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3,631 H1N1 vaccine adverse reactions reported on mainland

By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-12-11 14:53

Clinical tests and practices in China have shown the A/H1N1 flu vaccines are safe, according to a Friday report on chinanews.com.cn. Of the 32.38 million people who had been vaccinated in China, 3,631 are thought to have had an adverse reaction.

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Deng Haihua, the spokesman for the Ministry of health said that of the adverse reactions to the vaccine, 75.98 percent were a fever or swelling. Other unspecified abnormal reactions comprised 11.21 percent, and 6.36 percent of patients reporting adverse effects after the vaccine were already sick with another disease. Psychogenic reactions were just 3.72 percent.

Severe reactions occurred in roughly one in a million patients, a level in line with other international vaccines and clinical tests.

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said that 365 batches of the vaccine that can provide 65.87 million injections have been approved for use as of December 9. Of that amount, 53.14 million have been dispatched to provincial-level regions across the mainland so far, according to the China's Ministry of Health.