17th December 2009 DOHA: H1N1 cases are currently on the decline in Qatar but a third wave of the pandemic is expected after winter, a senior health official said yesterday.
“The cases now show a downward trend after they peaked during the second wave that the country witnessed with the beginning of winter. However, this is no reason to relax since a third wave of the pandemic is expected after winter,” said Dr Abdullatheef Al Khal, head of the Communicable Disease Control Section at Hamad Medical Corporation.
He was talking to the media on the sidelines of a workshop for school officials held at the SCH premises yesterday. The SCH will launch a vaccination campaign in the schools next Sunday.
Dr Husam Rezeq, head of the Communicable Disease Control Section at Supreme Council of Health said no student would be administered the vaccine during the campaign, without a written consent from the parents.
If the parents of a child fail to respond to the “consent form” being distributed through the schools that child will be not be vaccinated.
“Non-response from parents will not be considered as implied consent, as we did during the seasonal flu campaign. The parents should clearly inform their response, either yes or no,” said Rezeq.
The consent form also ask the parents to write the reasons if they do not agree with vaccinating their child. The official said a number of parents are still skeptical about the vaccination due to the negative reports circulating through the media and other channels.
“There have been rumours that the H1N1 vaccine could cause infertility and other long term side effects. There is no scientific basis for such theories.”
“However, it is big challenge to convince the people. It is sad that we have the vaccine, but people don’t want it,” added Rezeq.
He advised the schools to organise parents’ meetings to explain to them the benefits of the vaccination.
SCH will send experts to address these meetings.
Asked about vaccinating the expatriate workers in the country, Rezeq said the vaccine is made available to major companies on request. A mass campaign targeting all segments of the population will be launched when more consignments of the vaccine arrive in the country.