Influenza Vaccines

(CIDRAP News) – Australia's chief medical officer asked providers to stop giving children under age 5 the seasonal flu vaccine made by CSL Ltd after receiving reports of fever and convulsions in kids in Western Australia who had recently been immunized.

Apr 12, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – Though pandemic flu activity stayed stable in most parts of the world, Chile is reporting new detections of the pandemic virus in at least three regions in advance of the start of its flu season, with other hot spots occurring in Bangladesh and parts of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – An analysis of Ontario's universal flu vaccination program, which targets free flu vaccine for anyone over 6 months old, is cost-effective and may be an attractive option for other provinces and countries that have single-payer health systems, researchers reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Despite a rapidly launched range of studies, investigators in Canada are still unable to say—or to rule out—whether receiving a seasonal flu vaccination in the 2008-09 season made it more likely that Canadians would become ill from 2009 pandemic H1N1 flu.

Apr 6, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – Although less than 40% of healthcare workers have received the pandemic flu vaccine, federal officials see promising signs about uptake of the seasonal vaccine and strategies for boosting vaccination rates in this group.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials estimated today that 24% to 27% of Americans, or 72 million to 81 million people, had received a dose of 2009 H1N1 vaccine by the end of February, with coverage varying widely from state to state.

(CIDRAP News) – States and vaccination providers should hang on to unexpired supplies of pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine until the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine is available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

(CIDRAP News) – With the H1N1 vaccination program winding down, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced distribution system changes that will result in slower vaccine deliveries starting Apr 1.