St. Luke Catholic School at 1290 Nachreiner Avenue, Plain, WI 53577 US - H1N1 Information
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H1N1 Information |
Welcome to St. Luke's School
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| A school site of Diocese of Madison | ||
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Sauk County Public Health Department
505 Broadway, Suite 372
Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913
October 2009
Dear Parents/Guardians:
As you may have heard, a new influenza virus, called the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, was first identified in the United States in late April 2009. The virus has caused illness ranging from mild to severe, including hospitalizations and deaths in adults and children. Many children have gotten 2009 H1N1 infection and there have been large outbreaks in some schools across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended that children and young adults aged 6 months through 24 years be vaccinated against 2009 H1N1 as soon as the vaccine is available. Other groups recommended to get the first doses of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine are:
Vaccination is the best way to protect your child from this potentially serious disease. The Sauk County health department is working with your child’s school to give the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine to children at school. We will hold vaccination clinics beginning this fall, and your child’s school will let you know the specific dates once vaccine is on hand. Children under age 10 are expected to need two doses of vaccine spaced about 3 to 4 weeks apart. There will be no cost to you for this vaccine.
The vaccine consent form includes options allowing you to either accept or refuse the vaccination for your child. If you refuse, please mark the appropriate box and return and the vaccination will not be given to your child. If at a later date you would like to receive the vaccine for your child, contact your local health care provider or go to one of Sauk County Public Health’s immunization clinics. You will find our immunization schedule attached to this letter.
If you consent, you can read the “What you need to know” form included with this letter about the disease and the vaccine. You must then sign and date the included consent form to accept vaccination for your child and return it to the school. If you accept vaccination, the vaccine will be given to your child when it is on hand. School staff will let you know when the vaccination clinic will take place about one week before. If, at any time, you change your mind about having your child vaccinated, you can call your school’s office and let them know and your child will not receive the vaccine at a school based clinic. Giving consent early will ensure that your child is ready to receive the vaccine as soon as it is on hand.
Please note that if your child is uncooperative, ill, or has any contraindications to receiving the vaccine he/she will be excluded from the clinic and we will notify you in writing of this including the reason behind exclusion. If your child is vaccinated, your child will receive a record of the immunization given and will bring this home for your records.
If you have any questions about the vaccine, please call 211. Please visit Wisconsin’s H1N1 website at www.pandemic.wisconsin.gov for more information regarding H1N1 for individuals and families. For information on the specific ingredients of each vaccine please visit www.immunize.org and type in package inserts under the search tab. Your child’s health care provider also can answer your questions about the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and will be able to give your child the seasonal influenza vaccine and may be able to give your child the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Vosen RN, BSN
Jennifer Vosen RN, BSN
Sauk County Public Health Immunization Coordinator
505 Broadway, Suite 372
Baraboo, WI 53913
(608) 355-3290
NNii – National Network for Immunization Information
Manufacturing Viral Vaccines
It is far more complex to manufacture biological medications (for example, vaccines, antibodies) than it is to produce chemical medications (for example, penicillin or aspirin). In addition, certain vaccines are more complex to make than others. The bacteria that go into bacterial vaccines can be grown in simple laboratory cultures. In contrast, the growth of viruses requires living cells.
Viruses cannot reproduce on their own. They require a living host in which to grow, such as chicken embryos, and cells from animals that are grown in culture. Vaccine manufacturers currently have few options for viral culture, because of valid pharmaceutical reasons and because of human safety concerns. For example, varicella (chickenpox) virus does not grow well in most cells derived from species other than humans. Also, human cells are preferred because cells derived from animal organs sometimes may carry animal viruses that could harm people.
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By William Mullen
Tribune Newspapers
October 21, 2009
H1N1 Vaccine no shot in the dark says experts.
A tried-and-true process
For all who will listen, Kenneth Alexander and other experts at research facilities, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and elsewhere explain that the H1N1 flu vaccine isn't a completely new brew cooked up in a panic.
They argue that it's actually the result of a 60-year-old, tried-and-true process of flu vaccine-making that was tested on thousands of people before being scheduled for distribution — including on some researchers who volunteered themselves.
"A lot of misinformation is being brought up and spread around," said Jesse Goodman, the FDA's acting deputy commissioner for public health.
The making of a vaccine
Here is how the vaccine is made: When the H1N1 virus first appeared last April in Mexico and California, federal health officials identified it and sent it to pharmaceutical companies it contracts so they each could formulate their vaccine versions for field testing before mass production. The process takes months, but mass production geared up in August, and the first 2 million doses were delivered to doctors and clinics two weeks ago.
On Friday, CDC officials acknowledged slower production than they'd hoped but predicted "widespread availability" by the beginning of November.
That turnaround from discovery to delivery was fast enough that many Americans who told pollsters they don't plan to vaccinate their children said they worried that the vaccine was rushed into production before being adequately tested for potential side effects.
Nonsense, Alexander said.
"This H1N1 vaccine is made just like all the flu vaccines we have been making for 60 years, which have an extraordinary record for safety," he said. "The only difference between this one and the seasonal flu shots is the virus it is made from, so we have no reason to believe this one will be any less safe."
Same steps, new virus
Though pharmaceutical researchers around the globe are trying to find newer and speedier ways to make flu vaccines, in the U.S. the only FDA-approved method is the original, 1940s way: injecting the virus into chicken eggs to be grown into larger quantities. For the arm-shot vaccine, the virus eventually is harvested from the eggs, killed and chopped into segments. When injected into the recipient, it activates the body's immune system to produce antibodies that kill the actual flu virus if the recipient is exposed.
The alternative, nasal-spray vaccine is made using a live virus. It too is grown in eggs, but at lower and lower temperatures, weakening or "attenuating" it so that it can survive only in the nose, not at greater body heats in the lungs.
"The nasal vaccine infects the mucosal cells (in the nose), which are closely monitored by our immune system," said Patrick Wilson, a University of Chicago immunologist.
A dangerous ingredient?
On its Web site last week, the FDA posted the contents of the vaccines produced by the five companies, including copies of the long, multipage ingredient lists included with the doses at clinics. Schaffner said that, like many everyday foods and medicines, they contain a number of vital chemical substances that could be toxic in large volume but are included in such tiny amounts that they are harmless.
"If we looked at acetyl salacylic acid, (the active ingredient) in aspirin, taken in the current dosage, it is an effective product that can relieve headaches and reduce fevers. Taken by the handful, it can have serious adverse events," Schaffner said. "So it is with vaccines. They have trace ingredients that are in the vaccine for a variety of reasons. Taken together, the vaccines have been proven safe not only in explicit clinical trials, but in demonstrated use in hundreds of millions of doses over the years."
The ingredient that anti-vaccine activists most question is thimerosal, a preservative added in trace amounts to keep vaccine in two-shot doses from deteriorating if stored while awaiting application.
Thimerasol contains ethyl mercury, and critics allege it can cause autism and other neurological disorders. But researchers say there is so little thimerasol in the vaccine that it poses no harm. They have also produced thimerosal-free single-shot doses that can be ordered. The nasal spray doesn't contain thimerosal.
For more information: Center for Disease Control 800-232-4636 or www.cdc.gov