Safety of influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine

whoA number of readers have asked when we would have information about the safety of the influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine. The World Health Organization has just released briefing note #16 “Safety of pandemic vaccines” in which they summarize vaccination information from 16 countries in which 80 million doses of vaccine have been administered.

Side effects commonly reported include swelling, redness, or pain at the injection site, which usually resolve soon after vaccination. Fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and a variety of allergic reactions, occurring shortly after vaccine administration, have also been reported less frequently.

There have been fewer than ten cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome reported in H1N1 vaccine recipients. These numbers are consistent with normal background rates of the illness.  All the individuals have recovered.

Some deaths have been reported in people who have been vaccinated. These are all investigated by WHO, and so far in no case is there a direct link to H1N1 vaccine as the cause of death.

There have been no differences in the safety profile of inactivated vaccines with or without adjuvant, and infectious attenuated vaccines..

WHO concludes:

Although intense monitoring of vaccine safety continues, all data compiled to date indicate that pandemic vaccines match the excellent safety profile of seasonal influenza vaccines, which have been used for more than 60 years.

7 thoughts on “Safety of influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine”

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  3. my concern is.. lets assume they get their vaccine, that protect them from this “swine” flu, but the flu mutates, their antigenic sin would not recognize the new strain and thats why it coud not protect them against it..the same as if you get seasonal flu shot, it wud not help u much against the swine flu..am I right? and if the flu mutates to even more similar flu as the one in 1918, which caused pheumonie mostly by young healthy adults, on wiki they said, their healthy imune system was a liability, as the cytokine storm hits them..so small childrena and elderly was not as afected..so if I boost them with adjuvant, their imunte system becomes stronger, right? Its all too much at the moment, as I read reports from ukraine.. the swine flu suppose to be mild, most of the time, the same as seasonal flu, more fever and coughing, but otherwise the same. though they vaccinate as mad.. and we dont know, there is no time for all the necessery testing..there is new vacine padenza from france, which should not be as bad, as they say, no adjuvants, tested etc..
    whats other people opinion?

  4. The H1N1 strain is not going to escape the vaccine this season. It
    might drift sufficiently next year so that another vaccine is needed;
    but the seasonal flu strains (which is what the N1N1 strain will soon
    become) change every few years anyway. There is ZERO evidence that the
    1918 influenza virus mutated to a more lethal form with subsequent
    waves of infection. This is a hypothesis for which there is not
    evidence. So is the cytokine storm pathogenesis of severe influenza
    disease an hypothesis. The vaccine is protective and safe and should
    be the main means of preventing infection.

  5. is the n1h1 vaccine a live virus. I'am presently on a immunosuppressant drug. Would it be ok to get vaccinated

  6. is the n1h1 vaccine a live virus. I'am presently on a immunosuppressant drug. Would it be ok to get vaccinated

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