Thursday, December 03, 2009

H1N1 Vaccine: New Stock has arrived

By now you would have heard that the H1N1 vaccine has been approved for 10 year olds and above and the good news is that our new stock of vaccines have just arrived so we have enough for walk in patients.

There has been some concern about the safety of the vaccines. This pertains to the older 10 doses per vial vaccine. The vaccine we stock is Panvax from CSL labs which is the individual vaccine that does not contain mercury. So far, we have received little complaints from our patients. I personally have administered the vaccine to my own left arm and all I had was a bit of pain over the injection site for 2 days. (Yes, I did it Rambo style and injected myself)

The other question that often gets asked is whether you should take the seasonal flu vaccine or the H1N1 vaccine. The best answer is that you should take both. Both vaccines can be given at the same time. If you have to choose one, I would advise young adults to take the H1N1 vaccine because there has been some concern that the H1N1 virus is somehow more virulent amongst young adults with several deaths occurring amongst otherwise fit young adults.

Our price for the Panvax is $30. Do ring up first to check for stock availability.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dr Tay,

For toddler about 2.5 yrs old, the seasonal flu vaccine requires how many injection done? Some of my friends said once and some said twice depending on which GP or PD they consult.

Dr Leslie said...

With GSK's Fluarix vaccine, the dose for 6-36months is 0.25ml.

For those older than 36 month, the doese is 0.5ml.

The booster dose is recommended for children up to 9 years of age who have not been previously infected or vaccinated. This booster dose is given one month after the first dose.