Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease

[Richard]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html#ixzz0ONRpHvS4

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I don't do vaccines and neither will any children I may adopt or have in the future.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There's a very significant difference between the 1976 swine flu scare and the current H1N1 pandemic.  The 1976 H1N1 strain never became pandemic (indeed after the first outbreak it was never seen in the wild again), while H1N1 already is and is responsible to date for 100 times more deaths worldwide (20 times more deaths if you count only U.S. and Canada)  than the GBS deaths linked to the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Richius, go ahead and bury your head in the sand because you are unable to properly evaluate risk, an odd shortcoming given the profession you claim to be in.  But do be a dear and let people know when H1N1 levels are elevated in your area that you have refused to be vaccinated so that they can avoid you for more than the usual reasons.

[Ronnie]

My health nutritionist said that the swine flu vaccine can increase risks for cancer and several different autoimmune diseases.  I dare not take it, and in general, the less vaccines the better.

Plus, I doubt that there is anybody with the virus in the area that I live in, and am about to move back to.

[Mechaman]

There's a very significant difference between the 1976 swine flu scare and the current H1N1 pandemic.  The 1976 H1N1 strain never became pandemic (indeed after the first outbreak it was never seen in the wild again), while H1N1 already is and is responsible to date for 100 times more deaths worldwide (20 times more deaths if you count only U.S. and Canada)  than the GBS deaths linked to the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Alarmist much?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There's a very significant difference between the 1976 swine flu scare and the current H1N1 pandemic.  The 1976 H1N1 strain never became pandemic (indeed after the first outbreak it was never seen in the wild again), while H1N1 already is and is responsible to date for 100 times more deaths worldwide (20 times more deaths if you count only U.S. and Canada)  than the GBS deaths linked to the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Alarmist much?

Not really.  The H1N1 flu hasn't been a particularly deadly strain of flu so far in this putbreak, but because no recent strains of human flu have been at all similar, it will disproportionately impact young adults.  GBS remains at this point a theoretical concern of the H1N1 vaccine, just as it has for every new flu vaccine ever since it was noticed as a side effect of the 1976 swine flu vaccine, yet that theoretical concern has never translated into a real problem.  If the problem in 1976 was due specifically to the virus being immunized against being of the H1N1 type instead of some other factor (an unknown) then this vaccine might be more likely than the intervening flu shots to cause GBS on rare occasions.

However, compared to the known rates of mortality from the current strain of H1N1 unless the new vaccine proves to be considerably worse in side effects than any flu vaccine has had in the past, it's definitely a net positive for health, especially if you are in a job that involves daily contact with lots of different people.  It might be prudent if you don't live in an area currently experiencing an H1N1 outbreak, your health (and that of everyone in your immediate family) is otherwise good, and you are not in daily contact with lots of different people to wait a couple of weeks when it first comes out.

Vaccination is one of those areas where uber-libertarianism fails.  The more broadly a vaccine is used, the greater the effect is on protecting even the unvaccinated.  If it weren't for the anti-vaccine idiots, we could already be rid of a lot more communicable diseases besides smallpox in the world.

[Mechaman]

There's a very significant difference between the 1976 swine flu scare and the current H1N1 pandemic.  The 1976 H1N1 strain never became pandemic (indeed after the first outbreak it was never seen in the wild again), while H1N1 already is and is responsible to date for 100 times more deaths worldwide (20 times more deaths if you count only U.S. and Canada)  than the GBS deaths linked to the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Alarmist much?

Not really.  The H1N1 flu hasn't been a particularly deadly strain of flu so far in this putbreak, but because no recent strains of human flu have been at all similar, it will disproportionately impact young adults.  GBS remains at this point a theoretical concern of the H1N1 vaccine, just as it has for every new flu vaccine ever since it was noticed as a side effect of the 1976 swine flu vaccine, yet that theoretical concern has never translated into a real problem.  If the problem in 1976 was due specifically to the virus being immunized against being of the H1N1 type instead of some other factor (an unknown) then this vaccine might be more likely than the intervening flu shots to cause GBS on rare occasions.

However, compared to the known rates of mortality from the current strain of H1N1 unless the new vaccine proves to be considerably worse in side effects than any flu vaccine has had in the past, it's definitely a net positive for health, especially if you are in a job that involves daily contact with lots of different people.  It might be prudent if you don't live in an area currently experiencing an H1N1 outbreak, your health (and that of everyone in your immediate family) is otherwise good, and you are not in daily contact with lots of different people to wait a couple of weeks when it first comes out.

Vaccination is one of those areas where uber-libertarianism fails.  The more broadly a vaccine is used, the greater the effect is on protecting even the unvaccinated.  If it weren't for the anti-vaccine idiots, we could already be rid of a lot more communicable diseases besides smallpox in the world.

This is not a question of libertarianism, this is a question of why people freak the f*** out over this. The media makes this sound like the second coming of the Spanish Flu? You know what scares the hell out of me? Ebola, 90% mortality rate in some cases, and it is still a young virus.

[Richard]

There's a very significant difference between the 1976 swine flu scare and the current H1N1 pandemic.  The 1976 H1N1 strain never became pandemic (indeed after the first outbreak it was never seen in the wild again), while H1N1 already is and is responsible to date for 100 times more deaths worldwide (20 times more deaths if you count only U.S. and Canada)  than the GBS deaths linked to the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Richius, go ahead and bury your head in the sand because you are unable to properly evaluate risk, an odd shortcoming given the profession you claim to be in.  But do be a dear and let people know when H1N1 levels are elevated in your area that you have refused to be vaccinated so that they can avoid you for more than the usual reasons.

So you're going to take the vaccination when offered?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

So you're going to take the vaccination when offered?

Yes, just like I get the regular flu shot each year.  Not so much for myself, as I am in good health so a bout of flu would most likely be a personal inconvenience that would require me to spend several days sick in bed, but because I don't want to be the vector that spreads it to someone who is less well off in the health department, especially since several of those someones are people I come into contact with on a regular basis.