The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that there was no proof that the A(H1N1) influenza vaccine was connected to a fetal death at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital on Thursday.
“Based on the evidence collected so far, this case was an accident, and the baby was strangled by the umbilical cord,” CDC spokesman Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said. “It had nothing to do with the vaccine.”
Chou's comments came after a 41-year-old pregnant woman who received the vaccine last week lost her baby at Chang Gung six days later on Dec. 2.
The woman, a resident of Taipei City, was in her 38th week of pregnancy and had suffered two previous miscarriages, Chou said.
Chou said that a total of 11,847 pregnant women have received shots and less than 10 of them had experienced any side effect. To date, seven pregnant women have been hospitalized because of swine flu and two have died.
Chou acknowledged that the latest incident might discourage pregnant women from having the inoculation, but added that health authorities have assessed the infection risk and decided to continue with the immunization program.
In related news, the Ministry of Education on Thursday announced new guidelines for schools to follow as part of the government's efforts to stem cluster infections of the A(HIN1) virus among students.
The new “814” rule — which replaces the “325” rule — requires only individual students who have developed flu-like symptoms to take the day off, if 80 percent of the students in school have been vaccinated and have developed immunity against swine flu.
Under the old “325” regulation, if more than two students were confirmed to be infected within three days, classes will have to be canceled for five days.
“If more than 80 percent of the students from the same school have already been inoculated more than 14 days before, everybody on campus should be well-protected, so there's no need to follow the ‘325’ procedure,” Chou said.
Following an inspection of an elementary school in Taipei County on Thursday, Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) said the spread of A(H1N1) has slowed at schools around the country after the government's immunization program started on Nov. 1, with elementary, junior and senior high school students getting shots between Nov. 16 and Nov. 30.
Wu said the number of class closures had dropped in the past week, a sign that swine flu infections have been brought under control after the peak infection season last month.
The number of classes canceled had dropped to 1,046 — from 1,925 last Friday — or about 2 percent of the nation's total classes.
Taipei County was the most seriously affected administrative area, with up to 25 percent of classes being canceled.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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