H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine - Not for My Family

When it comes to my health and the health of my family, we have a plan. The current push by the U.S. Government to get everyone vaccinated against the H1N1 Swine Flu virus is not a part of that plan. The way I see it, the health of my family should not rest in the hands of about five corporations who are rushing to get an effective vaccine out there as soon as possible. These giant corporations are already fighting lawsuits against them for producing drugs that have unproven, dangerous or even deadly side effects that are responsible for a number of deaths. So I have to ask myself if these corporations have the best interest of my family at heart, or are they more concerned with making more money from the drugs and vaccines they produce?

In the past, vaccines were never really big money-makers for pharmaceutical companies so not many companies actually made them. Vaccines took a long years to develop and test. Vaccines used to cost a great deal of money to develop. The H1N1 virus changed all that when the World Health Organization declared it a worldwide pandemic. If a corporation making the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine has placed profits before the welfare and health of people, can they be trusted? I'm not willing to take that risk with my health or the health of my family.

Swine Flu Spreading Globally

Swine flu is here in the U.S. with Forty-six states are reporting widespread influenza activity, according to the CDC, more people are getting sick. Yahoo.com reports more than 1,000 deaths in the U.S. as of Oct. 24th. H1N1 has also begun showing up in other countries around the world that are entering their winter season. Australia, South Africa, and South America are already reporting cases. South America seems to have been hit the hardest with about 1,000 deaths linked to Swine Flu. It's here and it's going to affect a lot of people worldwide.

Concerns About the Vaccine Then and Now

Mail Online reports a confidential letter sent to 600 senior neurologists on July 29, 2009 was leaked from the Health Protection Agency in Great Britain. This letter contained a warning that a deadly nerve disease has been linked to the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine. The letter tells the neurologists to be alert for a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the H1N1 vaccine. GBS attacks the nerve linings causing paralysis and the ability to breathe and can be fatal. In 1976, 500 cases of GBS were connected to the swine flu vaccine used in the U.S. at the time. 25 people died from the swine flu vaccination - less people died from the swine flu. The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the connection between GBS and the vaccine became evident. In 2009, folks are already concerned wondering if the vaccine has been sufficiently tested. There are concerns that the "1976 debacle" could be repeated in 2009.

Vaccination No. Protection Yes.

If you think you need the H1N1 vaccination, then go out and get it. By all means, talk to your doctor about this. As for me and my family, we are healthy and we know to do everything we can to remain healthy. Epidemiologists will tell you three things to protect yourself and your family during the flu season. It's common sense stuff:

1) Wash hands frequently and sanitize with alcohol-based sanitizers. This is especially important if you're out in public, at the office, store, bank - anywhere there are people. Take a hand sanitizer with you to the grocery store. The handle on that shopping cart or the buttons of your bank's ATM are probably teeming with germs and possibly with the swine flu virus. Did you know a single sneeze propels 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on door knobs, ATM keypads, elevator buttons, escalator railings, and grocery cart handles. You decrease your chances of picking something up if you take some simple precautions.

2) Distance yourself and your family from people with symptoms of the flu (fever, coughing, sneezing, aches, stuffy nose, etc). And please don't send your kids to school if they're sick. They'll infect others and spread this flu virus to everyone around them, possibly to other younger children and to folks who already have a compromised immune system. Being late or missing a day at work to stay at home with your sick kid, or take him to the doctor is a small price to pay in order to keep others healthy and safe. If you are around someone who is sick, wash your hands frequently and keep your hands away from your face. Some say flushing your nasal passages with a simple salt-water solution also keeps the flu virus from attaching to the membranes inside your nose.

3) Isolate yourself if you get sick. This is just common sense and courtesy. Don't get around other people. Stay at home in bed, or at least away from other people. Sharing is usually a good thing but not in this case. Don't infect others and go to the doctor if you think you need to.

In these times of corporate greed, I think there are corners being cut and strict procedures possibly being overlooked when a company tries to get as much H1N1 vaccine to market as possible in order to make more money. Am I willing to pass the responsibility of my family's health to the type of folks who may be under extreme pressure from stock holders and investors to make more bottom-line profit? That's a risk I am not willing to take.

www.vran.org/
www.cdc.gov/H1n1flu/update.htm
www.dailymail.co.uk/
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.yahoo.com