H1N1 vaccine makers & The WHO are being Investigated

I heard recently from the news that the second wave of H1N1 has been declared over in Canada. To be honest, we haven't seen too many concerned patients clamouring for H1N1 treatments or for information regarding the vaccine since the initial scare. The Canadian government had ordered enough vaccines for every single Canadian. As a result of the low vaccination rates, I believe we ended up donating much of the vaccines to other countries.

I haven't had to answer an H1N1 question for so long, but two interesting notes came to my attention this week.

1) A patient here at the clinic (who reads European & Russian newspapers) informed us that there were big investigations getting started in Europe regarding the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry's reach and their ability to influence the World Health Organization. That sounded far-fetched to me (as I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories). But it appears that an inquiry is being launched. This is news that has yet to appear here in North America. You can read more about this here.

2) Apparently pregnant women in Hong Kong have stopped getting the H1N1 vaccine. This has happened as news of 3 fetal deaths occurring in the last month after women received the H1N1 shot. I believe that at least one of these women had an underlying complication.

Frankly, I don't know enough about what's happening in Asian or Europe to make a well-informed commentary, but for those of you who would like to do further research, send me an email or links for what you find and I'll try to post relevant information for our readers.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Swine Flu: Some advice from Naturopathic Doctors

I'm certainly not one for fear-mongering, however the World Health Organization has just raised the alert level for swine flu to a five out of a possible six, indicating widespread human-to-human transmission which means that the estimated probability of a pandemic is high.

However, there is no need for panic, but we should keep ourselves informed. Please download our patient handout in the News & Resources section of our website to learn about the the swine flu, symptoms you need to watch out for and precautions you can take.


EVENTS

FREE Talk at Chapters Indigo (Mississauga, Square One)
Sat. May 2, 2009 at 2pm
Dr. Koo, ND will doing a lecture on Stress Management.


Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"