Pediatrician: all Nunavummiut should get vaccinated

My name is Radha Jetty. I am the full-time pediatrician at the Qikiqtani General Hospital.  I would like to urge all Nunavummiut to get vaccinated for influenza this year.
 
I know there has been a lot of controversy in the media about H1N1 and the vaccine.  There is a lot of anti-vaccination messaging and conspiracy theories out there. 

I just wanted to give you the Nunavut perspective and make people aware of our particular situation. We know that the H1N1 virus is far more virulent than the seasonal influenza. 

But we also know that there has been much more significant morbidity in aboriginal populations across the country. 

Although we live in Canada, the health of Nunavummiut is more in keeping with that of a developing country. The life expectancy is about 10 years lower than the national average, our infants die twice as often as the rest of Canada and the amount of chronic illness — especially respiratory illness — is unbelievable. 

Poverty, malnutrition and overcrowding are just a few of the factors that make our population at even higher risk. We know that young children, pregnant women, people with chronic medical conditions and aboriginal people are at highest risk with H1N1. 

We’ve got the highest birth rate in the country and the highest percentage of children.  Our kids are some of the sickest kids I have seen in Canada.  It still amazes me almost every day. 

Most importantly we are so far from higher level medical care.  I think part of me feels especially strong about this issue because I have spent many a night at the Qikiqtani General at the bedside of a critically ill child trying to keep them alive and stable with minimal resources until the transport team arrives to take them to an intensive care unit in Ottawa. 

We had a few very critical cases of both children and pregnant women in the first wave of H1N1 and I don’t want to see another critical wave — especially if there is something that we can do to prevent it.
 
So although we should protect ourselves with the vaccine I feel we have a deep social responsibility to protect those very vulnerable people who live and work around us. Sometimes as young, healthy individuals we don’t see this important concept of group immunity.
 
We are in a very fortunate position that we have enough vaccination for everyone in Nunavut, unlike other jurisdictions.  We don’t need to wait six to eight hours to get it.

As well, the second wave of H1N1 has not hit us yet and we have already begun our mass vaccination, unlike other jurisdictions.  We might be able to avert a significant second wave.
 
I personally urge you all to get vaccinated this week
 
Radha Jetty MD, FRCPC, FAAP
Consultant Pediatrician
Qikiqtani General Hospital

• Nunavut mass vaccination schedule

• Iqaluit mass vaccination schedule

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