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Why Your Swine Flu Vaccine Isn?t Here, Plus Common Sense Tips From The Healthcare Consumer

While much has been written about the H1N1 “swine flu”, we reckon some concise information is worth providing.

Flu activity is widespread- it has essentially affected residents of every state. The H1N1 strain of flu virus is turning out to be the perfect storm of illnesses because for certain high-risk groups of people it can be fatal, many are not taking it seriously, there are serious shortages of vaccine and government at all levels is not doing an effective job of managing distribution of the limited amounts of vaccine that are available.

If you’re a resident of Connecticut as we are, the data will be particularly vital.

As of the end of last month, there have been about 3,000 laboratory-documented cases of H1N1 in Connecticut, but since most people with flu symptoms don’t seek medical care, we suspect the number of cases is much higher. About 350 of those cases included hospitalization. On the vaccine availability end of things, as recently as the end of last month, Connecticut was receiving only about 25% of the doses it ordered.

National vaccine allocations are done based on population distribution by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – the states with greater populations will receive larger numbers of doses. But nationally, all dose shipments are falling far small of needs.

Naturally, our Federal Government is pointing fingers at itself, saying that its performance is unsatisfactory and that the entire supply chain needs to be overhauled before the next breakout. Well, thanks for that helpful information, is all we can say. We’ll be sure to file it in the same folder we keep our New Orleans / Hurricane Katrina archives in.

Once the vaccine allocation amounts are indicated by the government, vaccines must be distributed.

The vaccine does not travel directly from the manufacturer to your private doctor or clinic. A distributor is involved in the process; often a large pharmaceutical or medical products company. These distributors provide a means for the medical community to order and pay for vaccines and related medical supplies.

An fascinating insider fact is that these companies make the final choice about which customers receive all or part of the vaccine ordered. While the standard practice is to use a lottery system to distribute vaccine to customers, lucrative accounts may receive preferential treatment or “first fill” status. This helps shed light on why your local physician may not have any flu vaccine while another clinic or physician practice does.

First, some facts:

Swine flu, aka H1N1 cannot be contracted by eating pork. The renowned World Health Organization has said that swine flu is not transmissible to people via properly prepared pork products.                 

H1N1 is not “just the flu”. In contrast to run-of-the-mill flu viruses, the H1N1 has the ability to infect cells deep in the lungs where it can cause pneumonia. What makes it so deadly is that onset of the infection can occur so quickly that it becomes out of control before treatment is sought. Seasonal flu viruses typically infect only the cells in the upper respiratory system and the body is much more able to defend itself against them.

The vaccine is safe. While this vaccine was produced in an amazingly small time, results indicate that it’s very safe- certainly safer than doing without if you’re in one of the high-risk groups. Those groups are young children and the people who care for them, pregnant women, all people ages 6 months – 24 years all others with existing medical conditions.

One last thing about the vaccine safety in general: there’s a scary trend, supported by several media personalities that encourages parents not to get their children vaccinated because of a misguided concern over the safety of the vaccines.

The Healthcare Consumer’s position is that this is an unfortunate and perilous trend, both at the individual level as well as at the societal level. Although you might reckon the safest thing to do would be to lock our children up and never allow them to be exposed to the outside world, that’s not practical. In fact, kids need to be exposed to germs in order to develop healthy immune systems. So, instead, we assess risk and then make a choice.

By definition, vaccines aren’t 100% safe; but they’re darn close. To skip vaccinations is to potentially reintroduce diphtheria, pertussis, measles, polio and other horrific diseases back into a society which had effectively eradicated them.  If you’re concerned about vaccination, we recommend the information provided by the CDC here.

Receiving the vaccine does not guarantee that you can’t get H1N1. But it does dramatically reduce the chances. This is really right of all vaccines. The point behind vaccines is to stimulate the body’s own immune system to produce enough antibodies to protect against infection. In actuality, everybody responds differently and some may take weeks to develop immunity.

Washing your hands doesn’t kill the H1N1 virus. …But, hand washing is still the best way to prevent transmission of most germs including the flu. The focus here is on “transmission”.

When you wash your hands you are reducing the number of germs through friction, exposure to soap and water and by rinsing. If you have few germs on your hands, you’ll transfer less to another person, object, or even to your own eyes, mouth or nose. So don’t stop washing! Here’s something to reckon about when you shake someone’s hand: According to the American Society for Microbiology, one in five people don’t wash their hands after using the restroom.                                                                                                                                       

Resources and things you can do

Your state health department will have the most up-to-date information about H1N1.

In Connecticut, the main points of contact are:

* The Connecticut Department of Public Health who handles allocation of all H1N1 vaccine supply that comes into the state and can provide some additional information via phone (800) 830-9426 and via their website.
* The health department operated by the town you live in who coordinates flu clinics when vaccine is available.
*   Your primary care physician who can tell you if you’re in one of higher risk groups and who may also receive vaccine doses.
*    While many of the drugstore chains offer flu vaccinations we’re not aware of any who are providing H1N1 and we believe they won’t have the vaccine for the foreseeable future.
*    If you supervise people at work, be aware that many employees with flu symptoms will not take time from work for dread of placing their job in jeopardy or as is often the case, because they won’t be paid for the time off.
*   We hope you’ll be clear in your communications that a) sick people get better and can be productive again quicker when they’re at home resting and b) a so-called “dedicated employee” who comes to work while they’re sick with the flu and transmits the virus to their coworkers has not done you any favors.
* Get a regular flu shot. They’re effective, present small risk and who wants to be laid up for a week with any illness?
* Be persistent with your government representatives. If you feel as we do, that your government has failed you by not doing as excellent of a job as they should have in anticipating this and then doing a mediocre job of distributing the vaccines, let them know. Sometimes it’s simple to forget, but they work for us, not the other way around.

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