Swine Flu Vaccine

The Health Service Executive (HSE) today begins the first phase of its swine flu vaccination campaign by offering the H1N1 vaccine to around 500,000 patients in "at-risk groups". So far, the majority of serious cases of the virus have been amongst individuals with underlying health conditions. The vaccine will be available through 2,300 GPs and at 45 special HSE clinics. Debate still rages on about the suitability of the vaccine for pregnant mothers but the HSE insists that it is safe. In Ireland, hundreds of people die of the "regular" flu each year and people should be reminded that the regular flu vaccine is also available from GPs. For more information about swine flu, click here for a previous post. New Scientist magazine recently published an interesting article on the eight myths about swine flu. Click here to visit the online mag.