Complete Vaccine Info

So you may be confused about the H1N1 flu (swine flu) vaccination, and your not sure if you should get it, or perhaps your thinking that your are not going to get it but in the back of your mind you still question that decision.  Well, let’s take a look at some unbiased information, facts and research, and perhaps you can make a more informed and educated decision and feel more comfortable with your choice.

 

The H1N1 (swine Flu) vaccine (with boaster or adjuvanted) is a combination of actual dead or weekend H1N1 virus along (in some vaccines) with the boaster or adjuvanted – which is added within 24 hours of administration of the vaccine.

The dead or weakend virus in the vaccine triggers your body’s immune system to attack the foreign virus entering your body.  In order to fight the virus, your body produces antibodies.  The antibodies are produced for specific defenses.  For example, your body has produced antibodies to fight a tetanus virus, through the tetanus shot you have already received.

 

Receiving the H1N1 vaccine will not give you the virus it self and you will not fall ill.

However some people may experience mild fever up to 48 hours after immunization as their immune system responds to the vaccine, but this is not flu.

 

The swine flu vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline is called Pandemrix and the vaccine manufactured by Baxter is called Celvapan.

The full list of ingredients of Pandemrix can be found by going to the Pandemrix summary of product characteristics.

The full list of ingredients for the Baxter vaccine can be found here.

An adjuvanted vaccine is a vaccine that includes a substance that boosts an individual’s immune system and increases their response to a vaccine. An unadjuvanted vaccine has no “booster” element.

Adjuvanted vaccines are included in common vaccines such as tetanus and Hep B.  The adjuvant in Canada’s H1N1 flu vaccine is made up of natural ingredients such as water, squalene oil and vitamin E.  Both vaccines contain a small amount of thimerosal. Thimerosal is a form of mercury used in the H1N1 flu vaccine to stabilize it and maintain its quality during storage. Thimerosal is a different form of mercury than the mercury known to cause health problems. The amount in the H1N1 adjuvanted flu vaccine is much less than the daily limit recommended for environmental exposure to mercury.  For example, there is significantly less mercury in the vaccine than you would find in a can of tuna fish.  However it is not know if the mercury effect is different than injecting it.

The USA vaccine does not contain the boaster Adjuvanted

Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological disorder, was an identified risk with swine flu vaccines used in the United States in 1976 – it is thought that one extra case of GBS occurred with every 100,000 doses of vaccine. The reason why the 1976 vaccine increased the risk of GBS remains unknown.

Many studies have looked at whether other flu vaccines used since 1976 carry a risk of GBS and no robust evidence of a causal link has been found. No cases of GBS have been found in the clinical trials of H5N1 vaccines.

The GlaxoSmithKline vaccine (Pandemrix) is not suitable for people who have an anaphylactic reaction (allergic reaction) to egg.

The Baxter vaccine (Celvapan) does not use eggs in its production and so would be suitable for people who have a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to egg products.

All evidence suggests that adjuvanted vaccines are just as safe as unadjuvanted vaccines; however there is no safety data for the use of adjuvanted vaccine in pregnant women.  The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) recommended in July that pregnant women should receive non-adjuvanted vaccine where possible, but that an adjuvanted vaccine could be used if necessary.

 

The following groups of people should NOT receive the H1N1 flu vaccine

People who have had a previous anaphylactic (severe allergic reaction) to any element of the vaccine, OR

People with a hypersensitivity to eggs ( e.g. hives, swelling of mouth and/or throat, breathing difficulty); OR

People experiencing a high fever, OR

People who have previously experienced Guillan-Barré Syndrome within 8 weeks of receiving a seasonal flu vaccine.

After receiving the H1N1 flu vaccine, most people will start to develop immunity within 10 days with just one dose.