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branchandroot) wrote2009-10-22 10:45 am
branchandroot) wrote2009-10-22 10:45 am
Public Service: Yes, get the vaccine
Okay, this has come up one my reading lists, so I figured I should give the short version, here.
Very short low-down on swine flu, aka h1n1 novel virus: It's not horribly deadly it just spreads really fast and no one has immunity to speak of, so yes, you should get the vaccine.
Less short but still short low-down: The swine flu is, by and large, no more dangerous than any seasonal flu. It hits with about the same intensity, so we're talking three days to two weeks of general urgh to acute misery. As always, there can be complications that lead to death; that's influenza for you.
The reason it is rated a pandemic is because of how fast and widely it spreads, due to the unfortunate fact that it is a new virus and no one has more than partial immunity. Older people have gotten more flus and have more chance of that partial immunity, young people have less.
The fear, therefore, is mostly that it will hit everyone in an entire area/campus/town all at once and cause severe problems in basic functioning because everyone will be sick at the same time. No groceries, because there's maybe one person well enough to work at the store, no bus routes, no mail, that kind of thing. This is, of course, of especial concern when it comes to health care workers being hit right when they're needed most. If the ambulance drivers and nurses all have 104 fevers for five days, this is a huge problem.
The particular danger signs are intense nausea and the inability to keep food or liquids down, sudden dizziness, shortness of breath, or showing signs of a secondary infection like pneumonia; ignoring those signs and not getting to a hospital if they appear is a stupid thing to do, but that won't stop some people, especially young people who are used to throwing off even bad illnesses. Hence, deaths.
In summary, you should get the vaccine because, even though you may not ever get enough seasonal symptoms to notice, you are probably still a transmitter and the critical point is to stop the spread of this one.
Very short low-down on swine flu, aka h1n1 novel virus: It's not horribly deadly it just spreads really fast and no one has immunity to speak of, so yes, you should get the vaccine.
Less short but still short low-down: The swine flu is, by and large, no more dangerous than any seasonal flu. It hits with about the same intensity, so we're talking three days to two weeks of general urgh to acute misery. As always, there can be complications that lead to death; that's influenza for you.
The reason it is rated a pandemic is because of how fast and widely it spreads, due to the unfortunate fact that it is a new virus and no one has more than partial immunity. Older people have gotten more flus and have more chance of that partial immunity, young people have less.
The fear, therefore, is mostly that it will hit everyone in an entire area/campus/town all at once and cause severe problems in basic functioning because everyone will be sick at the same time. No groceries, because there's maybe one person well enough to work at the store, no bus routes, no mail, that kind of thing. This is, of course, of especial concern when it comes to health care workers being hit right when they're needed most. If the ambulance drivers and nurses all have 104 fevers for five days, this is a huge problem.
The particular danger signs are intense nausea and the inability to keep food or liquids down, sudden dizziness, shortness of breath, or showing signs of a secondary infection like pneumonia; ignoring those signs and not getting to a hospital if they appear is a stupid thing to do, but that won't stop some people, especially young people who are used to throwing off even bad illnesses. Hence, deaths.
In summary, you should get the vaccine because, even though you may not ever get enough seasonal symptoms to notice, you are probably still a transmitter and the critical point is to stop the spread of this one.
Hi thar, wall o'text o'mine!
The seasonal flu vaccine and the swine flu vaccine are different and work on different things.
In terms of percentage, the vast majority of people are getting swine flu and that's the one targeting young people anyway. So if you wouldn't normally get a seasonal flu vaccine, you probably won't have problems skipping this one. Furthermore, there's been some studies (in process of publication, last I heard) that suggest there may be a link between the seasonal flu vaccine and vulnerability to swine flu (something like twice as many people who got swine flu badly enough to type it had had the seasonal vaccine last year? Let me know if you want me to look it up.) So there's two reasons to opt out of that one for the mo.(I cannot, for anything, get my mom to recognize that there are TWO DIFFERENT VACCINES OUT. argh.)
Second, the actual flu vaccine may have problems. It may have side effects, like the 76 GBS problems, that haven't shown up in testing (especially since this new vaccine, though vaccines are usually so tested extensively it can take almost a decade of studies with long term effects before FDA approval, has received LESS testing than a tweak of the regular seasonal flu vaccine). I don't feel that the testing to date has been sufficient, and I don't like taking meds that aren't fully understood yet.
As for one's responsibility to society, I understand the need to prevent spread of disease to people who may be more vulnerable (immunodeficient persons, or w/e). But that can be accomplished by being more contentious about your cleanliness and hygiene, washing your hands well and frequently, disinfecting surfaces, not going out if you have symptoms, etc.
Non teel version? I'd never argue with someone who chose to have the vaccine; your health is not my business. But there are valid reasons for choosing not to. And I wish people would recognize that too.
Re: Hi thar, wall o'text o'mine!
I do understand the concern about testing and side effects, but I also feel that a vaccine being released quickly suggests that the researchers themselves feel there is a greater risk involved in not releasing it.
I work on a residential campus, and if I could trust, for one tiny second, that the people putting off getting the h1n1 vaccine /would/ practice better hygiene, I'd be a whole lot happier. Since they don't, and I suspect they're representative of their age bracket, I will continue to recommend that they get it.
Re: Hi thar, wall o'text o'mine!
Also, although I would be entirely willing to give the researchers the benefit of the doubt about their reasons for releasing early, they aren't gods. I'm not saying they're evil people raking in their dough laughing manically under a volcano somewhere, only that if you're rushing something and not taking the time to test it fully, you may miss something. I am not personally likely to be in contact with a lot of sick people/possibly sick people this season, and so have personally considered the risk benefits FOR ME and come to a different conclusion.
(Also, like to point out that "people putting off getting the h1n1 vaccine" despite believing it in there best interests are probably not the same people who have done their research and deliberately made a different choice. Which, in the end, is my whole point.)
Re: Hi thar, wall o'text o'mine!
*nods* I have no issues with making an informed cost-benefit choice.