Survey: 87% favor mandatory health worker H1N1 shots - Page 9

For all of you who have argued that it is safe for you to abstain from vaccination because you have never had the flu, or because you have a right to choose, I ask you to CALMLY consider two points:

1. Not having gotten the flu in the past is not proof that you never will get it.

2. Vaccination does not only protect the vaccinated by reducing his or her risk of becoming sick. It also reduces the risk that he or she will become a symptom-free vector for the disease. Those who do not have the disease can still spread it. You do not have a "right" to spread disease to others.

Unfortunately it is difficult for those who lean toward not vaccinating to remain calm about this topic. They are inundated with encouragement for them to become angry by the "talking heads" and irresponsible commentators who have specific agendas. Misinformation specifically designed to create outrage is intentionally spread..."there are pieces of dead people and monkeys in the H1N1 vaccine" is a clear example of the shameless attempts to make people angry and afraid. The USA is thoroughly divided today, thanks to our political system, and the angry people are not going to be swayed...they like being angry just now. Unfortunately, in an influenza pandemic that anger could be deadly for many people.

Keep in mind that there are a good number of people leaning toward not getting the H1N1 that don't have any problem being calm about it. They just don't appreciate feeling like guinea pigs, nor do they appreciate the frenzy being made by the media.

Is H1N1 a big deal? Yes, mostly because it's a relative unknown. Is it worth yelling at each other about? No. Is it worth scaring everybody to death about? No.

No, H1N1 vaccine recipients are NOT "guinea pigs." This vaccine has been made exactly the same as all other influenza vaccines have been for the past 50 years. There is nothing experimental about it.

No, H1N1 is not "a relative unknown." It was first described by microbiologists in 1919 when it was identified as the cause of the 1918 influenza pandemic. It has appeared in human populations several times since. Nothing "unknown" about it.

And, no, it is not a big deal "mostly because it's a relative unknown." What makes it a "big deal" is the fact that approximately 3900 people in the United States have died from it AND THE FLU SEASON HAS NOT EVEN STARTED YET! Death rates in other countries have been even higher.

I agree with the previous poster that it is counterproductive to yell about this. However, do you want to know what "scare[s me] to death"? Ignorance. Ignorance sometimes advanced by educated health professional who make factually inaccurate statements.

Please note that I didn't say people ARE guinea pigs - but that they feel like it, being asked to take a vaccine that is relatively new to them. People who remember the swine flu vaccine of 1976 - even though the incidence of true complications was extremely low - might be wary of getting this H1N1 vaccine. I know the only difference between this and seasonal flu vax is strain change - but the average layperson might not. People are scared of what they don't know. That's human nature.

The 1918 flu was a strain of H1N1 - yes. Was it the exact same bug then that it is now? No. That is what defines the 'unknown' each time it circles the globe. Is it or is it not as virulent as previous strains? Are the same people-groups equally as hard-hit? What drugs will or won't be effective? Are people going to be dropping like flies or are the overwhelming majority of people going to be ill for a few days then fine, treatment or not? Those are always questions that get asked, and things that we don't know at the outset of a pandemic.

I especially feel for pregnant women, who not only have to decide for themselves but also for their unborn babies. I work in OB, and we don't like to put anything in preggies we don't absolutely have to - and I don't blame any pregnant women for thinking long and hard about it. Of course, what tipped the scales in my mind was the pregnant woman that has spent months in our ICU and had to be delivered early.

I got my H1N1 vax about a month ago. My son got the live intranasal about 3 weeks ago. I stand by my previous statement.

I believe I have the right to decide what gets injected into my body, it's a matter of freedom of choice! I firmly believe that no government, no boss, no CDC or WHO, has the right to mandate that I have to be injected with an inadequately tested biological substance. There is no pandemic, the numbers are "doctored" to try and make it look that way - have you seen the stocks for "big Pharmica", huge gains by a 10 Trillion dollar industry! Can you say "Puppet on a string?!"

...and as we've all seen, this H1N1 has turned out to be yet another fable of the pharmaceutical/media propaganda as I've been saying for months...Australia's flu season is done and over with, what did they say? "our regular flu was much worse than this H1N1 threat"....hmmm, now, "cui bono"...sorry, back to Latin class everyone..."who stood to gain" ? Give ya 3 guesses but I'm sure you're all smarter than this....

The thing I worry about is how as a medical professional how I'm supposed to weigh what I know is going on with how to take a serious threat seriously...I see this "boy who cried wolf" crap either politically, financially or as media driven hype and for me it is easy to read between the lines...but when do I take a serious threat seriously?

For all the hype that is driven for financial gain therein lies something we all may need to pay attention to and address for the TRUE health of our patients (MRSA and other resistant superbugs come to mind), yet it does seem that the almighty dollar, even at the expense of health and wellness of humanity drives most (if not all) of the decisions that are made...and we're supposed to be the test subjects along with the dumb downed masses?....not me....a lot of good I'll do for my patients and to myself and my own family if I'm subjected to something even the manufacturers of this vaccine won't give me a guarantee with...I'll stick to Vitamin D and my own immune system, in 43 years...I've had the flu ONCE...

My guess is this, now that the hype has been drawn out over the "Spanish Flu of 2009"...everyone will now be drawn to the false hype and fear over the "underoos bomber" and war with Yemen will take precedence over all our "fears"....back to business as usual...for awhile...

What a tangled web they weave...

I'm sticking to all natural ImmunoGuard and my own immune system - hasn't failed me in 45 years!