 | Joseph P. Galichia, MD is the founder and Medical Director of the Galichia Medical Group, PA. He is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of interventional cardiology. In the 70's, Dr. Galichia studied in Zurich, Switzerland with the inventors of the balloon angioplasty technique for treating heart disease. As a result of his experience, he was able to bring this historic technique back to the United States where he was one of the first physicians to perform coronary angioplasty here. A noted medical spokesman, he appears on a weekly Newstalk segment on KWCH Channel 12 and has a weekly syndicated radio talk show on KNSS 1330 AM every Saturday live from 11:00 am to noon. Dr. Galichia may be contacted by sending an e-mail to service@galichia.com |
Health & Medicine
1969-12-31 18:00:00
H1N1 (Swine Flu) update - series
Answer: In a press release on December 5th, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a video of people talking about why they got the H1N1 vaccine, mostly centered around not wanting to get other people sick. However, there is little information given as to why so many Americans are avoiding it — all of the known and possible swine flu shot side effects.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most common symptoms of the H1N1 vaccinations reported are swelling, redness or pain at the injection site, which usually go away rather quickly. Also common, though less so, are fever, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches shortly after receiving the swine flu vaccine, which usually go away within 48 hours.
Allergic reactions of various sorts have also been seen, but they are “well within the expected range”. There have also been a handful of severe side effects from the H1N1 vaccines, including Guillain-Barre, anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction), and unexplained deaths shortly after receiving the swine flu vaccine.
And, rumors persist about possible long-term effects from the thimerosal preservative, which is up to 50% mercury. Although officials insist that it is safe, many aren’t so sure.
Question: How much of a risk are H1N1 vaccination side effects?
Answer: According to recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports, the risk of severe side effects of any sort is about 82 per million. This doesn’t sound like much, but it is nearly double the rate from seasonal flu vaccines, which were 47 per million. This does raise the question, “How is it that the side effects are twice as common, if the vaccines are virtually identical as health officials claim?”
Statistics released by the CDC on December 5th, current through November 28th, show that all key indicators for H1N1 symptoms during the week of November 22-28 have decreased from the previous week; however, most remain highly elevated for this time of year.
Question: What is the latest update on the spread of H1N1 symptoms?
Answer: During week 47, the following influenza activity was reported: Widespread influenza activity was reported by 25 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia).
Regional influenza activity was reported by 17 states (Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington).
Local influenza activity was reported by the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and six states (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin).
Sporadic influenza activity was reported by Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and two states (Colorado and Wyoming).
Question: What are the latest statistics regarding hospitalization and death due to H1N1 Swine Flu symptoms?
Answer: The number of deaths attributed to Pneumonia and Influenza (P&I) continues to decline, but still squeaked by just above the epidemic level of 7.1% for week 47, at 7.2% of all deaths.
This includes 17 pediatric deaths, of which 12 were confirmed to be caused by pandemic 2009 influenza A H1N1 symptoms, and five with an influenza A virus of undetermined subtype. This brings the total flu-related child deaths since the beginning of flu season to 189, and the total laboratory-confirmed H1N1 deaths in children to 210. Hospitalizations also continued to drop across all age groups, but is well above the level expected for week 47, especially young children, ages 0-4. Other H1N1 Statistics Included in the Report were: There was a sharp decline in the percentage of tested samples that showed positive for influenza, down to a mere 15.4%. Novel 2009 H1N1 remains by far the most common influenza virus circulating; of those samples that had both type and subtype confirmed, there were 6 influenza B, 1 seasonal influenza A H3, and the remaining 708 cases were H1N1 swine flu.
