photo: the Province.com

2009-10 influenza season officially begins October 4, 2009 according to the CDC and what are we supposed to do about Swine Flu?

The Swine Flu story takes another twist and turn in the news this week. Instead of September, the government will not have vaccine until November and that’s a definite maybe. Flu vaccine coming too late, says opposition

“Vaccinations should have started already, this government can’t even guarantee that a single Canadian will be vaccinated within two months,” Dosanjh said.

But Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq defended Ottawa’s response to getting vaccine out to Canadians in the coming weeks and reiterated the government’s plan.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq deer in the headlights or departmental scapegoat? photo: Globe and Mail

“Our goal is to ensure that there is a balance between speed with gathering as much information on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness before we start distributing across the country,” Aglukkaq said Friday.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq got in hot water earlier in the week when native Canadians in Manitoba got body bags not health supplies. That was a pretty insensitive thing to do; however, considering Canada’s long standing policy of institutionalized racism towards First Nations people why not.

Aglukkaq appears to be either incompetent in her job or the victim of a departmental smear campaign. It is hard to tell if she is good manager. She was rushed through her previous portfolio in Finance in one year. As the first Inuk to be elected to the House of Commons, she may be getting the knife in her back from the department. In any event, its her job to manage the department better.

That puts the vaccine arrival after the fall flu season and before the winter flu season.

In the United States, the CDC is predicting 3.4 million doses of the vaccine will arrive the first week of October. WedMD The CDC is recommending the vaccine for children and those with immune deficiencies.

Swine Flu a real threat or not

In the spring, some sites were suggesting the swine flu was a conspiracy to make the Tamiflu manufacturer Gilead’s stock rise. If that’s true, it hasn’t worked. Other than a January and February rise to $53 the stock is trading where it was last year around $45.

The non-swine flu kills up to 2,500 Canadians and 36,000 Americans every year CMAJ. The real numbers are not known, like the real number of people getting swine flu.

First they stopped testing for the swine flu to save money. Second, the cause of death is not reported in some jurisdictions. PEI for example does not keep statistics. Even the 2,500 number is guesswork. The US seems to have better statistics than Canada on swine flu cases and deaths.

The CDC in Atlanta is publishing a weekly running report on incidence and some mortality from swine flu. “The 2009-10 influenza season officially begins October 4, 2009.”

Early advice on how to contain the swine flu included useless instructions to wash your hands frequently. Then a top virologist at the University of Toronto admitted on CTV that they don’t know how the flu spreads.

Advice is being given to close schools to avoid the spread. Employees are being advised to stay home if they are sick; however, employers are not endorsing extended sick leave while people wait out the flu at home for 10 to 14 days.

One thing for sure, the media are getting more mileage out of the swine flu than a middle eastern war. This story just won’t quit but all we have is the worry factor and no solutions.

Try to stay healthy by getting lots of rest and eating well. When the flu hits this year, it might be a doozie.