The headlines assuring us that vaccines are safe are large, front page, and numerous. One might think that somebody is trying to convince us of something. But this story was somewhat buried in the on-line press.
This article could supplement a discussion on students’ feelings about the safety of vaccines and their health care in general. What level of risk of severe reactions is acceptable? How does one determine such a level?
One in 20,000 seems very unacceptable to me. So does one in 100,000, especially considering that my odds of getting more than mildly ill from H1N1 are extremely small, far smaller than the odds of getting sick from the vaccine, apparently.
Batch of H1N1 Vaccine Pulled Due to Severe Allergic Reactions
Batch of H1N1 Vaccine Pulled Due to Severe Allergic Reactions
10/12/2009 12:35:00 adminPosted by: Dr. Mercola
December 10 2009Health officials across Canada are being asked to hold back a batch of swine flu vaccine that appears to be causing higher rates of severe allergic reactions.
The vaccine’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, is asking governments to stop using vaccine doses from one particular lot shipment issued in late October.
Bloomberg reports that Glaxo advised Canadian doctors to hold off on using a batch of the vaccine while the company probes reports of higher-than-expected occurrences of a side effect known as anaphylaxis.
The batch of 172,000 doses of Arepanrix was linked to more cases of acute allergic reactions, including swollen tongues, throats and respiratory distress, than is expected, spokeswoman Gwenan White said.
According to Manitoba health officials, severe allergic reactions from the batch in question was seen in one of 20,000, which is far higher than the typical rate of one in 100,000.
