Swine Flu is still non-lethal; meaning treatable and "not life-threatening in most cases." It's important to remember this when we look at past outbreaks, like the one I mentioned where the vaccine was more lethal than the actual disease.
Oh wait, did I say past events? I meant past and present:
Meet Desiree Jennings, a former Washington Redskins cheerleader who can NO LONGER WALK after receiving this year's flu shot:
Yes, Desiree's reaction only applies to 1/1,000,000 people. But with over 300 million people in the US, it's likely she won't be the only one who was better off getting the Flu. I'm very sorry to everyone who has suffered from illness, but if you have a healthy immune system, please think twice before getting vaccinated.
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This woman's case has absolutely nothing to do with vaccination. This is a myth being perpetrated by the anti-vaccination cult. Ms. Jennings does NOT have true dystonia as she believes and as the media are reporting. The medical blogosphere has been pretty unanimous about this (I'm trying to post a link here but for some reason the site doesn't allow me). Rather, she has a psychogenic (psychological) disorder. This cannot be a product of a vaccine. I posted a link on my facebook page recently if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-vaccine movement that has arisen recently is one of the most tragic examples of collective delusion I've ever come across. One shouldn't confuse correlation for causation. For example,just because autism reveals itself in children at around the same age as most of his or her shots are taken doesn't mean their is a causation. Anti-vaccine activists are making the same mistakes 9/11 truthers are making when they use evidence of political exploitation of 9/11 as evidence of guilt. You should read Orac's "Respectful Insolence" blog on this matter.
- Rodolfo L.
Thank you for your comment. But if flu vaccines never trigger negative side affects, then please explain this citation form Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"There were reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neuromuscular disorder, affecting some people who had received swine flu immunizations. This syndrome is a rare side-effect of modern influenza vaccines, with an incidence of about one case per million vaccinations.[30] As a result, Di Justo writes that "the public refused to trust a government-operated health program that killed old people and crippled young people." In total, 48,161,019 Americans, or just over 22% of the population, had been immunized by the time the National Influenza Immunization Program (NIIP) was effectively halted on December 16, 1976.[31] [32]
Overall, there were 1098 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) recorded nationwide by CDC surveillance, 532 of which were linked to the NIIP vaccination, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, which, according to Dr. P. Haber, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to GBS, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS. "
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza#1976_U.S._outbreak)
No scientist would ever claim that vaccinations do not entail risk. Scientists know that, on the contrary, they have been known to do so on rare occasions. That's why they are intensively monitored. Several studies have been done on of the 532 GBS infections and 25 fatalies. Most could not find a link between the two, although one study did. From what I've gathered it seems that medical opinion on the event is that since GBS is so rare it is next to impossible to prove causality. If you gave a million people water some would come down with GBS.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I am so big of a dork that I read medical blogs on vaccination issues. I can't help it, Amanda Peet is so cute, she forced me to do it.
- Rodolfo L.
It should also be noted that GBS occurs in 1 or 2 people per 1,000. This makes chance correlation with vaccination highly likely. Again, this does not mean that those vaccines didn't produce GBS, there just doesn't seem to be any evidence for it.
ReplyDeletePer 100,000. Sorry. Typo. My mistake.
ReplyDelete- Rudy
Ah...well those facts are indeed enlightening. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete