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Dublin: 10 °C Saturday 18 May, 2013

IPA calls for a national vaccination register to be established

Following several deaths at a Donegal nursing home, the IPA has called for a national vaccination register to be set up to provide real time feedback in times of emergency.

Image: GERALD HERBERT/AP/Press Association Images

A NATIONAL VACCINATION register should be set up in order to collate vital information that could help during outbreaks of infectious diseases, according to the Irish Patients Association (IPA).

The call follows the deaths of six elderly residents from influenza type A at the Nazareth House private care facility in Buncrana, Co Donegal. A total of 27 residents were affected by the outbreak which began on 22 March but was not reported to the HSE until 1 April –  after five patients had already died.

Yesterday, the HSE confirmed that 11 people at the home are still suffering from respiratory symptoms attributed to influenza.

Two of the six people who died had not received a flu vaccine over the winter period.

The IPA called on the Minister for Health James Reilly to set up a national vaccination register, as well as a serious incident review body that could investigate events like those at Nazareth House. The organisation said that, in times of emergency or public health concerns, a national vaccination register could provide real time feedback – whereas the only existing source of information was a “not fit for purpose” accounting system.

The IPA also urged all healthcare workers and visitors to nursing homes or hospitals to ensure that they are vaccinated against influenza.

In the meantime, the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) has confirmed that it is to investigate the events at Narareth House – with particular focus on:

  • Why there was a delay in the authorities being informed about the outbreak
  • Why a new resident was admitted during the outbreak
  • Why healthy residents were not separated from those who had fallen ill

At a European level, concerns have been raised about the current strain of influenza type A: the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recently reported that the strain circulating in the Northern Hemisphere had changed slightly and is an “imperfect fit” with the corresponding component of the seasonal influenza vaccine.

Eleven residents at Donegal nursing home suffering with flu symptoms>

Health watchdog visits Donegal nursing home after six deaths in two weeks>

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Comments (15 Comments)

  • So in other words 4 of the 6 people who died HAD the vaccination so more people died who actually had it than didn’t have it. Does this not raise the question does it actually work

    Reply
  • Should you not have the choice to have or not have a vaccination

    Reply
    • Absolutely – so long as you will be staying inside and not having any contact with other people.

      By way of analogy, you have a right to not wash your hands before making dinner, unless you’ll be feeding someone else in which case you’re putting them at risk.

      Reply
  • I couldn’t put my dogs onto kennels unless I had proof that they had all their vaccinations and that they had been treated for kennel cough. Yet vulnerable people are put at risk by those who have not had the flu vaccine. The H S E is a completely failed concept.

    Reply
    • I’m sorry, are you saying that people WITH the vaccine are in danger from people WITHOUT the vaccine?
      Please explain the logic

      Reply
    • Vaccines are not 100% effective – some people don’t respond as well as others, or to different strains, and rely in part on the protection of the ‘herd’.

      Everyone who doesn’t get the vaccine represents a risk to those who did get it because they form a reservoir for the disease, increasing the chances of vaccinated people coming up against a strain they can’t fight.

      Reply
    • Thanks Eoghan,

      I don’t have the knowledge to question the accuracy of your statement (i.e increased chances of infected hosts developing mutated versions of the virus and so on)

      On top of that, so many stories appearing lately where vaccines are causing more severe symptoms than the virus itself (such as H1N1 and sleep apnea on the low end of the scale)

      All in all I can’t shake the general feeling that Pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with maintaining a massive revenue stream as opposed to actually immunizing people and the more I find out about vaccines destroying a person’s immune system and causing further complications requiring further doctor’s visits and pharmaceutical medication to heal and so on.

      I think we should focus more on the general health of the residents as opposed to the vaccinations they have received. Giving them good food, supplements and mental stimulation would be far better for residents than vaccinations MANY of which are poorly tested – but I must stress this is just uneducated opinion.

      Reply
    • The number of stories in the hysterical media about vaccine side effects grossly overrepresents the problem. Vaccine-preventable illness is an inexcusable burden on the health service, and the misinformation put out by the media verges on the criminal, in my view.

      The reality is that you have far greater chance of suffering serious harm from these illnesses than you do from any potential adverse reaction to a jab in the arm.

      Reply
    • I’m not arguing that point Eoghan – my point is why spend so much money vaccinating people for every possible variant of a known virus rather than maintaining or improving the patients immune system instead?

      The obvious answer is money and in regards to criminal misinformation, M.D’s like Russel Blaylock have a different and respectfully to you and myself a more educated point of view on the subject and Dr. Baylock and many more M.D’s share the same opinion about the current vaccination culture in the West.

      Reply
    • We actually vaccinate against very few things – the seasonal “flu” vaccine for example includes a handful of strains, chosen on the basis of expert opinion as to the ‘trendy’ variants at a given time.

      If we want to blame conspiracies by big pharma, the conclusion must be that they’re idiots – it costs a fortune to develop and produce vaccines. They could make much more money by not bothering, and then just rake in easier cash supplying the critical care facilities that are then needed to deal with the unvaccinated hordes.

      Reply
    • I’m wrapping up with this comment because I’m not an expert, but to say the companies would be better off running after care facilities is not true, the recent H1N1 vaccination proves this. How many doses of the vaccination did Ireland alone pay to Bakster for unused shots?

      Didn’t they produce and get paid for ~80 Million units for 3 countries alone (Ireland, New Zeland and the UK)

      Clearly vaccinations for “different” strains are extremely profitable, after care requires rent, staff wages, power and so on.
      If your isolating the scenario where they treat the infected “hoardes”, they have to worry about a very large customer base reduction due to deaths so they do not want that.

      Reply
  • A vaccine, like any medicine, could possibly cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of a vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.
    Serious problems from inactivated influenza vaccine are very rare. The viruses in inactivated influenza vaccine have been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine.
    Mild problems:
    • soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given • hoarseness; sore, red or itchy eyes; cough
    • fever • aches • headache • itching • fatigue
    If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last 1-2 days.
    Moderate problems:
    Young children who get inactivated flu vaccine and pneu­ mococcal vaccine (PCV13) at the same time appear to be at increased risk for seizures caused by fever. Ask your doctor for more information.
    Tell your doctor if a child who is getting flu vaccine has ever had a seizure.
    Severe problems:
    • Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it is usually within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.
    • In 1976, a type of inactivated influenza (swine flu) vaccine was associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome
    (GBS). Since then, flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to GBS. However, if there is a risk of GBS from current flu vaccines, it would be no more than 1 or 2 cases per million people vaccinated. This is much lower than the risk of severe influenza, which can be prevented by vaccination.

    http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/protect/vis-flu.pdf

    Reply
  • I think the IPA is missing the fact that FOUR out of the six people who died had received the flue vaccine, which provided “protection” against the very strain they died from.

    Reply
  • Huh?
    Are you saying that people WITH the vaccine are in danger from people WITHOUT the vaccine?
    That makes no sense!

    Reply

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