TORONTO, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Annual flu shots have been delayed in much of Canada because of an unpublished study suggesting the shots increase one's likelihood of contracting swine flu.
Twelve of Canada's 13 provinces and territories have put off the flu shots for most people until after H1N1 inoculations are done, probably by year's end, The Wall Street Journal reported in Wednesday's editions.
Researchers from the British Columbia Center for Disease Control, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion and Laval University in Quebec co-authored the study. They say it has yet to be reviewed for publication in a journal, but won't say which.
Few people have seen the study's data and some remain skeptical of its conclusion, the Journal said. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer for British Columbia, said the study "wasn't something we felt we could ignore."
British Columbia decided to limit seasonal-flu shots to people age 65 and older until after the H1N1 vaccinations.
Kendall, who said he has seen the data and has spoken with the study's co-authors, said the study suggests people vaccinated against seasonal flu are twice as likely to contract the swine flu.
"Why would you want to run the risk of doubling people's risk of getting H1N1?" Kendall said.
Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said told reporters recently there is no "real explanation technically or scientifically" for a link between the seasonal flu shot and a greater chance of contracting H1N1.
