please let’s get our swine flu vaccine facts straight
i had this lovely little flier tucked under my windshield wiper this morning. i’ve been trying to avoid the sensationalism surrounding this issue, hoping it would just go away, but now it’s intruded into my personal life leaving me no choice but to address it.
i should start by saying i have a bias. in general i have a problem with the anti-vaccine/anti-western medicine movement. of course i think we should do our due diligence and i believe in a holistic approach to health care, but this is the 21st century. there is no reason to risk getting an ancient disease like small pox because of a refusal to get vaccinated.
aside from my pro-21st century medicine opinions - which are just that, my opinions - i’ve noticed in my experience that the anti-21st century medicine movement tends to play it fast and lose with their facts. just like i have a penchant FOR modern medicine, they seem to have a penchant against it and seem to buy into much in that vein. i’ve been trying to ignore this but just couldn’t resist it any longer when this bright orange warning appeared on my car. so i’m going to go through it point by point:
it contains live virus and squalene: it DOESN’T contain squalene. but even if it did, according to WebMD, squalene is “an oil that’s a natural part of many body processes. It’s … used in substances called adjuvants. When mixed with vaccines, adjuvants make vaccines work better at lower doses.” and even then, it would have to be specially approved by the FDA. but adjuvants already are approved in europe and have been used safely on millions. however, the US SPECIFICALLY did NOT approve vaccines with adjuvants, eventhough the UK did, and required that shots be made with out this ingredient.
and will infect you and others: the same process was used to develop the swine flue vaccine as was used to develop regular flu shots. it was tested and approved by the FDA. just like the flu shot may give the recipient brief, flu-like symptoms similar things may happen with the swine flu vaccine but that does not constitute and infection.
manufacturers have been granted full immunity: it looks like GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter are among the manufacturers, and it seems that they would be shielded in court, with the government paying any damages should a case go to trial.
why aren’t we being shown the ingredients: you can get pretty much all the information you ever wanted, and more, via the FDA.
why are the vaccines approved without testing: this is just point blank not true, from what i could find. as mentioned, this shot is treated the same way as the flu shot including test groups, trials and FDA approval. the results are in from the shorter-term trials: everything’s fine. according to WebMD: “Other than causing the usual soreness and perhaps redness at the site of injection, the vaccines cause no major side effects.” and the longer-term trials are still underway.
i’m not saying some of these - or other - claims aren’t without validity. but it makes it very difficult for me to take anyone in this movement seriously when i can so easily go down the list and debunk or find flaws in just about all of their claims.
when the shots are released in SF, you’ll know where to find me.
(this is what i dug up with my limited knowledge. if my friends who work with infectious diseases have anything to share, i’d love to hear it!)
October 07 2009 08:36 am | soapbox