Personally, I never get flu shots. Not because I don't like needles (I don't, but I'm a big boy, I can take it... that's beside the point), but because there's something about shots in general that doesn't sit right with me. Briefly, in order to make the thing work, you have to include a small sample of the illness in order for the antibodies to know what they are fighting. I thought the idea was not to get the virus? But that's just me.
In any case, while doing some research into this, I quickly learned that this subject, like countless other hot topics, is so littered with conjecture, propaganda, half-truths, doom-sayers, religious or political zealots and paranoia-driven rhetoric, that it's difficult to see if there even is some truth there somewhere, let alone what it might be.
But before we get to that, I'll tell you that I have been advising people not to get the shot, because my personal feeling is that as long as you take care of yourself, get vitamins, eat well and you don't have any serious immunodeficiency issues, you probably won't get it. And if you do, given that all the above conditions are met, the worst that can happen to you is you feel like a bag of shit for two weeks, and then get better. Whereas, if you do get the shot, you risk getting sick from the very thing you are trying to avoid, because you've just put it into your body.
That said, I have no actual evidence to back up this claim that you can actually get any strain of flu from a flu shot (yet), but it stands to reason that in order for the shot to work, the forces battling against the virus in your body have to be stronger, and that's not always the case due to unforeseen circumstances. The antibodies can't work alone, they have to be helped by you being in generally good health, getting proper nutrients to sustain you, regular sleep, eating healthy and so forth. Again, just my opinion.
So when I read that the CDC is recommending that the highest risk people get the shot first, it raises my eyebrow. These are the very people whose general health is not good, aged or extremely young or those who are deemed to have medical conditions which would allow the virus to take hold more easily. I seems to me that these would be the last people who should get the shot, because it's a crap shoot isn't it? They have to hope that they can somehow fortify themselves enough to give the antibodies the help they need to function against it, and if they can't, then what?
Basically my main reason for declining the flu shot is embodied in this snippet from Wikipedia:
As of October 2009, only 39 out of over 10,000 samples of 2009 pandemic H1N1 (swine) flu tested worldwide have shown resistance to Oseltamivir.
However, A study published in the 2009 June Issue of Nature Biotechnology emphasized the need for augmentation of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) stockpiles with additional antiviral drugs including zanamivir (Relenza) based on an evaluation of the performance of these drugs in the scenario that the 2009 H1N1 'Swine Flu' neuraminidase (NA) were to acquire the tamiflu-resistance mutation which is currently widespread in seasonal H1N1 strains.
Basically what that means is that the virus can in fact develop a resistance to the inoculation over time. Viruses are cunning that way. So if you do happen to get sick and it happens to be the resistant strain, getting the shot after the fact won't help you much. At best, you'll just stay sick for a lesser amount of time.
Apart from that, we are just making the viruses stronger by continually creating new shots for them. In most cases, people get the flu and live, and then develop immunities to getting that strain again. Why should we help the fucking bugs get stronger just because we don't want to miss a few days of work?
All of the above is just my layman's view of what's going on. I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Likewise, I have my opinions and make my choices, and no one else has to do what I do if they don't want to. But here's a bit of information that can be proven, regarding the alleged 'outbreak' of swine flu in 1976. It seems like a bit of history repeating itself. Basically, it goes like this:
- in February, 1976, a soldier at Fort Dix reported feeling weak and tired. He died the following day. Twelve of his comrades also fell ill similarly and one other death occurred.
- investigation proved that the virus was 'closely related' to the one that reportedly killed up to 100 million people in 1918. However, this is questionable since the medical community at large admits that they didn't really know a heck of a lot about virii back then, not having all the cool equipment that they invented later. To date, they still don't know where or how the 1918 strain originated.
- evidence and documentation has shown that this virus was only detected between Jan. and Feb. of that year, and was confined to Fort Dix. However increased vigilence and research uncovered a geographically separate but similar strain of swine flu which they called H3N2, and this was seen throughout the US up until March.
- this sets the government into a tizzy and they start considering a program of mass innoculations in order to stave off a similar situation as 1918. Under pressure from public health officials, President Ford moves ahead on it.
- actual commercials aired at the time on US TV:
- from the start, the program is a fiasco, as many government initiatives can be. Delays and public relations mistakes confuse the issue. A few deaths occur as a result of something called Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neuromuscular disorder. This syndrome is a rare side-effect of modern influenza vaccines, with an incidence of about one case per million vaccinations.
- Public outcry and panic as a result of the deaths ensue, and sway the general public away from such things as vaccinations in particular and government in general. By this time, over 48 million people in the US were inoculated. Nationwide monitoring revealed that just over 1000 people died from Guillain-Barré complications since the start of the campaign, and somewhere around 250 of those were directly attributed to the swine flu inoculation. The program was eventually halted due to the backlash.
So this is what we are in for, folks. Can you say this this is not bound to happen again? The fact of the matter is that people die from flu or complications of flu inoculations all the time. It's not uncommon. It's sad but not unprecedented.
This particular incidence of 1976 has caused a repercussion that lasts till this day, which is a distinct dividing line between pro- and anti-vaccination camps, as well as the general distrust of government-driven medical initiatives (many are screaming conspiracy! and some are stating that it's a poisonous toxin that is meant to reduce the population -- the extremists -- and this is a bad sign for people like Obama who is already the subject of intense scrutiny should this go wrong). We are seeing this now, with this new push for nationwide H1N1 inoculations and the banter within the social media realm both for and against as well as undecided and confused. Many people don't know what to think.
Fact is, we've been battling viruses for a long time, apparently, it never stops, but the human race is still here, and shows no signs of slowing its population growth, so I don't think we have anything to worry about for the time being. That's just my impression.
More to the point, have you noticed that no one is talking about the dreaded avian flu anymore? Or horse flu? Does anyone remember SARS? While I cannot comment on the relative importance or medical implications on any of those particular illnesses, I really don't need to. My point in writing this is that average people seem to be jumping from one implied threat to another with no consideration for facts or evidence, but fueled merely by the implied threat of global pandemic crisis. Is there any point to this? Naturally, the threat of a pandemic is always present, but so is the possibility that you could get run down in the street by a bus, or that a gamma ray burst in space could wipe out this entire solar system without so much as a warning. Anything is possible, but people in the medical community are working hard to control it, and I feel that people are just overreacting for some reason. Sure, be concerned, be diligent, but be realistic and don't panic until there is a reason to (Even then, panic won't help you). It's the same kind of thing that I saw after 9/11 when suddenly people didn't want to fly, or more absurdly, that they wouldn't get on the plane with anyone who looked like a terrorist, vis a vis, a brown man (Russell Peters points this out quite nicely in his standup).
Then there are those who are using the 'pandemic' keyword to cash in and take advantage of the ill-informed and naive. Like this person who is selling a mystery swine flu prevention plan for the low, low price of $7. Don't worry, he takes Amex. I have no idea what his report is saying, and I don't want to know. It reads like so many other scams I've seen before and if he really had the answer, why wouldn't he just tell us for free if he gave a shit? There are also scattered reports of medical offices and hospitals selling stuffed pigs in their shops to promote swine flu awareness. There are probably other more heinous infractions going on as well, I'm sure, because it seems there is money to be made from this, and humans are very good at exploiting people when they see people desperate for answers and solutions.
I could go on and on and on and on, but it's late and I've said all I want to say about this. It's really exhausting. Bottom line is, if you aren't sick, then don't worry about it. If you or someone you love is sick, then take them to the doctor and get them checked out. If you wanna get the shot, then by all means go for it. If you feel better keeping your kids home from school at some point, then okay. But for the love of Pete, keep your head about you and don't give into the surging cess pool of fear and hype about the swine flu. It is a real thing. It's just the marketing that's fake.
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