So I have been half-heartedly following this talk of the swine flu. I realize it is real and has killed some and hospitalized others. However if I think of the word epidemic, I think of bubonic plague, tuberculosis, or even polio. I just haven’t been able to wrap my head around the idea that swine flu was on the level of an “epidemic”.
That is until today, as I read this article.
After reading this, and seeing how the flu strand had spread across the U.S and also impacted other countries, my skepticism began to subside about whether this was going to really shape up to be worth designation as a “national emergency” in the U.S. and to warrant the public clamoring for a mass vaccination.
And apparently swine flu is not a stranger to the public.
In 1918 and again in 1976, the flu gave America cause to be nervous, killing 500,000 in 1918, and panicking the government in ’76 with the death of a seemingly healthy, strong, young individual.
With that type of history, I can understand why the focus on mass immunizations has been in the agenda of the government since H1N1 reared its head in the Spring of 2009. But will the vaccine cause more or less trouble?
Vaccines are not the magic bullets that eliminate 100% risk to many diseases. And there is often controversy about receiving so many shots and vaccinations before you reach the age of 5 that does not really receive much of an outlet. But in reading some stories, it raises some questions about the risks to vaccines that just aren’t shared nearly as much as they may be shared with other medicines.
Nothing is perfect; so some of the stories at the link above could very well be the exception and not the rule. But it is interesting to note a special done on CBS’s 60 minutes. I remember watching as they talked about the swine flu scare of ’76, where many were encouraged and persuaded to take the immunization to protect against the “epidemic” only to find that it apparently made folks sicker than the disease would have. Some others died.
So as they begin passing out this vaccine – I wonder, will this be a repeat of 1976? The expedience with which they have manufactured this answer to the flu in the U.S. gives me pause when I try to answer questions, like – has this been proven effective and side effects minimized?
It is clear that this H1N1 is not afraid of the medical achievements of the 20th century. Because unlike some of our other diseases that have become archaic or virtually eradicated, (at least in the U.S. and Western world) swine flu is more than a century old and still kicking.
To sit and do nothing would be silly, so I understand the governments rush and concern over the spread of the swine flu. But I just hope, that this vaccine is one of the answers, and not the problem.
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