fight the virus. It does not make sense to keep in place rapid transport and movement from the affected area as that can increase the spread of the disease.

Enough silly handwringing, after all its "unproductive". I haven't heard of anyone blaming Mexicans qua Mexicans for the flu (there was appropriate distaste previously towards the Chinese government for covering up the outbreak of SARS, but that's a whole different matter.) and indeed many are heartened by the fact the Mexican government seems to be taking good steps to fight the virus outbreak (including I might add the use of quarantine and preventing the congregation of people in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus).

While H1N1 is hopefully and likely just a minor flu outbreak, public health officials do need to have some kind of plan for quarantine and indeed for sealing a border if necessary when a real dangerous outbreak occurs.

Viruses don't understand and are not deterred by political correctness, and such hand-wringing assists them in their spread.