OF1-07/30/09 6:25 AM
PREGNANT WOMEN AND SWINE FLU SHOTS.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood, and I'll be telling you about a great special deal for my listeners.
An advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a list of the categories of people who should have priority to get the swine flu shots when they come out.
At the top of that list, says CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, are pregnant women.
SOT - Dr. Jennifer Ashton, CBS News Medical Correspondent
"It is clear that pregnant women are at much higher risk for severe complications, um, such as miscarriage, preterm labor, and pneumonia --- if they become sick with H1N1 or the regular influenza virus." (:13)
Also on the list to get the shots are those in contact with babies: children starting at six months, young people, health care workers, emergency personnel and adults with underlying conditions. Add all those categories up, and it comes to at least 140 million --- and the CDC isn't sure that many swine flu shots will be available.
SOT - Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization & Respiratory Diseases
"This is a situation of supply and demand, and making sure that we can have the vaccine go where it is needed most." (:06)
It's said as many as 40% of the U.S. population could come down with the swine flu this winter.
Old people, those 65 and older, have always been urged to get flu shots in the past. But in this brave new world of swine flu, they're not on the priority list at all.
Not because we don't care about old people, officials say, but because so far not many elderly people have come down with the swine flu. They seem to have higher levels of resistance to H1N1. Doctors say they should get shots against regular seasonal flu.
SOT - Dr. Kenneth Bromberg, Brooklyn Hospital Center
"We'll see co-mingling of two different flus this season. But it'll be like a bad seasonal flu and we have to worry about high-risk groups." (:07)
Dr. Kenneth Bromberg of Brooklyn Hospital Center. As to when we'll know the size of a swine flu vaccine shortfall, says the CDC's Dr. Ann Schuchat...
SOT - Dr. Anne Schuchat
"Production can be unpredictable. Right now, we are on track expecting vaccine doses in the fall. Exactly how many, exactly when will be tough to pinpoint. (:09)
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. July 30th, 2009. |
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