Is the H1N1 vaccine pointless?
Amid the growing panic to get the controversial swine flu vaccine, debate rages over whether it’s too little, too late
A boy is given a H1N1 swine flu vaccine in nasal spray form.
(Reuters/Corbis/Jonathan Ernst)
The H1N1 swine flu vaccine will arrive too late, say Purdue University researchers, who predict the virus will infect 63 percent of Americans, and seriously affect 25 percent. With the pandemic cresting this week, the delayed, smaller-than-expected supply of H1N1 vaccine won’t do much good. And rampant myths aren’t helping either: Louis Farrakahan is calling the government’s vaccine a plot to kill us. Is the shot still worth a shot?
Farrakahan may have a point: The government has a poor track record with swine flu vaccinations, says Yobie Benjamin in the San Francisco Chronicle. Given that 4,000 people were paralyzed or died due to the 1976 vaccine, we deserve “full disclosure” this year: What’s in the vaccine, how it was approved so quickly, and who is the virus killing?
"Is the H1N1 swine flu vaccine safe?"
Health officials may be panicking, too: Why have the feds stockpiled millions of vaccine doses "at a cost of several billion dollars?" ask Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer in The Atlantic. "And why are physicians being encouraged to hand out prescriptions to large numbers of people without sound evidence that the drugs will help?" Public-health officials may feel "they must offer something, and these drugs are the only possible remedies at hand."
"Does the Vaccine Matter?"
Myths are clouding the issue: Sure, swine flu is hitting early and fast, says The Spokane Spokesman-Review in an editorial, but "the myths about the H1N1 vaccine may be spreading more rapidly ...." A third of parents say they won’t let their kids get vaccinated, due to "unjustified" fears spread over e-mail and "uninformed warnings from celebrities like Bill Maher." (Watch Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh question the vaccine.)
"Untruths about H1N1 vaccinations run rampant"
Calm down, everyone: For the most part, says Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times, "these fears aren’t scientifically sound. As the Vermont Department of Health puts it in this excellent primer on H1N1 vaccine safety, ‘Vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza infection and its complications.’ Let’s not forget that one of those ‘complications’ is death."
"Was it just me, or are we all jumping to conclusions with swine flu?"
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62 Comments
Posted by Troy Chance, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 12:07 pm I like Bill Maher generally, but he has certain pet subjects in which he hits caters to irrationality. I don't think he can justify criticizing Bush for policies that ignored scientific expertise, yet chiding scientific experts invited on his show because they don't buy into his brand of paranoia whether on food, legal versus illegal drugs, or vaccination. On the issue itself, what is most ignored in the coverage is the degree to which one's decision to avoid vaccination actually puts others in the population at risk.
Posted by Bill Chin, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 12:25 pm Maher has been brought. Just look at all his new silk Garb. His view' on 911 makes him no longer believable. and in fact he is seldom funny anymore !
Posted by evett , Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 12:44 pm i think its crap and i believe everyone at higher risk like pregnat women and kids deserve the vac first because they are higher risk to die and in a way some one shoulda seen this comming and been ready for it not running around freaking out because they dont have enuf vac for everyone that needs it ...but again thats our world no one gives a crap till it's to late
Posted by adam , Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 1:29 pm This story is bordering on propagating paranoia. I love how all of the quotes are from reporters or celebrities, NOT medical professionals.Farrakahan and Limbaugh are talking heads. This is a garbage story. Vaccinate your children and high risk individuals. The vaccine is tested and has a much higher rate of success than doing nothing. don't let uneducated scaremongers win.
Posted by Bob Loblaws, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:00 pm Fuck the vaccine and fuck the Government...
Posted by Kevin Edwards, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:04 pm It's funny NotPhD Bill Maher sandwiched his mental illness based beliefs on vaccines in between two segments in which he called for full government run healthcare.And by mental illness based beliefs, I'm applying NotPhD Bill's own criteria for defining mental illness as he uses that phrase himself for when irrational belief flies in the face of science. And Farrakahan doesn't have a point. It's certainly not a plot. MILLIONS of lives have been saved from vaccines in general, and the current technique has been proven safe for decades.
Posted by Johnny Reb, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:14 pm Contents of swine flu vaccine: Monkey kidney cells, Pig blood, Horse blood, Rabbit brain, Dog kidney, Chicken embryo, Duck eggs , aluminum , Formaldehyde, Porcine gelatin gelatin made from pig skin, Mercury , Antifreeze, Detergent, Live cancer cells from multiple animals such as horses, chickens, monkeys and cows, Table sugar and Thimerosal an antifungal agent known to cause birth defects and neurological disorders. Check it out for yourself at the CDC or WHO websites.Just food for thought.
Posted by Johnny Reb, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:16 pm Of the regular flu virus there are, on average, 200,000 cases in the US alone each year. These are only the cases confirmed by hospitals or health care workers. On average 36,000 people die from the regular flu virus each year in the US alone. This number has been estimated to be as high as 52,000, however. According to the World Health Organization, worldwide there have been 375,000 cases of the swine flu and 4,500 deathss. Just some perspective, people.
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