According to a news report more than half of Britons who are advised for vaccination against pandemic H1N1 the Swine flu are reluctant to take it. They fear the side effects of the vaccine or they think the virus is too mild to bother.
A survey of more than 100 family doctors resulted that there was widespread resistance from patients against the vaccine. Survey reported that on average only 46 percent of people who were offered the vaccination agree to have it.
Doctors have reported particular difficulties in persuading pregnant women to be vaccinated against the virus.
Skepticism has been growing in Britain and other European countries about health authorities’ handling of the H1N1 pandemic, because the number of people infected has been lower than originally feared.
Further, rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October, according to a new report by Quest Diagnostics.
As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are now even looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available — by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.
These additives broaden the body’s response to a vaccine, reducing the amount of active ingredient called antigen needed. They are widely used in European flu vaccines as well as in Canada. But not in the United States — even though the federal government has spent nearly $700 million buying them.
Richard Hoey, Editor of Pulse news, said his survey showed that many patients, and a substantial number of doctors were “unconvinced there is sufficient evidence that swine flu vaccination is safe and necessary”.
A spokesman for the government’s health department said it was “too early to speculate on uptake rates” for H1N1 vaccines but that doctors were working hard to reach as many patients as possible with their initial supplies.
“We recommend that people in the at risk groups accept the offer of vaccination,” he said. “People in the risk groups are more likely to be severely ill if they catch swine flu, and the vaccine provides the best protection against the disease.”
The reason — people might not trust them.
“If we really do want pregnant women to trust this vaccine or even parents, we have to think about what is acceptable to them,” Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview.
“We have so much vaccine hesitancy in this country,” agreed Jeff Levi of the non-profit Trust For America’s Health. “To add … a new element could well have undermined the efficacy of this campaign,” Levi told a hearing this week before a Congressional subcommittee.
Polls show that only about half of Americans plan to be vaccinated against H1N1. Of those who do not, about half say they worry about safety.
Further, The World Health Organization is looking into reports in Britain and the United States that the H1N1 flu may have developed resistance to Tamiflu in people with severely suppressed immune systems.
Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) said five cases have been confirmed in Wales of patients infected with H1N1 resistant to Tamiflu.