The Canadian Globe and Mail reported Monday on a new study from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Laval University, according to the Globe the study, “… confounded infectious-disease experts in suggesting that people vaccinated against seasonal flu are twice as likely to catch swine flu.”

The study is “under review ” and researchers “must stay mum until it’s published”, reported the Globe

According to, Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba, the data shows that people who received the seasonal shot during the 2007-08 flu season remained vulnerable to swine flu well into 2009 – an interval that should provide most immune systems ample restoration time, said the Globe.

The study was, not surprisingly, greeted with skepticism, but after initial review has prompted some Canadian provincial health agencies to suspend seasonal flu shots. Quebec joined Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia are reported to be suspending the seasonal flu shot for those under 65. Other provinces are considering suspensions.

One reason the study is important is it calls into question standard practices of giving vaccines in combination, and giving vaccines in succession within a shot time period. Such practices are often not tested and are not well studied. Giving the seasonal flu and the swine flu in one season has not been tested. Also, when vaccines are administered, those giving the shots can make decisions to give more than one vaccine at one time, in untested and unstudied combination.

Reported the Globe.“It has confused things very badly,” said Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba. “And it has certainly cost us credibility from the public because of conflicting recommendations. Until last week, there had always been much encouragement to get the seasonal flu vaccine.”

Dr. Rubinstein, who has read the study, said it appears sound. “We don’t understand the mechanism,” Dr. Rubinstein said. “At the present time it is quite perplexing.”

Source
Globe and Mail