Pregnant women were denied the seasonal flu jab in some parts of the UK, before swine flu began claiming more lives, because not all GPs were aware that mothers-to-be had been made a priority group to receive the jab this winter.
Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, told the Guardian that a number of pregnant women had been refused the vaccine by family doctors in autumn.
"In October, when GPs started telling patients to come for immunisation, some pregnant women got it and some didn't. GPs sent some of them away because they thought they didn't need it, because no one had told them that pregnant women had been added to the list of groups of people considered 'at risk'," she said.
Research shows pregnant women are four times more likely to develop serious complications if they catch H1N1 swine flu, which is the main strain of seasonal flu circulating this winter. There has been concern that takeup of the jab protecting against all three strains of flu has been low among pregnant women.
Silverton also criticised the decision by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, to cancel the usual advertising campaign intended to prompt the 16 million Britons classed as vulnerable to have the jab.
"It was short-sighted of the Department of Health not to have the usual campaign, she said. "It was done to save money. I agree with the government's overall aim of reducing government advertising, but they should have been more selective and kept the campaign for all at-risk groups.
"Usually there are posters on buses and all sorts, but this year there was nothing. It was a wasted opportunity not to have the awareness campaign stressing the importance of people in at-risk groups being vaccinated."
A majority of the 50 people to die from flu so far this winter had not had the three-in-one jab at least two weeks before falling ill, the Health Protection Agency said.
A poll today shows that a majority of doctors believe the NHS has been less prepared to cope with this winter's flu outbreak compared with last year. Just over half the GPs and hospital doctors who responded said they thought the NHS's flu preparations were worse. The outbreak has so far claimed 50 lives and left 783 people in intensive care, amid vaccine shortages and low takeup rates of the seasonal flu jab.
Doctors.net, an online professional network to which most UK medics belong, asked members: "Do you think NHS preparedness for pandemic influenza is better, worse or the same as last year?"
Among the 430 respondents, 231 doctors (54%) said it was worse, 126 (29%) said it was the same as last year and just 73 (17%) felt it was better.The results indicate the strength of feeling in the medical community about the NHS's readiness for a flu outbreak.The main strain circulating this winter is H1N1 swine flu, which is causing serious complications in under-65s, especially those with an underlying medical condition.
The poll comes as Lansley's judgment over the flu outbreak was again called into question. John Healey, the Labour shadow health secretary, questioned decisions taken by the Department of Health over the Christmas period, such as last week's decision to make available old stocks of swine flu vaccine to help counter shortages in this winter's seasonal flu jab.
Lansley rejected claims that he had been slow to respond. "It is pretty rich coming from [Healey] to say there are shortages, because the supply was decided by the previous government. The amount is ordered in spring, which was before we entered office," he told MPs.
What the doctors say
• "I'm a great believer that when pandemic flu rolls around it won't be lack of flu drugs that leads to people dying needlessly, but lack of hospital capacity. Lack of capacity for inpatients. Lack in the emergency departments. Lack of intensive care beds. Because if we are running at 99% capacity all the time during quiet(ish) periods with no reserve capacity that can be brought in quickly, then where will the overflow of sick patients go? Home to die is the answer."
• "No public information, no information for GPs except from the Royal College of GPs, disbanded health promotion units, no Tamiflu available, no preparation, no surveillance of prevalent viruses and a chief medical officer who, in Jim Callaghan fashion, says: 'Crisis? What crisis?'."
• "The behavioural factors (government, healthcare providers and the public) behind the morbidity and mortality that we are already experiencing this season require further investigation. We have seen authorities actively playing down the 'pandemic that never happened', mixed with pandemic fatigue in secondary care [hospitals]. I'm sure this will in part explain why we are experiencing a worse wave of activity now. It's a shame, since historical evidence is quite clear about the possibility of further – often more severe – waves following the emergence of a novel pandemic influenza strain."
• "Our pharmacist is allowed only to order three courses of Tamiflu a day, because of lack of supply at the wholesaler. Is this preparedness?"
• "The real lack is the ITU [critical care] capacity, and especially oscillators and ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] units. Last week all the ECMO beds in the UK were full of swine flu patients. Tamiflu is not going to help those with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. If you think you're getting unwell, DON'T go to your local district general hospital, find your nearest cardio thoracic centre with an ECMO bed in it, as unless you're there you're never going to get anywhere near one if you need it as there are only 20 in the UK! Maybe instead of spending millions on Tamiflu last year we should have trained more CT ITU nurses, and got more oscillators, and ECMO machines so that we have them when we need them!"
• "There is undoubtedly pandemic fatigue reflecting the massively overhyped preparation last year. The fact that such efforts went into entirely valueless treatments last year (Tamiflu) has only compounded the general scepticism."
Source: www.doctors.net.uk
Comments
10 January 2011 8:10PM
Surely you mean that some pregnant women were denied free flu jabs. As far as I'm aware they could still have had one if they paid for it. And if I was a pregnant mother I would have a flu jab come hell or high water.
10 January 2011 8:11PM
I didn't know Doctors now needed to be told how to treat their patients.
10 January 2011 8:26PM
Well done Andrew Lansley, Minister for Budgetary Savings in Health.
10 January 2011 8:34PM
GP's must have very poor memories to forget that last year pregnant women were amongst the most vulnerable to Swine Flu, with several high profile tragic deaths. With these GP's and Lansley running the Health Service of the future-God help us all.
10 January 2011 8:36PM
This swine flu fiasco is the shape of things to come, with the massive attack upon the NHS, the doctors given their own budgets to buy services, and the tory led government belief that governments must not be involved in society.
What a very dangerous place our society is becoming, because the "free market" ethos is beginning to show its ugly face of indifference.
This type of tragedy will be an everyday occurance, where profit becomes the measure of treatment.
The tories are sick, very sick.
10 January 2011 8:42PM
I was pregnant last winter and was not offered the flu jab by my GP surgery and when I requested it they told me that I wasn't entitled to it as I had to be at least 20 weeks pregnant. I contacted NHS direct who told me the surgery was wrong and that all pregnant women should be offered it. Still the surgery refused me the jab. It wasn't until the PCT intervened on my behalf that the surgery realised they had made a mistake in not inviting all the women under 20 weeks pregnant to the mass immunisation session.
What will happen when the PCT's are gone? Who will fix these problems for us?
10 January 2011 8:50PM
I was waiting for people blaming Labour for it .
10 January 2011 9:14PM
Pregnant women - shocking.
10 January 2011 9:14PM
Some GP's were not told, it was public knowledge, what are they idiots.
10 January 2011 9:15PM
And they are going to form consortiums to deliver strategic services, 'God" help us
10 January 2011 9:16PM
GP needs Coke Advertisement? That is very strange. I thought they were being paid because they are educated and can read and enquire. No?
The spinning by Guardian goes unabated. All fault of conservative cuts. Even my bad English is because of Conservative cuts.
10 January 2011 9:34PM
Maybe,; maybe, perhaps some people who are able to take care of themselves,without invasive drug/immunization control will continue to procreate & we will " inherit the earth." lol
10 January 2011 9:36PM
Minor point, but you make it sound as if there were only 3 strands of flu:
My understanding is that there are a number of strains, and the WHO picks 3 that they think are most likely to be widespread, and those will be in the vaccine. Point being that the vaccine protects against all three strains against which it protects, but not all strains of flu.
10 January 2011 9:37PM
Most GPs could not run a welk stall. They are trained in medicine not how to run an organisation such as an health service.
10 January 2011 9:41PM
@rajkish
"All fault of conservative cuts. Even my bad English is because of conservative cuts."
Did you go to a school affected by tory cuts?
10 January 2011 9:59PM
GPs are, of course, known throughout the NHS for not reading their e-mails, then complaining afterwards that they weren't told.
Unfortunately, their practices are all private companies, so the NHS bodies which pay them individually for every 10-minute appointment they make, have very little comeback when their negligence leads to denial of treatment.
They're all going to get a hell of a shock when they have to be in charge. They might have to take some notice of what's going on around them.
10 January 2011 10:22PM
Any GP who didn't know that preganant women were to be offered the vacine is a dumbass. And yes, they're the future of your NHS. Get ill before 2013 if you can. Get strategically ill by 2012.
10 January 2011 11:34PM
H1N1 vaccine linked to 700 percent increase in miscarriages.
Any pregnant woman who gets this jab needs to have her head examined....http://www.naturalnews.com/030657_vaccines_miscarriages.html
10 January 2011 11:55PM
Speaking as the brother of an expectant mother who has just recovered from the flu, you're a sanctimonious cretin.
If you ask for the swine flu vaccine and are told you can't have it, the natural assumption is that this is because you aren't in the at-risk group and therefore don't need it.
Nice try blaming the victim though.
10 January 2011 11:57PM
Any chance of a link to something vaguely based on one a proper examination of the science / statistics and not someone putting their fingers in their ears and going 'neh neh, not going to listen to scientists, they're in the pay of big pharma'?
11 January 2011 12:08AM
OutOfOptions
Why ...are you not capable of doing your own research....and where's your link to a source not in the pay of big pharma and that proves otherwise ?
11 January 2011 12:17AM
Um... you're the one making the claim so you're the one who's supposed to provide something to support your argument. I was simply asking for something reputable as opposed to vague hand waving.
11 January 2011 12:33AM
My local GP surgery run out of vaccine about the same time as Lansley panicked me and my pregnant missus by saying the jab was essential and we should strive to get it, and be irresponsible to not do so.
They said to try Boots but no vaccine there.
If my wife gets 'flu I guess I can console myself with knowing that my family have made additional sacrifices to allow our noble bankers to enjoy some cheer at bonus time?
11 January 2011 3:57AM
Outofoptions - Try these statistics for the risk of miscarriage due to H1N1
http://www.progressiveconvergence.com/H1N1-RELATED%20miscarriages.htm
A family member has just had a miscarriage after being given the vaccine, wish Id seen her first, I assumed this was known in this country and wouldnt be offered.
After the Thalydamide scandal Its a wonder anyone even takes paracetemol in pregnancy anyway.
11 January 2011 12:43PM
planetpmc
10 January 2011 8:10PM
My wife was denied the flu jab when she enquired at the doctors, we had three pharmacies offering the jab, about £12 I think, but none of them would vaccinate pregnant women as they 'couldn't' vaccinate anyone under 12!
She contracted swine flu in mid december which caused her to give birth prematurely at 33 weeks, then she was chastised by her GP because she hadn't had the jab, yet his surgery is still preventing pregnant women having the flu jab.
11 January 2011 1:59PM
The last comment in the main article is wide of the mark. The reason things weren't so bad last year is because the planning and preparation was exemplary. The advertising campaign was effective, as was the vaccination and antiviral strategy. It is understandable to say that last year's relatively minor flu event was evidence of an over-reaction, but only if you know nothing about public health interventions. As for the comment that we should have spend millions on ECMO rather than antivirals - prevention is better than cure. Vaccines reduce the incidence and antivirals reduce the spread. ECMO is a very long way from a risk free intervention. Some doctors.....
11 January 2011 8:48PM
Are you taking the piss? The first line on the home page invites you to 'Join the Student Vaccine Liberation Army'. It's hardly Nature or The BMJ.