Talk:Assessment of the health impacts of H1N1 vaccination/Group C

Pandemrix should not be used because of narcolepsy risk

Jukka-Pekka, (Kati?)

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Statements: Pandemrix should not be used any more anywhere because its narcolepsy risk is too high. NOTE! The time of the statement is September 2010. Resolution: Narcolepsy incidence rate does not seem significant enough to justify stopping Pandemrix vaccinations. This does not, however, answer the question if population-wide vaccinations were actually needed in the case of 2009 H1N1 pandemic. (A stable resolution, when found, should be updated to the main page.)

Argumentation: ⇤1 : Despite risks, Pandemrix is an effective vaccine and has clearly net positive effects in countries where emergency treatment is poorly available for severe swine flu cases. --Jouni 23:05, 31 March 2011 (EEST) ←2 : According to Gennady Onishchenko, Russian Federation's chief doctor, the mortality rate at June 2009 was 1,6% in Mexico and 0,1% in United States. This supports the view that vaccination would be more useful in countries where emergency treatment for severe flu is poorly available. --Jpmannikko 19:28, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ←3 : In a review by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the 2009 flu pandemic vaccines appear both effective and safe, having a similar safety profile to the normal seasonal influenza vaccine. --Jpmannikko 17:00, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ⇤4 : According to CDC Pandemrix is not licenced for use in the United States. --Jpmannikko 17:15, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ⇤5 : Arepanrix, a H1N1 influenza vaccine similar to Pandemrix and also made by GSK was used in Canada. There has been no increase in narcolepsy cases in Canada reported. --Jpmannikko 17:15, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ←6 : The reputation of Pandemrix is globally so poor that it is impossible to use it any more. --Jouni 23:05, 31 March 2011 (EEST) ⇤7 : Pandemrix has been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Increased narcolepsy rates have only been reported in Finland and Sweden, and not for example in Great Britain, where Pandemrix formed the bulk of governments mass vaccination programme. --Jpmannikko 17:25, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ←8 : In Finland, THL decided to stop the use of Pandemrix. --Jouni 23:05, 31 March 2011 (EEST), [1] ⇤9 : Kari Välimäki, Chief of staff at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, argues, that the suspension of Pandemrix is only a precautionary action, and that there is no doubt that in a similar situation, the same decisions would have been made. --Jpmannikko 16:55, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ←10 : There have been claims that THL would have had a conflict of interest, as it had received financing worth EUR 6 million from the vaccine producer GalaxoSmithKline (GSK) --Jpmannikko 16:51, 4 April 2011 (EEST) ⇤11 : The World Health Organization (WHO) examined the link between THL and GSK and found no evidence that research funding and the pharmaceutical company would have influenced the choise of vaccines --Jpmannikko 16:51, 4 April 2011 (EEST) →12 : The interesting question about Pandemrix is perhaps not if it should not be used because of narcolepsy threat, but wether if it was actually needed at all. Russian Federations chief doctor Gennady Onishchenko stated on June 2, 2009 that swine flu was not aggressive enough to cause worldwide pandemic. He noted that the mortality rate of confirmed cases was 1,6% in Mexico and only 0,1% in United States. He also noted that there was 16,000 cases so far when during any flu season some 10,000 people become ill in Moscow alone. --Jpmannikko 19:25, 4 April 2011 (EEST)

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), USA, information page on Swine flue
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