This post, as the title says, is actually a comment I left on the article Ah, the Good Ol' (Unbelievably Dangerous) Pre-Vaccination Days by Chuck L. following discussion regarding the validity of some theories on vaccine side-effects. While I normally don't opt to receive flu vaccine, and I originally planned to not get the H1N1 vaccine either, things I've read and heard from some health care workers in my area, as well as what I've heard from my Dad after he did some of his own research, has convinced me that this year I may choose differently. It's a rough choice, as I may be sensitive to some ingredients usually used in the making of flu vaccines, but as a retail/food service worker, I'd rather be sick for a few days than take the chance on infecting my whole customer base, kids included. Unlike flu viruses I've normally beaten easily, H1N1 has some characteristics which make it more threatening; it has hit outside the normal flu "season," it transmits quickly through populations it hits, and it keeps changing its characteristics (scary in and of itself - rapid mutation is what makes AIDS incurable). As I pointed out at the end of the comment, this information is not a reason to panic, but it's not good to ignore it, either... it's definitely a reason to exercise more caution. Maybe some of us who don't normally get the flu shot should consider getting the H1N1 vaccine if it is recommended. I will certainly be bringing up with my family doctor the question as to what he thinks I should do in this instance.
The comment/post: Flu has a habit of fooling humanity. This is something which was pointed out to me by my father, who mentioned that flu pandemics historically come in waves, often following years of much more moderate flu experiences. When a really bad flu hits, it first does not hit hard, and people don't think it's going to be all that bad. Just when it looks like it's over, it hits again, sometimes harder. This was the case with the 1918 flu pandemic: Pandemic-Flu-Guide.com: Recent Pandemics in History "1918-1919 Spanish Flu - This one spread fast. First identified in March 1918 in Kansas, it had spread to become a worldwide pandemic by October of 1918. The Spanish flu had 3 waves... ...The Spanish influenza was a combination of bird, swine and human viruses and it was an H1N1 type virus—just like the swine flu H1N1 virus circulating in 2009." Pandemic-Flu-Guide.com: 1918 flu epidemic, the first wave "The first wave of the 1918 flu epidemic was very mild. Most people didn't even know that it occurred, and, as quickly as it began, it was gone again, by May of 1918 in the US. People went about their business, as usual." Pandemic-Flu-guide.com: Influenza 1918 Fall – Winter America did not at first notice the second, most deadly wave, which began outside the country. Its first victims were sailors stationed overseas in Europe. It hits Massachusetts that same month, and spreads to Seattle within another few weeks. This wave lasts through the end of the year. Pandemic-Flu-Guide.com: 1918 Influenza Pandemic History Repeats Itself? The third "wave" was really just the rest of the second wave, counted from the beginning of the New Year to the end of the Pandemic in March 1919, the first month with no deaths from that flu. The third article also points out several parallels between the 1918/19 virus and the current virus, H1N1 flu. It's not a reason to panic, but it's definitely not something to ignore. I was unconcerned until Dad pointed these things out to me. I always take precautions against illness during cold and flu season. I work in retail/food service (I cook for the public), so I am at risk from my customers, and if I get sick, I'm a risk to my customers. I never get the flu shot, but if it is recommended or mandatory, I'll get this one. |
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 38
Flu vaccines historically have few side effects beyond redness and soreness at the infection site. Studies of several thousand volunteers aren't big enough to detect more subtle side effects such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare nerve ailment that crops up in one of every million flu vaccine recipients. Federal health agencies have ramped up surveillance efforts to detect any severe side effects that might occur.
There are other uncertainties as well. For instance, vaccine makers don't know how big a dose to give, how many doses will be needed per person for protection and whether it will be necessary to add an immune-booster called an adjuvant.
Each one of those factors may affect how many people can be vaccinated. For instance, if the usual 15-microgram dose has to be doubled, the number of people who could be vaccinated would fall to 98 million. If two shots are required at double the dose, the number of people who could be vaccinated would drop further, to 50 million.
Andrin Oswald, CEO of Novartis vaccines and diagnostics, says vaccine makers also have found that the seed virus needed to make H1N1 vaccine produces just half the yield of seasonal vaccine viruses. The low yield may slow vaccine production so much that pandemic vaccine may be in short supply during the fall flu surge, he says.
"What we normally say in our orders to the government is that if the yield is 100%, we could deliver 10 million doses by December. If it's only 50%, it would take until March," Oswald says, adding that manufacturers now have a new seed strain that may boost yields.
"Timing is everything," Monto says. "We believe the second wave of flu will come in the fall. If vaccine doesn't arrive until November-December, it won't do as much good."
By the numbers:
The U.S. government and five companies on Monday began injecting volunteers to test a new vaccine to guard against the H1N1 flu strain. If effective, the vaccine will begin to be available to the general public in mid October.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-10-swine-flu_N.htm
I've never even had the flu either.
So, I don't really worry about it.
I read yesterday that so far, they figure there will be about 161 million vaccines available in the US - for our 300 million people. I've also read that the military is being geared up to help in some regard about the H1N1 flu, although to what extent is not evident.
Researchers I've spoken to all agree that this flu could not have occurred naturally. It was designed. That, in itself, make me wary of anything the government has to say about the flu or about vaccines to combat it.
Frankly, I want to know what Chinese herbs the Chinese are using. I would much prefer them to a vaccine that will have poisons in it. They all do.
Hawgwarsh!
Conspiracy theorists are hilarious.
Everyone is free to make a choice, I have always chosen to take the vaccine, but have never had any reactions since the very first ones over ?? 25-30 years ago.
I have read a couple of narritives about the early 1900 flu and it really is scary.
Thanks again for a wothwhile post.
BTW, I'm not so sure about the intelligent design theory of H1N1. Random processes can do a lot. Remember, George Bush became president of the US. Think of the odds against that one.
Second... from the third Pandemic-Flu-guide.com link in the post:
"Is history repeating itself? Only time will tell. But the warning signs are appearing. There are many parallels to the 1918 pandemic, including:
* the genetic makeup of the flu virus is similar – swine, bird, human
* the appearance of the new influenza in the spring - not the normal flu season
* the number of children and young adults who have been severely affected
* reports by physicians of severe lung involvement and body organs failing in their sickest patients
* reports that patients who became critically ill—often started out thinking that they had a cold, and quickly became VERY ill.
* the fast transmission of the flu virus from person to person
* the ability of the flu virus to keep changing its genetic characteristics
We would be fools to ignore the warning signs of the 1918 flu pandemic and the similarities to H1N1 swine flu."
Third... that last bit about the virus being able to change its characteristics is a trait of flu viruses in general. That is why each year, the flu vaccine is not the same as the previous year... because not only are there many different strains of influenza, they mutate, as this virus has.
If this virus was at all engineered, it was not likely by a deliberate act of some malevolent group bent on unleashing pestilence upon some enemy, but by time, nature, population density, and living conditions which allowed populations to incubate and pass around each new strain as the virus evolved.
That is, of course, unless there has been some sort of shift in reality and we are all living in an episode of some TV show like The X-Files.
New England Journal of Medicine: Vaccine Refusal, Mandatory Immunization, and the Risks of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
(From the article: "Vaccine refusal not only increases the individual risk of disease but also increases the risk for the whole community.")
MotherJones.com: Vaccine Skeptics-VS-Your Kids
(From the article: "It turned out that by working in Boulder—one of the wealthiest, most well-educated towns in the country—Moran had put herself at risk of contracting a disease that largely disappeared after widespread vaccination against it began in the 1950s. Since the early 1990s, whooping cough has periodically whipped through Boulder, where a large percentage of parents do not immunize their children, public health officials say.") The really bad part - she was pregnant at the time, and her child was born with whooping cough, and suffered permanent lung damage.
That is exactly what I am doing.
Since this flu is different, I'm taking a wait and see approach. If the vaccine is not mandated (and I strongly suspect it won't be) then I won't make the decision without advice from my doctor. This may be the one year I do get the shot, depending on that advice.
It's good to hear that, however.
I remember learning in my food class of a fast food chain (which I will not mention) at which one worker with the regular flu passed his illness on to over 700 customers. On tracing the path of the illness back to him, officials found that he had come to work sick and was not following state food handling guidelines with respect to hand washing and gloves.
Big ole ick to that fast food worker mentioned above!
I think the best advice you will get on this, as with any health concern, would come from your doc... I'll be consulting my GP before making my final decision.
...and the story about the sloppy fast food worker grossed me out terribly when I heard it in class, too. O.o
Hand washing is very important.
My youngest daughter's school called to tell us that a kid in her class had had H1N1, but that was all they did about it.