Being a person who believes in both personal responsibility and freedom of choice, I was taken aback when I recently dared to post a diary on one of the world’s most visited progressive political blog sites about how one, perhaps, should not go rushing off to get vaccinated for H1N1. The main gist of my diary was a simple link to another blog entry written by Bill Maher, which you can read here.
In this incredibly daring entry, Mr. Maher suggests it is worth having a conversation about the efficacy and safety of vaccines.
Although Mr. Maher doesn’t mention it, in 1976, we had an incident often referred to as the “Swine Flu debacle.” Perhaps people don’t remember, but we had a swine flu outbreak in 1976. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. Unfortunately, the vaccine caused over 500 cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome and 25 deaths. The flu itself killed one person.
America has a long, sad history of approving drugs that are later recalled because they end up killing people — anyone remember Vioxx?
In response to my diary, one woman said that my not getting vaccinated put her life and children at risk, because not getting vaccinated put me at greater risk, and I could then spread the disease to others.
First (and this gets to my personal responsibility angle), I take very good care of myself. I eat right, I exercise, and I am constantly reading about new alternative therapies for warding off disease. In my entire life, I have never had the flu. Quite frankly, I’ve rarely even been sick. However, can you imagine the uproar if I were to suggest that people who don’t do these things are responsible for making others sick? Or tried to get a law passed that people must exercise and eat healthfully for the greater good of society? And yet there are many people on the “pro-vax” side of the equation who would like to impose mandatory vaccines on the country.
Vaccines do not come without risk. Many argue that the benefits outweigh the risks, and that may be true when taken in totality. But for those people who take personal responsibility for their own health and who do not get sick because they actively work to strengthen their immune systems, it is very possible that the risks outweigh any benefit.
Because vaccines are not free of risk, each individual should be able to assess their own cost/benefit analysis and make their own choice.
Tags: Guillain-Barré · H1N1 · Maher · vaccination2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
Dear youngest son,
I look forward to your blogs, especially because we are such lousy correspondants that it gives me more ideas of what your thinking. Of course, some of the times, I have no idea about your topic, but I do have some thoughts on vaccination. First, I question your statement that the US has a long history of early approval of vaccines. Yes, there have been mistakes and some tragic early releases, but there have also been more cases of a little too much caution. No, I cannot site numbers or examples, but that is not my point. I applaud your life style and hope that part of that comes from your upbringing and the standards set by your parents. A healthy life style has to help when you run into bugs and conditions that everyone deals with at some time in their lives. But I also want to take all precautions that are available. I was first in line when when the polio vaccine became available and always get the seasonal shot. That is my choice. You are certainly right in your decision for yourself and I do not agree with the woman who said you were endangering her family. My last word is lthe hope that you do not do as I have heard a few young and healthy people claim that they should also have the right to not purchase health insurance if they plan to pay for any medical costs themselves. First, that shows a disregard of the possible costs of a catastrophic accident or illness that they could not possibly handle and the fact that insurance companies (even single pay option) need the young people to balance the needs of older, frailer and needier population. We must get enough insured to keep them out of the emergency rooms.
Love to you both, peace and keep on writing.
Mom
One thing to keep in mind, Mom, is that some of the entries for this blog are not written by me. This is one of those: a guy I work with told me last week about the sh*tstorm he started with his diary post elsewhere, so I offered him this forum to say his piece. (He’s had at least one other entry here, which is still getting hits, about the dangers of putting all one’s eggs in one basket, food-stream-wise.)
Being healthy and careful is the very least of the lifestyle standards you guys raised us with. You also convinced us (or me, anyway) early and often of the value of making and living with your own choices, and in that regard I completely agree with David, the post’s author.
These kids whose health plan consists of going to the emergency room for a catastrophic illness, well, I don’t get that. It seems to perpetuate an illness, as opposed to a wellness, model, which is what got us into this mess in the first place.
Not to worry, though. We’re eating our vegetables, getting as much exercise as we can, etc., etc. in order to stay out of the emergency room, for our sake as well as yours.
So, what, you didn’t care for my Electric Six review?