Jackhead resident’s death may be H1N1 vaccine related: band councillor

A Kinonjeoshtegon (Jackhead) First Nation official says a recently deceased community member may have had H1N1 or had an adverse reaction to the vaccine.

Coun. Rod Traverse of the band says the person was a middle-aged woman with a medical condition.

“Other than that, she was healthy,” said Traverse.

Traverse says the woman had been vaccinated for H1N1 the week before.

“She had a fever and her mother gave her a Tylenol,” said Traverse. “She died two hours later.”

Jackhead’s public health nurse and the woman’s family could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Health and Healthy Living saysthe province only releases information on lab-confirmed H1N1 cases that result in death.

“A lot of time may pass through the process of investigating and confirming with families as appropriate, but we try to announce confirmed cases as quickly as we can,” said the spokesperson.

“We announced the first death in the second wave of the virus last Tuesday and we will make further announcements as current as possible.”

Manitoba Health officials are also investigating two deaths within a week of the persons getting the vaccine, though the province says it wasn’t likely the cause of these deaths. “

The Interlake Spectator
Dec, 10 2009