Small amount of H1N1 influenza vaccine for children under three voluntarily recalled
There are no vaccine safety concerns and kids don’t need to be revaccinated
Vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur has voluntarily recalled a small amount of H1N1 vaccine intended for use in children under 3. No safety issues with the vaccine have been identified. Routine testing revealed that this batch of vaccine has become slightly less potent over time. Despite this, children who received this vaccine are still protected from H1N1 flu, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
“Children who have already received the recalled vaccine don’t need to be revaccinated. Parents just need to make sure that their kids 9 and younger receive two doses of H1N1 vaccine at least 21 days apart,” said Gary Oxman, Multnomah County Health Officer.
This recalled product represents a very small percentage of the total amount of vaccine received in Washington and Oregon. Washington received 5,100 doses of the recalled vaccine, a tiny fraction of the 1.6 millions doses of H1N1 vaccine the state has received to date. In Oregon, these figures are 7,600 and 1,066,450 respectively.
Any health care providers who have the recalled vaccine should stop using it, keep it refrigerated, and wait for instructions on how to return it.
More information about the recalled vaccine is available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/syringes_qa.htm. Additional vaccine information, as well as tips on how schools, businesses, and others can avoid getting sick is available at www.nwflunews.info or www.flunewsswwashington.org.
H1N1 vaccine is now available for everyone in Oregon and Southwest Washington and everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated.
Showing posts with label Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
H1N1 Swine Flu Webcast tomorrow for small businesses
DO YOU WORK IN OR OWN A SMALL BUSINESS? FLU.GOV H1N1 WEBCAST TOMORROW Friday, September 18, 1-2 PM EDT Join experts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Federation of Independent Businesses Legal Foundation Learn how to prevent and reduce the spread of the flu in a webcast conversation, hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ask experts your questions and share your concerns so that you can be prepared this flu season. To participate, visit www.flu.gov.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Secretary Napolitano announces H1N1 Preparedness Guide for small businesses
SECRETARY NAPOLITANO ANNOUNCES H1N1 PREPAREDNESS GUIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
WASHINGTON—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today joined Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza Division Deputy Director Daniel Jernigan to announce a preparedness guide to assist small businesses in planning for the H1N1 flu.
“Small businesses play an essential role in our national effort to prepare for all disasters and emergencies—including the H1N1 flu,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This guide will help America’s small businesses maintain continuity of operations and resiliency as the fall flu season approaches.”
“Small Business owners should take the time to create a plan, talk with their employees and make sure they are prepared for flu season,” added Administrator Mills. “For countless small businesses, having even one or two employees out for a few days has the potential to negatively impact operations and their bottom line. A thoughtful plan will help keep employees and their families healthy, as well as protect small businesses and local economies.”
Outbreaks of H1N1 flu are occurring now across the country and will likely coincide with the return of seasonal flu this fall and winter. The preparedness guide offers small business employers tools and information to help them plan for and respond flexibly to varying levels of severity of an H1N1 outbreak—which may lead to increased absenteeism, and, if the outbreak becomes more severe, may include restricted service capabilities and supply chain disruptions. Additional preparations may be necessary if a more serious outbreak evolves during the fall and winter.
Employers are encouraged to put strategies in place now to protect their employees and their businesses in advance of the fall flu season. Included in the preparedness guide are tips on how to write a continuity of operations plan, steps for keeping employees healthy, frequently asked questions about the 2009 H1N1 flu and a list of additional resources that employers can access online.
For more information and to view the preparedness guide, visit www.flu.gov.
WASHINGTON—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today joined Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza Division Deputy Director Daniel Jernigan to announce a preparedness guide to assist small businesses in planning for the H1N1 flu.
“Small businesses play an essential role in our national effort to prepare for all disasters and emergencies—including the H1N1 flu,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This guide will help America’s small businesses maintain continuity of operations and resiliency as the fall flu season approaches.”
“Small Business owners should take the time to create a plan, talk with their employees and make sure they are prepared for flu season,” added Administrator Mills. “For countless small businesses, having even one or two employees out for a few days has the potential to negatively impact operations and their bottom line. A thoughtful plan will help keep employees and their families healthy, as well as protect small businesses and local economies.”
Outbreaks of H1N1 flu are occurring now across the country and will likely coincide with the return of seasonal flu this fall and winter. The preparedness guide offers small business employers tools and information to help them plan for and respond flexibly to varying levels of severity of an H1N1 outbreak—which may lead to increased absenteeism, and, if the outbreak becomes more severe, may include restricted service capabilities and supply chain disruptions. Additional preparations may be necessary if a more serious outbreak evolves during the fall and winter.
Employers are encouraged to put strategies in place now to protect their employees and their businesses in advance of the fall flu season. Included in the preparedness guide are tips on how to write a continuity of operations plan, steps for keeping employees healthy, frequently asked questions about the 2009 H1N1 flu and a list of additional resources that employers can access online.
For more information and to view the preparedness guide, visit www.flu.gov.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
CDC Leery of Estimates About Swine Flu's Toll
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/26/health/AP-US-MED-Swine-Flu.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
Filed at 4:38 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall.
''Everything we've seen in the U.S. and everything we've seen around the world suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change,'' Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a C-SPAN interview taped Wednesday.
While the swine flu seems quite easy to catch, it so far hasn't been more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter -- many people have only mild illness. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe over the last five months so far has shown no sign that it's mutating to become more virulent.
Still, the CDC has been preparing for a worst-case flu season as a precaution -- in July working from an estimate slightly more grim than one that made headlines this week -- to make sure that if the virus suddenly worsened or vaccination plans fell through, health authorities would know how to react.
On Monday the White House released a report from a group of presidential advisers that included a scenario where anywhere from 30 percent to half of the population could catch what doctors call the ''2009 H1N1'' flu, and death possibilities ranged from 30,000 to 90,000. In a regular flu season, up to 20 percent of the population is infected and 36,000 die.
''We don't think that's the most likely scenario,'' CDC flu specialist Dr. Anne Schuchat said of the presidential advisers' high-end tally.
What's really expected this year? CDC won't speculate, finding a numbers game pointless as it tries to balance getting a largely complacent public to listen to its flu instructions without hyping the threat.
Along with how the virus itself continues to act, the ultimate toll depends on such things as vaccinations beginning as planned -- currently set for mid-October -- and whether the people who need them most get them. CDC also is working to help hospitals keep the not-so-sick from crowding emergency rooms and to properly target anti-flu drugs to the most vulnerable.
What is likely: A busy flu season that starts earlier than usual, Schuchat told The Associated Press. This new H1N1 strain never went away over the summer, infecting children at summer camps in particular. Already clusters of illnesses are being reported at some schools and colleges around the country,
Filed at 4:38 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall.
''Everything we've seen in the U.S. and everything we've seen around the world suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change,'' Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a C-SPAN interview taped Wednesday.
While the swine flu seems quite easy to catch, it so far hasn't been more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter -- many people have only mild illness. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe over the last five months so far has shown no sign that it's mutating to become more virulent.
Still, the CDC has been preparing for a worst-case flu season as a precaution -- in July working from an estimate slightly more grim than one that made headlines this week -- to make sure that if the virus suddenly worsened or vaccination plans fell through, health authorities would know how to react.
On Monday the White House released a report from a group of presidential advisers that included a scenario where anywhere from 30 percent to half of the population could catch what doctors call the ''2009 H1N1'' flu, and death possibilities ranged from 30,000 to 90,000. In a regular flu season, up to 20 percent of the population is infected and 36,000 die.
''We don't think that's the most likely scenario,'' CDC flu specialist Dr. Anne Schuchat said of the presidential advisers' high-end tally.
What's really expected this year? CDC won't speculate, finding a numbers game pointless as it tries to balance getting a largely complacent public to listen to its flu instructions without hyping the threat.
Along with how the virus itself continues to act, the ultimate toll depends on such things as vaccinations beginning as planned -- currently set for mid-October -- and whether the people who need them most get them. CDC also is working to help hospitals keep the not-so-sick from crowding emergency rooms and to properly target anti-flu drugs to the most vulnerable.
What is likely: A busy flu season that starts earlier than usual, Schuchat told The Associated Press. This new H1N1 strain never went away over the summer, infecting children at summer camps in particular. Already clusters of illnesses are being reported at some schools and colleges around the country,
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