The vaccine for the H1/N1 pandemic virus may have increased the risk of people suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome according to new research from Canada.
900,000 doses of the controversial vaccine, Pandemrix were administered at HSE Clinic’s and by GP’s in Ireland in 2009 and 2010. The vaccine has now been withdrawn from use and unused samples of it have been destroyed. A number of children have now been diagnosed as suffering from Narcolepsy and the Department of Health has indicated that it is going to establish a scheme to compensate those children. There has now been a clear link established between the vaccine and the development of the condition.
Researchers at the Lavala University in Quebec have discovered a slightly increased risk for the disease among people who received the ‘Swine Flu’ Vaccine compared to those who did not. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Quebec like Ireland launched an aggressive campaign in 2009 to combat the potentially deadly H1 N1 (Swine Flu Virus). About 96% of all 7.8million residents of Quebec received the vaccine. Tens of millions more have received the vaccine in North America and in Ireland. The vaccine was marketed by GlaxoSmithKline. The State has now provided GSK with a legal indemnity against claims from recipients of the vaccine.
The researchers discovered at least 83 cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome among those receiving the vaccine in 2009, a rate of about 2.3 per 100,000. The highest risk of developing the Syndrome appears to be in the weeks and first months after receiving the H1 N1 vaccine.
