WHO says deaths not linked to H1N1 vaccines
Pandemic flu vaccine as safe as seasonal flu vaccine: WHO
The World Health Organization said Thursday that checks on many of the 30 deaths recorded following mass pandemic flu vaccinations had so far ruled out a direct link to the vaccines.
"Although some investigations are still ongoing, results of completed investigations reported to WHO have ruled out that the pandemic vaccine is a cause of death," said Marie-Paule Kieny, the WHO's director for vaccine research, she added.
A "small number of deaths" had been reported, she said, and a WHO spokeswoman later put the figure at 41 in six countries.
The fatalities made up a minute fraction of at least 65 million doses of swine flu vaccines which have been administered, said the WHO, citing data from 16 countries.
For every 10,000 doses of vaccines administered, only one report of adverse effect had been logged.
Of every 100 reports of adverse effects, five are serious cases such as death, added Kieny.
"No new safety issue has been identified from reports issued to date... Reporting so far reconfirms that the pandemic flu vaccine is as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine," she said.
Vaccination programs have been rolled out across some 40 countries, and the WHO is planning to start delivering vaccines at the end of November to poorer countries.
Kieny acknowledged that there was a "few days' delay" in delivery of these vaccines to some 95 countries, but added that they should get the drugs over the next three months.
Authorities in China -- where 11 million people have been vaccinated -- have reported 2 deaths following inoculation and 15 cases of severe side effects, the WHO said in a statement.
"Thorough investigation of these deaths, including a review of autopsy results, determined that underlying medical conditions were the cause of death and not the vaccine," it said of China.
The H1N1 virus is known to have killed 6,250 people worldwide since emerging in North America last April, according to the WHO.
A survey of doctors showed on Wednesday that more than half of Britons being offered vaccination against H1N1 were turning it down because they feared side-effects or believed the virus was too mild to bother about.
"It is worrying indeed that certain groups don't seem to be coming readily to be vaccinated. But we hope that the data ... on the safety of these vaccines will dissipate the worries that a population might have and will help convince them that the vaccine is safe and vaccination will protect them against this disease which can be severe," Kieny said.
Results of completed investigations reported to WHO have ruled out that the pandemic vaccine is a cause of deathMarie-Paule Kieny, WHO