6 October 2009

Swine flu vaccine - shutting the gate after the pig has bolted

6 October 2009 | By Kramer

The CT reports that Canberrans have rushed to get the recently released swine flu vaccine, and orders have been placed for another truckload. Seems a bit late for my liking as all reports indicate that the latest mutations of the swine flue were less intense, and we’re heading into summer (out of flu season). Is everyone really rushing out to get it? or is it just GPs trying to drum up some business during school holidays??

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WillowJim4:14 pm 08 Oct 09

It’s generally a good idea to get a flu vaccination, but I wouldn’t rush into arranging for your children to get this one. The children’s trials for this drug involved a very small sample (about 200 from memory). Best to way and see.

It’s also, understandably, a vaccination designed to be distributed as cheaply and quickly as possible. Four doses are packaged in one phial, which means that, once opened, a doctor/nurse must administer it to four patients, preferably immediately, or risk contamination (of both the phial and the environment). This sort of drug administration can get messy.

And, trust me, doctors are by no means looking to “drum up business”. They’re dreading the rush of patients.

busgirl9:25 pm 07 Oct 09

astrojax said :

if you want to benefit from all the myriad benefits you derive from being part of this community, think for a moment about what you contribute to it.

get a life, and in the process, give one… (btw, do you give blood?)

I would donate blood in a flash however I am not allowed due to having lived in the UK in the early nintees. You know…the whole ‘mad cow disease’ thing…and yeah, yeah before you even have a go…maybe it is too late and this cow is already mad!!!

I am however, a registered organ donor…does that lower my score on the Selfish Register a bit?

Reading between the lines I can see this is a sensitive subject for you…so apologies for any insensitivity on my part…however, I stand by my right to choose.

sumarai6:59 pm 07 Oct 09

I am immunosuppressed so will get it and I get the yearly flu shot as well. but if I had a healthy immune system I probably wouldn’t worry too much about it at all 🙂

sepi3:43 pm 07 Oct 09

Research has so far shown that wearing face masks is totally ineffective at stopping people from catching the swine flu.

My version of taking responsibility would be to have the vaccine. But I trust the actual medical doctors, who have seen that young healthy people seem to be more succeptible to swine flu than older generations – note that older people are not on the priority list for vaccine, as they normally are for the annual flu vax?

If you want to rely on being fit and healthy and hoping for the best go for it.

As for the correct course of action for the vaccine, that may be the way to go right this second, but the govt had to order this multitude of vaccines months and months ago, amidst global competition for them, they didn’t get to wait til right now to decide.

BabyGirl15742:38 pm 07 Oct 09

sepi said :

“I am not advocating forced vaccintions” quote

Are you sure?
Because it kinda sounds like you are.

Busgirl has every right not to get the Swine Flu injection, I’m not getting it either because I believe that I don’t need it, does that make me selfish?

astrojax2:18 pm 07 Oct 09

plus one to what sepi said – and you are being selfish, busgirl, if you think [think, not ‘know’ – big difference] you’re ‘healthy’ and so decide not to stop the spread of this potentially very serious contagion when it gets to you but pass it on, willy nilly, to others who may not be so lucky to have your robust constitution. i don’t agree with the ‘murder’ bit, but! however, if you want to benefit from all the myriad benefits you derive from being part of this community, think for a moment about what you contribute to it.

get a life, and in the process, give one… (btw, do you give blood?)

busgirl12:55 pm 07 Oct 09

How dare you call me selfish just because I don’t want to live my life your way. And saying that by not injecting myself with something foreign, something I don’t even need, I should be punished as if I were a murderer…are you mentally deranged? If you truly believe that, you need psychiatric help.

You know…to protect yourself from selfish, germy people like me you can always wear a face mask for the duration of the flu season…or do you expect me to do that for you too precious?

Take responsibility for protecting yourself instead of expecting the rest of the world to do it for you.

taco12:06 pm 07 Oct 09

Swine Flu is just the normal flu.
If it mutates then the vaccine will be useless, just like the normal flu.

Herd Immunity works great for viruses that don’t change as much as the flu does or else we could have almost eradicated the flu in developed nations already.
It is effective on viruses that have no known non-human reservoir such as polio, but the Flu can be transmitted to multiple other species.

I won’t be getting a vaccine as it’s a waste of time because I’m pretty sure I already had the swine flu

The correct course of action should have been to wait and see how it plays out in the northern hemisphere, and then have a vaccine available for whatever the dominant flu strain is expected to be as we go back into our flu season, just like we do every year.

sepi9:08 am 07 Oct 09

busgirl – if your constitution is so healthy you should be fine to have the vaccine.

and one characteristic of swine flu is that it is far more infectious than standard flu. they estimate 1 in 2 people who have come into contact with it have contracted it, as opposed to around 1 in 5 for standard flu.

you can’t base your decisions about swine flu on standard flu, becuase it is quite a different thing, and it is unknown how bad it might get in the near future. I am not advocating forced vaccintions, but I do find your attitude pretty selfish – survival of the fittest – tell that to the parents whose 6 month old died of whooping cough (most likely caught from an unvaccinated adult).

Danman9:00 am 07 Oct 09

If you are yet to have swine flu then my guess is that the pig has not bolted, and indeed it is not too late.