Contacts:
Scott Smith,
Minnesota Medical Association Public Affairs
612/362-3726
612/940-2727 (mobile)

Colleen Winters
Minnesota Medical Association
Marketing and Communications Director
612/362-3742

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Physicians Urge Parents of All Faiths to Get the H1N1 Vaccines

MINNEAPOLIS, October 27, 2009  - Minnesota physicians are concerned that some parents may avoid the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes widely available because some versions contain a pork gelatin product.

Some believers of Islam, Judaism, and Seventh-Day Adventism observe prohibitions against ingesting pork. Some parents may feel that in order to follow their faith, they should avoid the H1N1 vaccine for their children, because some versions include hydrolyzed porcine gelatin, an ingredient used to stabilize the vaccine.

Fatima Jiwa, M.D., a pediatrician, a Muslim, and chair of the Minnesota Medical Association’s Minority and Cross Cultural Affairs Committee, said that as a physician she advocates that all children, including Muslim children, receive the H1N1 vaccine, which has started arriving in Minnesota.

“I tell parents that the medical case in favor of giving the vaccine is very clear, since not giving it could result in great potential harm to the child, possibly even death,” said Jiwa of Partners in Pediatrics who sees patients in Rogers and Brooklyn Park.

The Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) is a professional association representing about 10,500 physicians, residents, and medical students, working together for a healthy Minnesota.

Religiously observant patients also should know that religious leaders have provided guidance on this topic.

The MMA consulted with the Islamic University of Minnesota, based in Minneapolis, which posed the question to the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of Minnesota.

“The preference is that Muslims avoid porcine gelatins in medicines, however, it is acceptable to take a vaccine including the pork by-product, if an alternative is not available,” said Hatem Elhagaly, M.D., a member of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of Minnesota and a practicing physician specializing in pediatrics at the Albert Lea Medical Center.

There is pork gelatin in two of the four currently licensed H1N1 influenza vaccines, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The two vaccines that contain gelatin include Fluzone, licensed for children age 6 months and older, and FluMist nasal spray, for persons ages 2 years through 49 years. The vaccines that do not contain the pork gelatin are Fluvirin, available for younger persons age 4 years and older, and Afluria, an option for persons age 18 years and older, according to MDH.

The World Health Organization also discussed this issue with Islamic and Jewish scholars. The Islamic scholars determined that the transformation of pork products into gelatin alters them sufficiently to make it permissible for observant Muslims to receive vaccines containing pork gelatin. (Source: Institute for Vaccine Safety at http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/Porcine-vaccineapproval.htm).

The same effort also determined that according to Jewish laws, there are no problems with porcine or other animal derived ingredients in non-oral products, including vaccines.