Nursing Home Test; ‘Didn’t find’ proof immunization stops virus.
Tom Blackwell, National Post – March 11, 2010
A new Canadian-led study has added to a simmering scientific dispute over flu-shot campaigns, concluding that immunizing nursing-home workers does nothing to cut the number of confirmed influenza cases among the homes’ elderly residents.
Coming at the end of the largest flu-vaccination campaign in Canadian history, the review of previous studies calls for stepped-up research into alternative, lower-tech ways to combat the virus, such as improved hand washing.
In media interviews last year, Dr. Jefferson was quoted as saying he “can’t see any reason” for vaccinating anyone against flu — arguing the shots did nothing to save lives — and that most influenza-vaccine studies are “rubbish.”
Read more: Flu shots for nursing home workers futile: study
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Feb 17;2:CD005187.
Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, UCMC, #1707-1632 14th Avenue, Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, T2M 1N7.
Some Health Care Workers (HCWs) remain unvaccinated because they do not perceive risk, doubt vaccine efficacy and are concerned about side effects.
We conclude there is no evidence that vaccinating HCWs prevents influenza in elderly residents in Long Term Care Facilities (LTCFs).
Read more: Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who work with the elderly.
U.S.News & World Report – April 6, 2010
The traditional seasonal flu vaccine may have increased the risk of infection with pandemic H1N1 swine flu, according to the results of four new studies by Canadian researchers.
In one study, the researchers used an ongoing sentinel monitoring system to assess the frequency of prior
vaccination with the seasonal flu vaccine in people diagnosed with H1N1 swine flu in 2009 compared to people without swine flu. The researchers found that seasonal flu vaccination was associated with a 68 percent
increased risk of getting swine flu.
Read more: Did ‘Regular’ Flu Shot Up Risks for H1N1 Flu?
