Ah, the Internet...Purveyor of Fine Frauds since 1990 something.
Everyone loves a conspiracy theory it seems. Furthermore, the Internet is enabling people to attempt to self-diagnose complex medical issues - and there is often no way to ensure that the information sourced on the Internet is from a proven, valid source. It is easy to create and populate a webpage with medical information and make it look credible. I got an e-mail from a friend that cited a forwarded 'warning' e-mail about vaccines from a 'respected doctor'. A visit to said doctor's website found out he was also peddling his 'Brain Healing Pills' containing natural supplements. No comment.
Vaccines are the ONLY reason we aren't still talking about friends and family dying from:
- Tetanus (Lockjaw)
- Diptheria
- Smallpox
- Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
- ...and the list goes on.
These diseases have been held back (they are still out there, not extinct by any means) solely due to mass immunization efforts. This is a fact, not debatable.
The mythical link between mercury (thimerosal) and autism is just that - a myth. That one study that *attempted* to establish a link has been debunked and for good reason. It was not solid science. There has never been a proven link between the amount of mercury, as thimerosal (a preservative in certain vaccines) , and the causation of autism. The media jumped on the article and it's been perpetuated since.
There is more mercury in a can of tuna than in a vaccine (which averages 5-50
micrograms). Have people stopped buying tuna?
As far as H1N1, yes most healthy individuals will fight it off like any other seasonal flu. However, what is worrying about this particular strain is that it can very quickly overwhelm the respiratory capacity of an otherwise healthy individual and kill them within hours. Why this happens is not understood - this strain is new and there has not been enough time to study it. A young 13-yr old boy was killed in Toronto recently by H1N1. He was playing hockey and got the flu. His temp went down, was feeling better and kept playing in the tournament, then he died overnight. He had zero health issues prior to infection. Same with another young teen in Cornwall, Ontario. Zero underlying health issues...rapidly overwhelmed by the virus and was killed.
The response from the world's medical community on this pandemic has not been well orchestrated, and information has been disjointed. The media at large has not helped in this regard, often presenting somewhat sensationalized viewpoints. Vaccination clinics are being run far past capacity.
So it is safe to say there are plenty of problems with how things are being done both in terms of disseminating the proper information, as well as getting the vaccine out to the population at large.
However, this is really a first run at a new global pandemic scenario in the information age, where every tidbit of information from labs to hospitals in every city anywhere is being thrown out for mass public reading and interpretation - often without the appropriate background information for perspective.
The result is a lot of confusion and anxiety and people aren't sure what to do.
My wife has been vaccinated but we're still waiting. She's a doctor and hence on the front line at the hospital, so she was vaccinated early. I've been getting e-mails from friends asking what to do. My sons and I will get vaccinated as soon as we can.
Bottom line - get vaccinated, IMO (and no, it is not a medical opinion, just my own).