Inside Duke Medicine

Injectable H1N1 vaccine available for pregnant employees, patients, students

Rebekah Moehring, M.D., Infectious Disease Fellow, one of the pregnant employees currently getting the injectable H1N1 vaccine, being administered by Gene Franklin, RN, Employee Occupational Health and Wellness.

To: Duke University and Duke University Health System Employees, Students, and Faculty

From: Kyle Cavanaugh, Vice President, Human Resources
Ian Greenwald, M.D. , CMO, DUHS Disaster Preparedness & Response Center
George W. Jackson, M.D., Director, Employee Health Occupational Health & Wellness
Cameron Wolfe, M.D., Infectious Disease

Date: October 18, 2009

Re: Injectable H1N1 vaccine now available for pregnant employees, patients, and students

We just received our first limited shipment of injectable H1N1 vaccine and we are implementing an administration plan that starts with the highest risk groups within the groups described in official recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as those of the North Carolina State Health Department.

While we hope to make the injectable vaccine available more broadly throughout the organization as we receive the quantities of doses that have been requested, it is likely that the first few weeks supply will remain quite limited. We appreciate your understanding of our need to prioritize the administration of the initial supply in accordance with CDC guidelines and recommendations to our highest risk populations.

We will begin by making the initial doses available to pregnant employees throughout Duke University and DUHS, as well as pregnant students. Concurrently we are making it available to our pregnant patients through our OB/GYN offices. As supply allows we will also be administering it to a few particularly high risk employee units within Duke University Hospital, Durham Regional Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Pregnant employees and student who would like to receive the injectable vaccine may do so starting Monday October 19, 2009 by going to employee health or their DUHS Ob/Gyn provider.

Over the past few weeks there has been a sharp increase in the cases of people with flu-like symptoms throughout North Carolina, and evidence to date suggests that pregnant women who contract H1N1 are at the greatest risk. Multiple studies have been reported to the US Food & Drug Administration that support the safety of the H1N1 vaccines -- some of those studies have and continue to be performed at Duke.

Because the production process is the same as the annual seasonal flu vaccine we expect that the H1N1 vaccine will have a similar safety profile, and seasonal flu vaccines have had an excellent safety record over time.

The CDC is recommending that pregnant women receive the vaccine and more information about H1N1 vaccines can be accessed at the following CDC information link: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/pregnant_qa.htm.

Pregnant employees and students who have questions about the vaccine may contact employee health, student health, or their DUHS ob/gyn provider.

We will provide further updates on the availability of the injectable vaccine as greater supplies become available, and updates on anything related to our response to H1N1 will be posted to the Duke flu website.