Website intended for a NZ health professional readership
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The incidence of anaphylaxis following vaccination with Pfizer–BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is slightly higher than that of schedule vaccines, so health professionals must be able to recognise this potentially fatal condition and differentiate it from immunisation stress-related responses
1. WHO. Immunization stress-related responses: A manual for program managers and health professionals to prevent, identify and respond to stress-related responses following immunization. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019.
2. Loharikar A, Suragh TA, MacDonald NE, et al. Anxiety-related adverse events following immunization (AEFI): a systematic review of published clusters of illness. Vaccine 2018;36(2):299–305.
3. Pfizer New Zealand. DBL adrenaline injection. Medsafe data sheet. https://bit.ly/3xKISTA
4. Ministry of Health. Processes for safe Immunisation. In Immunisation Handbook 2020. Wellington: Ministry of Health; 2020.
5. Immunisation Advisory Centre. Oxygen no longer a requirement for vaccination services. Position statement; April 2020. https://tinyurl.com/5cc56nps
Pharmacist prescribers Linda Bryant and Leanne Te Karu discuss positive polypharmacy for heart failure. Current evidence shows the intensive implementation of four medications offers the greatest benefit to most patients with heart failure, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality, heart failure hospitalisations and all-cause mortality
