Canadian health officials contradict each other about H1N1

Confusion is growing in Canada after a week that saw health officials contradicting each other about the H1N1 vaccine, while outbreaks in British Columbia and Southwestern Ontario are underway and continuing to grow.

Days after Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq assured the public that the H1N1 vaccine would be available in early November, with high risk populations to receive the first shots, other officials are saying the vaccines will not be ready for early November; and that the vaccine for pregnant women will be delayed even more. The warning came from Ontario and British Columbia public health experts. Health officials have said that the vaccine for pregnant women, without the adjuvant, will not be available until at least November 7th, if not later. Leona Aglukkaq, reassured Canadians Friday from Vancouver saying

"We in Canada are on track to get the vaccine out the first week of November and we will continue to work to meet that timeline."

Canadians have become confused about the H1N1 virus and vaccination plan because of the conflicting and contradictory information that continues to tumble into the public domain day after day. To add to the confusion, Canada's Chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, is advising pregnant women to get vaccinated as soon as possible with whatever vaccine is available if they thought they would contract the virus; but other reports say that it is not yet clear whether or not pregnant women should get vaccinated against H1N1 at all. A third group of doctors say expectant mothers should wait for the vaccine that has no adjuvant. Pregnant women are at high risk of adverse health effects caused by the H1N1 virus, and are among the identified high risk population that has been earmarked to receive the first vaccinations. To add to the confusion, Health Canada is denying that the second wave of the H1N1 has started in Canada, while British Columbia's health officials say BC is experiencing the beginning of the the second wave. A young mother is the latest person to lose her life to the virus, raising the death count in British Columbia to eight since the outbreak started in September. On Friday, Aglukkaq characterized the outbreaks of H1N1 in Canada this fall as not being significant. She told press the number of cases of H1N1 were

"... not yet significant enough to constitute the beginning of the second wave, we do expect to see an increase in cases as the fall advances"

During the same conference, BC's head public health officer, Dr. Kendall, said

"Our rates of prescribing of antivirals have gone up to about 5,000 a week."

Kendall also said the BC Center for Disease Control was testing about 700 samples a day for H1N1 and finding the virus in close to half the samples, although he lacked specific numbers. Aglukkaq worked to reassure Canadians, saying that Canada has

"... stockpiled antiviral medications in strategic locations throughout the country so that they can be distributed quickly, even to isolated communities if they are needed."

The number of H1N1 cases in Ontario has also been spiking upwards, although very little information is available on how many cases are afflicting that province. The City of Hamilton, however, is experiencing an outbreak, reporting four deaths since July, and an increase in cases. Health officials in Hamilton say that there is little that can be done to prevent the spread of the flu because the vaccine is not available. According to the Hamilton Spectator, there have been H1N1 outbreaks recorded at 10 Hamilton schools and two daycare centers since September, with 38 people hospitalized. A Hamilton man had the first case of tamiflu-resistant flu this year. The news about vaccine delays in Canada follows on the heels of news that the United States is running out of available vaccine. The U.S. delay is blamed on a production problem which has meant that vaccines do not contain enough antigens. The virus is now in 41 states and almost 100 children have died in the United States from H1N1. China has also run out of H1N1 vaccine. Canada has one million doses of H1N1 vaccine, but said it is waiting for test results to come back before it approves the vaccine for release. Canada's pandemic plan is essentially one of surveillance, prevention and mitigation.