As Canadian health officials assured the public that the pandemic H1N1 vaccine is as safe as the seasonal flu shot, at least one province is reporting almost double the rate of severe allergic reactions.

British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said it is probing why residents suffered anaphylaxis at a higher rate compared with the previous five seasonal-flu-vaccination programs, suggesting it could be because some people received H1N1 and the seasonal flu shot simultaneously.

It will be several more weeks before B.C. officials can definitively attribute the spike in the rate – 2.2 per 100,000 doses distributed, compared to 1.2 per 100,000 doses. None of the 18 anaphylaxis reactions in B.C. resulted in death. Read more at www.theglobeandmail.com