Swine flu review finds vaccine safe and still highly recommended

It was an unsettling sight: Hundreds of people wanting the swine flu vaccine for themselves or their children lined up in the parking lot of pharmacies, clinics and even schools. Many were turned away, some tearfully, by public health officials who were forced by a shortage to ration the shots to the most at-risk populations. Eventually, more of the vaccine became available.

Yet what troubled medical personnel more were the people who stayed home, the parents and vulnerable individuals who had decided to forgo the vaccine over questions about safety. Despite the speed with swine flu victims could develop life-threatening conditions - some were hospitalized just hours after falling ill - some people worried the brand-new vaccine had not been thoroughly vetted and could cause its own problems in the future. In December, Harvard researchers released a poll in which 35 percent of parents still said they refused to have their children vaccinated. A majority cited safety as the reason.

Now, public health officials are hoping a new study on the vaccine's safety will put to rest any lingering fears and convince those who need the shot the most to get it. In an open letter last week to health care providers across the country, federal Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg warned doctors of a "significant" chance that the H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu, will return later this season after showing signs of waning. Hamburg said that of the 438,376 people monitored in the study, only 3,783 people reported so-called "adverse events." Most of those cases - 94 percent - were non-serious reactions such as soreness at the injection site. So far, more than 99 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed, and Hamburg told doctors it was especially important for high-risk populations, such as children, pregnant women, asthmatics and people with compromised immune systems, to get the vaccine as soon as possible. Even people not considered at risk for complications should be vaccinated, Hamburg added.

Swine flu first arrived on the scene last year, and quickly fueled alarm with its ability to spread fast and cause serious complications in a matter of hours. Schools closed, and by fall the situation was serious enough that President Obama declared an emergency, giving health care facilities more flexibility in treating those infected with the virus. Public health officials' efforts to get people vaccinated were stymied earlier this year by a number of factors, including some difficulties in developing the vaccine itself. Now, the vaccine appears to be more readily available.

Did you forget to line up last fall when the vaccine first became available? Here's what you can do:

1. Call your doctor and find out if he or she has the vaccine. If the answer is no, check out the websites of your city or county health department. Very likely they can tell you where to go.


2. Don't forget what your mother taught you about avoiding illness: Wash your hands frequently. Carry hand sanitizer and use it, especially when you've been in public places or on public transportation.


3. Get enough rest, enough fluids and enough vitamin C.