As you may have heard, Health Canada is holding workshops in six provinces about precautionary labels with regards to food allergens. They are encouraging the public to come forward with their thoughts, though space will be limited.
This is our chance to voice our concerns and perhaps get the wheels moving on this issue. I am planning on attending the workshop taking place in Halifax (provided the space is available and I get the OK) and will be taking some notes. In the meantime, if you are unable to participate in the workshop, please feel free to send me your concerns or questions via email. Alternatively, you can post here in the comments section. Perhaps some of those concerns will be addressed in the workshop.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 25, 2009
Our little girl took the second (and final) dose of the H1N1 vaccine on November 25. Instead of splitting it into two small doses, she was given the dose in one shot and we were asked to stay for an hour. She was fine, with the exception of a few very minor hives, which also manifested the first time, but went away quickly. All in all, she did very well and we are happy the she's had the vaccine without complications. It is important to note though that in the evening things got a little bit complicated. Later that night (or early morning around 3 AM), Maya got sick in her sleep and developed a fever. A quick trip to the emergency room revealed that those are possible side effects of the vaccine. I have also heard other parents complain of the very same thing happening to their child that same night. The doctor at the emergency room explained that the reason the side effects happened with the second dose and not the first is because her body now remembers what H1N1 is and has developed antibodies for it. That makes sense and simply means that the vaccine is working. Maya's fever continued for another day after that but we managed to keep it under control with Tylenol. There were no more symptoms after that and Maya has now fully recovered. Please don't let that piece of information deter you from taking the vaccine especially if the doctor thinks it is safe for you and your child. We would much rather deal with side effects of the vaccine than watch Maya suffer the H1N1 virus. Kids who are asthmatic don't do well with the flu and often take longer to recover. I just thought I would let others know what to expect, but there is no need for alarm.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 17, 2009
The Allergy Clinic has kept its promise to us and called today, just like they said they would, within 3 weeks of the first dose. Maya is booked to go in for the final dose of the H1N1 vaccine next week. I will let everyone know how that goes as well. Now, I know some parents with egg allergic children were told to take their child to the pediatrician for the final dose, and I imagine that would have to do with how severe the egg allergy is. Not every egg allergic child is going back to the allergy clinic for the final dose (as far as I know), but Maya is among those who will receive the final dose at the IWK Allergy Clinic. I imagine other parents will be getting calls as well this week. Feel free to share your experiences as well.
Yesterday, the Allergy Clinic at the IWK began administering the H1N1 vaccine for egg allergic children under 5. Maya got her shot and thankfully, everything went well.
We were comfortable with the process that Dr. Watson implemented. Essentially, the vaccine was given in small doses with a waiting period in between each dose to monitor for any reactions. The number of doses and the monitoring time varied between each child. Some children were given the full initial dose, monitored for an hour, then sent home when no reaction happened. Others like Maya were given a very small dose of the vaccine, and then monitored for 30 minutes. When no reaction happened, they were given the rest of that dose and then monitored again for one hour. Maya did not have an allergic reaction to the vaccine so they sent us home happy.
Depending on the severity of the egg allergy, each family was told how to proceed to get the rest of the H1N1 vaccine. I heard from some people that they were told to get the second dose at their family doctor's office, but I am not sure how accurate that information is. What I do know is what we were told by Dr. Watson. He said that we would be contacted again soon and given information on how to proceed. They are waiting to get more vaccines, hopefully within three weeks. Dr. Watson has a limited number of vaccines and like every other clinic in the province, they are trying to make do with what they have.
We will wait to hear back from Dr. Watson's office. When we go back for the second dose, I will post about it as well. Before we went home the nurses gave us an info sheet about the vaccine. We scanned and posted it below for your convenience.
