Seven experts spoke at U of O on Sept. 17 about Canada’s plans to deal with the H1N1 virus ( Photo: Andrea Hill )
Now that the next wave of H1N1 has arrived, the best way for Canada to prevent an intensive care unit crisis will be to swiftly administer vaccines to high-risk groups, said Canada’s research chair in public health policy last week.
Kumanan Wilson, who joined six other experts at a University of Ottawa discussion panel on Sept. 17, said he fears this will not be easy.
“My primary concern is that, come November, when we are planning to release this vaccine, many Canadians may not be keen to receive it,” Wilson said.
Much of the anxiety surrounding the vaccine stems from awareness of the 1976 swine flu vaccine that was associated with an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome. This awareness had been heightened by posts on YouTube and other social networking sites that draw parallels to the two vaccination campaigns.
Unfortunately, peoples’ fears are not unfounded – the vaccine is newly developed and there is not time for extensive testing before its administration in the next couple months.
“Will we have all the safety information necessary that we would like? The answer is no we won’t,” said Paul Hébert, senior scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute.
However, Hébert said creation of the H1N1 vaccine is not much different than that of the seasonal flu vaccine and chances of adverse side effects are similarly low.
“If the outbreak doesn’t turn out to be too bad, a worst case scenario would be releasing a vaccine too early that has harmful side effects,” Wilson said. “The other worst case scenario will be if the virus starts to change, we don’t get the vaccine out early enough and we could have prevented a lot of deaths.”
Because the virus primarily affects individuals under 40 years of age, vaccination campaigns will make an effort to target young people, especially students. If a large percentage of individuals decide against vaccination, the program will be undermined and ICUs may find themselves with a crisis on their hands.
“From an ICU perspective, this is a huge issue. It affects very few people badly, but the ones who are affected take up a huge amount of resources,” Hébert said. “If the ICUs get overwhelmed you get into this equity and justice issue – who gets in and who doesn’t?”
Amir Attaran, Canada’s research chair in law, population, health and global development policy, said concerns over side effects might be alleviated if Canada adopts a national compensation program for individuals harmed by the vaccination. Such programs currently exist in Quebec, the U.S. and many European countries.
“You don’t want to create a system where people are afraid to be vaccinated because they think ‘If I am the one in a million … am I going to have to go to court?’” Attaran said. “You don’t want that in the forefront or even the background of people’s minds.”
Regardless of whether individuals choose to receive the vaccine, everyone is encouraged to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Individuals are advised to wash their hands regularly, use coughing etiquette and stay home if they feel ill.