WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A new study is about to be published in Canada that links the swine flu virus to seasonal flu shots, Canadian health officials say.
The report, which is under peer review, suggests that people vaccinated against seasonal flu are twice as likely to contract the swine flu, The Globe and Mail of Canada reported Monday.
Researchers Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Center for Disease Control and Gaston De Serrres of Laval University of Quebec are not allowed to comment on their findings until the study has been published.
An international panel is scrutinizing their research data.
So far, the study's impact has been confined to Canada, where Quebec's Health Ministry Sunday joined Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia in suspending seasonal flu shots for anyone under 65 years of age.
"It has confused things very badly," says Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.
