Tag: influenza

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The Controversy Around Homeopathic Vaccine for Preventing Flu

The Art of Relaxation (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)
The Art of Relaxation (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)

“Homeopathic vaccines hurt people and hurt our society. Warning labels will help but nosodes should be banned,” says Canadian Medical Association (CMA) president-elect Dr. Chris Simpson. He was expressing his thoughts on Twitter on the subject of homeopathic remedies.

According to Wikipedia, homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, based on his doctrine of “like cures like”, according to which a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people. Homeopathic remedies are found to be no more than a placebo, and homeopathy is widely considered a pseudoscience.

Those who believe in homeopathic therapy will not agree with what CMA or Wikipedia has to say. But I would like to summarize what their opinion is and let the readers decide what is good for them. Unfortunately, doctors cannot cure everything and people tend to go for alternative therapies. It comes down to personal choice.

According to CMA article, nosodes is advertised and sold in Canada to prevent flu and other illnesses but carry the potential for harm. Nosodes are ultra diluted forms of diseased tissue, pus, blood, or excretions of a sick person or animal that some homeopaths and naturopaths sell.

Health Canada has new guidelines for nosodes licensing. The guidelines require the packages to be labeled with a warning: “This product is not intended to be an alternative to vaccination.”

Members of the BC Medical Association and CMA have written letters to the federal government asking for stricter standards to be applied to natural health products to ensure what goes on the shelf is safe and effective, says a media report.

Health Canada says nosodes are not vaccines. It goes on to say, “Health Canada has not licensed any homeopathic medicines for the purpose of providing immunity to a communicable disease. Vaccinating yourself and your children continues to be the most effective way to prevent and control vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Get ready for the flu season. Do not forget to protect yourselves with vaccinations, healthy diet and regular exercise. Remember what Thomas La Mance said, “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” I know about that quite well. Cheers. Talk to you again soon. Stay healthy.

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Early Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations may Prevent First Heart Attack

Scientists have observed increased incidence of heart attacks (acute myocardial infarction) and stroke during the winter months. The exact reason why this happens is not completely known. But it has been thought that it is due to cold weather or due to metabolic activity in the body or due to infection such as respiratory infection.

It has also been observed that significant increases in acute heart attacks occur during peak winter incidence of pneumonia and influenza, particularly during years dominated by epidemic of influenza A. So it is surmised that this association supports the notion that the increase heart attacks during winter months is caused by influenza rather than cold weather.

 Why? The favoured hypothesis is that infection triggers atherosclerotic (the stuff that clogs the arteries) plaque to rupture and cause heart attack.

A study done in the U.K., using large database of general practice patients, found that heart attacks occurred less frequently in people who had had a recent influenza vaccination than in those who had not. But the same could not be said for pneumococcal vaccination.

If influenza vaccination does have the added benefit of reducing heart attacks, then it may be important to vaccinate early in the season. 

Other studies have shown influenza vaccination within the past year was associated with a 19 per cent reduction in the rate of acute heart attack among patients aged 40 years and over. Influenza vaccination administered within influenza season was also associated with a significant reduction (20 per cent) in the rate of acute heart attack.

Similar findings by other researchers reinforce current recommendations for annual influenza vaccination of target groups, with a potential added benefit for prevention of acute heart attack and stroke in those without established cardiovascular disease. 

So, how are we doing with our annual influenza vaccination programs? Which one is better – targeted high risk groups or universal vaccination program?

In 2007, Statistics Canada said that despite increases in influenza vaccination rates across the country, the rates for high-risk groups are falling short of national targets.

Ontario, which since 2000 has provided free flu shots for residents aged six months and older, led the provinces, with vaccination rates rising from 18 per cent to 42 per cent between 1996/97 and 2005. Newfoundland and Labrador, with a 22 per cent rate in 2005, ranked lowest. Nationally, the rates of influenza immunization increased to 34 per cent in 2005.

In 1993, a national consensus conference on influenza set target vaccination coverage rates of 70 per cent for adults aged 65 or older and for all adults with chronic medical conditions. These targets were raised to 80 per cent in 2005.

An article published in 2003, compared Alberta’s regional coverage rates of influenza vaccination among Alberta seniors during the period April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2001. The rates of immunization in the health regions varied from 30 per cent to 80 per cent (mean 70 per cent).

Their conclusion was that some parts of Alberta can do better. Under-utilization of preventive influenza vaccination in Alberta seniors is associated with increased utilization of health services for community-acquired pneumonia. The per capita vaccination cost (about 10 dollars) was small in relationship to the per capita cost of hospital care for pneumonia (about 100 dollars).

There is no doubt that in the elderly, vaccination against influenza is associated with reductions in the risk of hospitalization for heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and pneumonia or influenza. The vaccination also reduces the risk of death from all causes during influenza seasons. So, get yourself immunized today.

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Influenza in Children

On November 21st, Dr. Paul Schnee, Medical Officer of Health for Palliser Health Region (PHR) sent a memo to Palliser Physicians and Staff on the subject of influenza. In the memo he indicates that five children have died in UK from influenza due to A/Fujian virus.

Dr. Schnee says, “As seen during previous influenza seasons, young children are the first to be affected. That is because most young children have little or no history of exposure to influenza viruses and have limited protective immunity.”

An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) says, “Each year, about 9-20 percent of healthy children aged less than five years will require health care for an influenza-related illness.”

So how can we protect our children from the scourge of influenza?

Current Canadian guidelines encourage vaccinating healthy young children but do not designate them as being at high risk of infection. In US, the current recommendation is that all healthy children aged six to 23 months should be given influenza immunization. This change came about recently. Can Canada do the same thing?

Children with influenza present with fever, with acute respiratory tract illness and with middle ear infection. Children under two years of age are very prone to complications like pneumonia and croup.

“The key to controlling influenza infection is prevention,” says the CMAJ article.

So how can we do that?

On November 18th, Dr. Schnee had sent a memo to Physicians and Staff of PHR titled, “Influenza information provided to the media”.

The memo contains a list of dos and don’ts which the general public should be aware of. It is well written. It is simple and easy to understand. I think it should be read by everybody.

If the PHR can afford it then a laminated copy of this memo (November 18th) should be delivered to every home in the region. It will be a good investment in preventive health. And the public will know how to make the best use of health care resources during the flu season.

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Influenza (Flu)

Flu and pneumonia can be serious illnesses.

“Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of global importance,” says an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The editorial says that vaccination is currently the most effective measure to reduce the impact of influenza. But it is not easy to formulate a vaccine for a constantly changing virus. For the last 50 years, World Health Organization has monitored the appearance and spread of new variants of the virus worldwide that may cause the next epidemic. This usually results in producing well-matched vaccines.

How does the vaccination work?

It works by exposing an individual to modified form of influenza virus in order to generate an immune response.

For many years, attempt has been made to prevent and control influenza by vaccinating people over 65, those with chronic medical conditions (heart disease, lung problems, diabetes, kidney disease etc.), medical care providers and others who might transmit the virus to those at risk.

This effort has considerably reduced deaths from this disease. The flu epidemic of 1918 killed 21 million people worldwide. The epidemics come every two years but we have better tools now to save lives.

There is also some comfort in the news that research has produced new ways of dealing with this challenging problem – by way of producing oral antiviral agents. There are few in the market and the newest one – Relenza – has been approved by Health Canada and should be in the drug stores soon.

This takes us to another related disease – pneumonia.

“Invasive pneumococcal disease can be deadly,” says Dr. Ross Pennie, Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. In an editorial in the Canadian Family Physician, Dr. Pennie says that fewer than 5 percent of the population at increased risk of pneumonia has received the pneumococcal vaccine.

Alberta Health says that the pneumococcal vaccine is now available – free of charge – to all Albertans over the age of 65 through community health clinics and physicians’ offices. The vaccine can prevent serious infections caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The organism can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and sinusitis. About 400 people die each year in Alberta from pneumococcal infection.

Among those at greatest risk for the disease are seniors, people living in a nursing home or other long term care facility, or those over two years of age who have medical conditions that may affect their body’s ability to fight diseases, says Alberta Health.

These conditions are: people who have had their spleen removed, who have diabetes, lymphoma, chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. The current vaccine is ineffective for children younger than 2 years.

“In most cases, one pneumococcal vaccination is all a person will ever need,” says Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer.

Over the years, flu and pneumonia has taken many lives in nursing homes and seniors living at home. Remember, help is here. It is free. So, if you are not sure whether you need to take these vaccines then speak to your doctor or a public health nurse. Do it soon.

Have a healthy winter!

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