H1N1 - To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate

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Yeah, I'm pretty much just re-iterating what you said. It was a point so nice we said it twice.

[rubberdinghy]

Can I take the smell test?

[rubberdinghy]

Also:

[bouche]

since we're now posting instruction sheets:

[Velvet]

It occured to me last night that when I travel I often have to roll up my sleeve for a myriad of shots, and I always do so with little or no worries, so why should this be different?

[Schwa.]

Considering what i put in my body on a weekendly basis, the H1N1 vaccine is a puny slap on the wrist worthy of no worry.

Considering what i put in my body on a weekendly basis, my immune system should be able to beat that virus.

what to do.

[ollie]

I don't have the time or energy to address all of the crazy I'm this thread, but don't mistake your mistrust for 'the government' with mistrust for the hundreds (thousands) of highly skilled, talented, specialized and serious doctors, scientests, nurses, assistants, workers etc that are responsible for this campaign at Health Canada and PHAC (amongst other agencies and departments). Do you really think all these dedicated professionals are staking their jobs and reputation (not to mention duty) on recommending something that will harm the population they are in charge of protecting? It doesn't pass the smell test.

Don't paint everyone with the crazy brush.

There ARE real side effects of taking this vaccination. FACT. Yes, they can be either minor or extremely rare but to act like they don't exist, or to imply that being concerned about side effects makes you a conspiracy theorist is completely ignorant.

Do I think the various GOVERNMENT health departments would knowingly unleash a dangerous vaccine on Canadians? No.

Do I think they accept that some Canadians will be seriously harmed or die because of the vaccine? Absolutely.

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I'm not painting everyone with the crazy brush. I agree with what you said. I also agree with what I said. Is that clear enough?

To suggest that some people seem to be worried to the state of hysteria doesn't make me ignorant.

[ollie]

Go Sens!

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I never suggested there were no side effects. I'll add a word to that sentence if it will help clarify what I meant (even though it was fairly well implied)

Do you really think all these dedicated professionals are staking their jobs and reputation (not to mention duty) on recommending something that will unreasonably harm the population they are in charge of protecting? It doesn't pass the smell test.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

dibz on Crazy Brush

[bouche]

There ARE real side effects of taking this vaccination. FACT. Yes, they can be either minor or extremely rare but to act like they don't exist, or to imply that being concerned about side effects makes you a conspiracy theorist is completely ignorant.

Do I think the various GOVERNMENT health departments would knowingly unleash a dangerous vaccine on Canadians? No.

Do I think they accept that some Canadians will be seriously harmed or die because of the vaccine? Absolutely.

people are willing to go through the side effects of getting drunk every weekend, and possibly die, but a little shot like this is too much to take?

[Freak By Night]

I'm definitely getting the shot.

I've been on 3 late-November Phish tours, and have gotten deathly ill after two of them ('98 and '03).

This year's gonna be different.

[Asparagus]

Don't bother, there's no vaccine for wook.

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Maybe someone has posted this before. I dunno

Margaret Wente

Published on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 6:11PM EDT

Last updated on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 9:49AM EDT

I haven't been feeling well. I'm lethargic and feverish, and my appetite is gone. Worst of all, I've been overcome with a compulsive desire to wash my hands with Purell every five minutes. Could it be that I have Swine Flu Overkill?

SFO is a serious illness caused by saturation media coverage and repetition of the word “pandemic.†I'm not one to minimize the horrors of the H1N1 virus, which can be unpleasant and even fatal. But please, people. Can't we get a grip? The CBC has been covering swine flu as if it were the biggest natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina. The newspapers have been full of drama about whether there will be enough vaccine, whether it's arriving fast enough, and if not, who's to blame. Ordinary citizens are feverishly researching the ins and outs of adjuvants, and wondering if they should drive to the next town so their kids can be vaccinated right away.

Meantime, a lot of people have said the hell with it. It's hard to blame them. Ever since the spring, when the World Health Organization declared swine flu to be a “pandemic†– after just 144 deaths – SFO has been running rampant. Ordinary pandemics kill at least a million people worldwide. Swine flu has killed around 5,000 people, including 86 in Canada. Worldwide, ordinary seasonal flu kills 700 to 1,400 people a day.

But everybody loves a good health scare. Remember BSE? Infected cows were going to turn our brains to mush. Then came SARS. In 2003, one widely quoted British expert predicted that it could turn out to be more lethal than AIDS. The final death toll from SARS was 774 – about one day's worth of flu victims. Then came deadly birds. In 2006, David Nabarro, a top WHO official, warned that avian flu could kill 150 million people. The White House's avian flu response plan projected that as many as two million Americans might die, and one leading influenza researcher warned that a pandemic might kill half the human population. To date, the worldwide death toll from avian flu is 262.

All these panics have a lot in common: a legitimate concern that's blown wildly out of proportion by various interest groups, including scientists and public-health agencies, whose warnings are then amplified by the media. Politicians have no choice but to respond in kind, just in case. This outbreak has followed the usual course. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recently predicted that there might be 30,000 to 90,000 U.S. deaths from swine flu, peaking in mid-October. (That would be a week ago.) To date the U.S. death toll has barely reached a thousand, but the President has declared a national emergency anyway.

Ironically, the more the public hears about how important it is to get the shot, the more skeptical it gets. In the U.S., only half the population plans to get it, according to surveys, and a third oppose it for their kids. In Canada, 51 per cent of us are saying we won't bother – up from 38 per cent in July.

Perversely, all the flu news raises the profile of the nutty anti-vaccinationists – people who believe that vaccines cause autism or brain poisoning, or that children are better off if they get the flu, or that the vaccine campaign is a plot by greedy drug companies, or (as Rush Limbaugh says) that the whole thing is a plot to expand the power of government and “to cover up the mess that is the United States of America right now.†The epidemic of coverage also feeds a growing sense that the risks are overblown.

As for me, despite my SFO, I'm definitely going to get the shot. Although I'm in a low-risk group, the last thing I want to do is wind up in hospital, where MSRA, C. difficile, and other hospital-acquired infections kill around 8,000 Canadians a year. My advice is that whatever you do, stay out of the hospital – or you might get really sick.

[bouche]

Meantime, a lot of people have said the hell with it. It's hard to blame them. Ever since the spring, when the World Health Organization declared swine flu to be a “pandemic” – after just 144 deaths – SFO has been running rampant. Ordinary pandemics kill at least a million people worldwide. Swine flu has killed around 5,000 people, including 86 in Canada. Worldwide, ordinary seasonal flu kills 700 to 1,400 people a day.

But everybody loves a good health scare. Remember BSE? Infected cows were going to turn our brains to mush. Then came SARS. In 2003, one widely quoted British expert predicted that it could turn out to be more lethal than AIDS. The final death toll from SARS was 774 – about one day's worth of flu victims. Then came deadly birds. In 2006, David Nabarro, a top WHO official, warned that avian flu could kill 150 million people. The White House's avian flu response plan projected that as many as two million Americans might die, and one leading influenza researcher warned that a pandemic might kill half the human population. To date, the worldwide death toll from avian flu is 262.

these are the important facts. mind you, is it fair to minimize 144 deaths? That's the part that's tough to argue with yet at what number should the government act with the goal of prevention? It's fair to say that SARS only killed 774 people thanks to the efforts by health professionals so shouldn't it be fair to provide preventative measures?

I do feel the overkill and I roll my eyes everytime I cough and someone says "I hope you don't have the Heiney flu!"

[rubberdinghy]

crazy brush'd

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I have to roll my eyes, too, when I've got students who miss tests and assignment deadlines coming up to me, saying, Nyaa nyaa, it's school policy that we don't have to provide doctors' notes anymore (not many of these, mind you, just enough to make it annoying).

But yes - it is hard to gauge how much damage is being prevented by all the preventative measures.

[phishtaper]

But yes - it is hard to gauge how much damage is being prevented by all the preventative measures.

anecdotally, a colleague stayed home for a week and a half because his daughter had H1N1 and his family was advised to quarantine. it might not seem like a big deal, but it was terribly disruptive. multiply that by whatever factor and I can see why people are saying there could be a significant impact on the workforce.

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8 swine flu myths that could endanger your life

[Tricky]

8 swine flu myths that could endanger your life

I didn't see "Taking advice from Jambands.ca" on there anywhere...

[nibbler]

Gotta love the part about the U.S. government exempting themselves from any and all future liabilities pertaining to pandemic vaccinations.

[Im going home Donny]

On my way to get young Desserd shot up today. Fingers crossed it all goes well. I couldn't live with myself if he became gravely ill from something I could have prevented.

I agree with Ontario's previous chief medical officer of health in that Canadas surplus vaccines - all 30 million - doses or so should be sent to developing countries that will soon be hit with a second wave of H1N1 without a vaccine, antivirals or intensive care units.

[nibbler]

I'm sending good health vibes to everyone- wether you need them to fight the flu- or wether you need them to fight the adjuvant- they're up for grabs. Extra-fat double dose of good health vibes to moms and dads and most importantly their kids, either way- I recognize its a really tough call you're facing.

[edger]

Extra-fat double dose of good health vibes to moms and dads and most importantly their kids, either way- I recognize its a really tough call you're facing.

Thanks. Much appreciated. I mean, who ever put me in charge?