Medical workers balk at mandatory flu vaccines

Reuters ^ | Nov 13, 2009 | Steve Gorman Steve Gorman

[george76]

thousands of nurses and other front-line healthcare workers are fighting mandatory flu immunization policies being put in place by some U.S. hospitals.

The H1N1 pandemic, which has killed about 3,900 Americans so far, has stoked tensions over the best way to safeguard medical caregivers and their patients from flu. Nurses unions have won some early battles against compulsory vaccination.

data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that only about 40 percent of U.S. healthcare workers ever get shots for seasonal influenza.

mandating that healthcare workers get vaccines is misguided, ineffective and ultimately counterproductive.

"There is no evidence that vaccination of healthcare workers in hospitals or outpatient settings has any impact whatsoever on patients," said Dr. Melanie Swift, head of occupational health for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. "You've got to vaccinate the patients."

Healthcare workers unions are challenging compulsory flu vaccine policies with some success.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was ordered to halt its mandatory program this month after unions for nearly 5,000 employees there won two binding arbitration rulings that struck down the policy as a contract violation.

Last month, a New York judge sided with a nurses union and issued a court order against a statewide policy requiring flu shots for all medical workers...

Nurses unions also have filed lawsuits against HCA hospitals on behalf of its members in California and Nevada.

Critics of mandatory immunization say the danger posed in hospitals by influenza pales in comparison to many other bugs lurking in medical facilities.

The CDC reports 1.7 million people are stricken each year by all manner of hospital-acquired infections, such as pneumonia, and 99,000 of those die. The number of flu cases among them is unknown but believed to be very small.

[swmobuffalo]

We have doctors in the city where I work recommending NOT getting the H1N1. Nor are they even having the vaccine in their offices.

[Flavius]

Google BBC multiple sclerosis and hepatitis b shots

[mysterio]

I’ll take their shot. I have been searching high and low for one.

[humblegunner]

Steve Gorman Steve Gorman has a problem with capitalizing properly.

This causes me to disbelieve anything written by Steve Gorman Steve Gorman.

[Doc Savage]

Want to save thousands of lives each year?

1. Increase the age for a driver's license to 18.

2. Institute a mandatory 2 year prison sentence for first time DUI.

3. Ban abortion.

4. Make all boaters pass a CG safety class and require a license for all motorized watercraft.

5. Allow armed security personnel on all school grounds and campuses.

[elkfersupper]

I’ll take their shot. I have been searching high and low for one.

The outfit telling us this is a problem is the same outfit that lies to us about everything else.

Why would you believe this one thing?

[george76]

Shocking H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Miscarriage Stories From Pregnant Women –

Tell Your Doctors That Vaccines And Pregnancy Do Not Mix

http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/vaccinations/news.php?q=1258144504

[Global2010]

Our County does not even have the SEASONAL FLU vaccine.

We were over in the valley (we are on the coast and travel over a mountain range 2hr drive to get to the valley) at a Safeway and the pharmacy folks overheard me say (read a sign on their window) there is not seasonal vaccine there either.

They stepped right up and said to go to the Philomoth Safeway (that would be the last Safeway before going over the mountain range home so it was on our way) as they just got in a batch a few hours ago (that day).

So we got ours and folks/medical too have been really curious to know where we got ours when we say we have been vacinated.

The gal also getting her flu shot at that Safeway said that county too was not recieving vaccine and her Doc sent her over to that particular Safeway hearing they got a batch in.

And I am with you if people dont want there H1N1 vaccine we will be happy to take it.

I am hoping KVs Doc has a batch of H1N1 in when he goes for his periodic well check this coming week.

Having a tracheostomy and being a quad should bump him up to the top.
Same with me as I am his primary medical careprovider.

We had an extended warm fall just now getting the winter storms in but the flu season has been very tame this year.

Rarely even hearing a cough in the public and the two times it caught my attention it was teenagers.

[george76]

During a televised interview to prepare the American public for a massive campaign to inoculate the population for the H1N1 flu virus, President Obama’s HHS Secretary, Dr. Kathleen Sebelius, told the nation, “study after study, scientist after scientist, has determined that there really is no safety risk with thimerosal.”

Glancing at the foot-high stack of published clinical studies on the desk, years of independent research identifying certain neurological impairments, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and cellular organ damage resulting from vaccines containing the toxic ethylmercury preservative commonly known as thimerosal, it is incomprehensible to fathom the depth of scientific denial in Sebelius’ statement.

Was the Secretary blatantly lying to Americans, especially parents of small children six months and older and pregnant mothers, to convince us to line up for flu shots? If we unpack Sebelius’ misleading propaganda and properly rephrase her pronouncement, we can uncover a semblance of truth in her words.

Instead it would have been proper for her to inform the nation that “study after study of spurious and flawed research that would likely never pass a graduate school examination, scientist after scientist affiliated or with financial ties to the vaccine industry now dominating our academies and health agencies, have determined that there really is no safety risk with thimerosal.”

http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/vaccinations/news.php?q=1258239617

[mysterio]

Because I've taken immunology and micro / virology at the graduate level and have had the seasonal shot every year since childhood.

Taking an extra flintstones vitamin might make the anti vaccine woo-woos feel safe, but I'll stick with vaccines.

[TruJess]

I love all of this nonsense about how evil people are for refusing the flu vaccine. I take care of myself and I’ve had the flu maybe 5 times in 28 years of life. I’ve gotten the flu every time I’ve had the flu shot except for ONE year. This shot has come too little and too late for the area I live in so, no, I will not be getting it. Not only that, it’s not even available to me right now, even though I work with immuno-suppressed children and their families. By the way, most of those families haven’t been able to get one either, because here it’s really only available to pregnant women and the uninsured. Oh, and prisoners.

[mysterio]

No one is evil for not getting the shot.

However, the uninformed woo woos are doing damage by lying about the shot to try to prevent others from getting it. There are a plethora of threads on this site right now that are dedicated to scaring pregnant women away from the shot even though the flu shot has always been recommended for them. If a sane pregnant woman actually believes these uninformed people and gets the flu instead of the vaccine, that would be very sad.

[Two-Bits]

The government is busy trying to destroy this economy, etc so the middle class, private business,etc will be destroyed. So eventually you will have the rich elites (government) and the poor(governed).

The take over of the health care if passed will be a death sentence for many senior citizens whom would not have been denied care prior but now will be sent home to die. Those with severe medical issues may not be able to get the health care needed due to the expense and whether the government deems it worthwhile, etc. Chances are if you voted incorrectly in the past, a believer of things the government deems wrong etc, can be denied health care, etc and now we are suppose to believe this same government is concerned about our welfare regarding swine flu?

[Carry_Okie]

My wife is a nurse and used to get the seasonal flu shots. She's the first in her family ever to get rheumatoid arthritis, of which squalene is a known cause. Needless to say, the consequent steady dose of methotrexate is no blessing and carries its own risks.

[mysterio]

Guilt by Association fallacy.

But to answer your question, I have a pretty good background in immunology / micro / biotech, and have worked ten years in research. I can't and won't tell you what to believe. However, the info and debunking released by the CDC has been pretty spot on, and it doesn't differ from the yearly debunking of anti-vaccine hysteria the CDC put out under other administrations.

It's up to each individual to decide whether they want to get vaccinated or risk the flu. I would only ask that the person does adequate research before deciding. For me, the choice is clear.

[george76]

Sorry for her rheumatoid arthritis.

My main goal with this specific topic is to encourage people to do some independent research before they authorize any treatments / drugs to themselves or their kids.

Not just with flu but also with any other health situation : As we know, it is best to have serious / detailed discussions / second opinions before letting a surgeon grab a knife.

[Two-Bits]

I do not question your experience nor background but am surprised, you are having a difficult time in getting this shot.

Also with your experience and background that you are not alarmed the vaccine/adjuvant combination being referred to as the “swine flu vaccine” has apparently never been safety tested or approved by the FDA. In many cases the vaccine is being sent to clinics, pharmacies and other health establishments separately from the adjuvant chemical, leaving it up to each local vaccine retailer to properly mix the vaccine with the adjuvant so the potential for improper mixing, improper dosages, and human error is alarming.

It is also interesting to note vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius which should make us all feel safe and warm.

Mysterio, we are both on the same page, it is up to each individual to decide whether they want to take a risk with or without the vaccination. We are also in complete agreement that everyone does adequate research before making their decision. To each of us, Mysterio, our choices are clear. I would never nor want to try to persuade you from your decision, I sincerely hope you get your swine flu shot.

[mysterio]

Thanks.

The H1N1 vaccine is made in the same fashion as the seasonal and would have been included in the seasonal had it appeared a few months earlier last year.

A little more from the CDC about adjuvants and flu shots.

The pertinent paragraph :

Does the 2009 H1N1 monovalent flu vaccine have an adjuvant or squalene in it?

Adjuvants are agents that are sometimes added to a vaccine to increase its effectiveness. There are no adjuvants (such as squalene) in either the 2009 H1N1 monovalent or seasonal flu vaccines used in the United States.

I would have already gotten the vaccine due to my own risk group status, but the idiots in my area decided to pool all of the vaccines and do one large county-wide first come / first serve clinic that was not dependent on risk status. However, I have received word that there will be a local clinic this week in my area, so maybe I'll get lucky. I managed to get a seasonal earlier this autumn.

[ReagansShinyHair]

I did a lot of research before taking the H1N1 vaccine. My husband got H1N1 and so did my son, and I had to take Tamiflu because I hadn’t gotten the vaccine yet (it wasn’t available). I’m pregnant. I bet just the vaccine would have been better than Tamiflu - that stuff made me sick (or maybe it was just the flu). Anyway, I gladly took the vaccine a week later when it became available.

The same week that my family had H1N1 a 22 year old pregnant woman who lived near me, who had no other health conditions, died of H1N1-related pneumonia.

I took my chances with the vaccine this time. I avoid medicine and doctors in general, and I do not normally get the seasonal flu shot because I have rarely had the flu. This time, the risks were worth the benefits.

To the miscarriage reports others have posted - correlation is not causation. Miscarriage in the first trimester is far more common than most people think. Where is the correlation of miscarriage to the usual flu shot?