Within the scope of the A (H1N1) flu vaccine campaign and as Chair of the Regional Nursing Commission of Montreal, Hélène Racine, Director of Nursing and Quality Management at the Douglas, published the following letter addressed to nursing professionals.

"Dear colleagues and nurses:

The Montreal Regional Nursing Commission—the authority responsible for providing advice to the Board of Directors of the Agence de santé de Montréal regarding nursing care—recommends that all nursing staff in Montreal and the province of Quebec get vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus in order to protect themselves and the health of their families and patients.

Due to the nature of their work, nurses are the most exposed to infectious agents and therefore the most at risk of transmitting them to friends and families. Even though the H1N1 flu virus has not yet become severe—except in at-risk individuals and younger people— the number of people who will become infected during the second wave risks being high as does the number of people who will require hospitalization. The Commission takes these health problems seriously and would like to reiterate how important it is for all nursing staff to get vaccinated.

Public health experts have confirmed that the benefits of vaccination greatly exceed the low risk of severe symptoms that could occur after vaccination. Here are the possible side effects, which are similar to those observed for other vaccines, such as that for the seasonal flu:

• Symptoms near the vaccination injection site (redness, pain, swelling)
• Fever (in children)
  

Studies on other flu vaccines since 1976 have established either no association between vaccinations and Guillain-Barré syndrome or, in rare cases, a very low risk of about 1 case per 1 million vaccinations. The vaccine is highly recommended for pregnant women, given the current way in which the virus is being transmitted.

A specific monitoring plan has been developed as part of the mass vaccination campaign against the H1N1 flu virus. This plan involves having doctors monitor rare and unusual neurological symptoms in the course of their practice.

Your involvement either as vaccination providers or as health professionals is essential to the success of the vaccination campaign against the H1N1 pandemic. By vaccinating the population of Montreal and the province of Quebec, we will avoid overloading our health care network and help prevent subsequent waves of the virus."

Hélène Racine, inf., M.Sc., M.A.P.