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The Great Swine Flu Shot Decision
Vaccine Sometimes we have to make some very hard choices in life. Right now, one of these choices is whether to take the Swine Flu vaccine or not. This is not a choice that many can easily make. It is sort of like that tv commercial for Sears where a man can not make his mind up to buy a new tv or not, only this decision is a heck of a lot more important. Over the years many of us have learned to distrust the drug companies. Their television ads don't exactly inspire confidence either. When you see a happy man or woman advertising some drug for high blood pressure, or some other disease and he is saying how great the drug is and then you see the mandatory warning that this drug can cause severe pain and even death and then you hear a voice telling you to run out now and buy it. Any sensible person has to at least think twice about ever doing that. This is the atmosphere that we are in and now we are being told that a great Swine Flu pandemic is coming and we should all get the vaccine to prevent us from getting this killer flu. On the surface it seems that we should. There are different situations for different people however. I keep hearing that pregnant women are at the most risk for getting the Swine Flu and they should absolutely get the shot to prevent it. If one does a little research on the Internet, or elsewhere, they will see that many say that the shot contains a form of mercury, a heavy metal that is suspected in causing autism in children, among other things. We are told that the amount of this metal in the vaccination for Swine Flu is about the same amount as is in the seasonal flu shot. I have no personal knowledge of this, I am just repeating what I have read. Many parents feel that both the seasonal flu shot and the Swine Flu shot together contain an unacceptable amount of heavy metal and they don't want to subject their children to it. Some feel so strongly that they don't want even the Swine Flu shot alone. The list of those that are most susceptible to Swine Flu is as follows: Pregnant women Health care workers People that are from 6 months to 24 years old People that are from 25-64 that have certain medical conditions that put them at greater risk of flu complications The above list comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hospital Ward The mercury in the vaccine comes in the form of thimerosal, which preserves the vaccine so that it can have a longer shelf life and prevent fungus. I wanted to know more about thimerosal so I looked it up on Wikipedia and here is what they said about it: C9H9HgNaO2S), or sodium ethylmercurithiosalicylate, commonly known in the United States as thimerosal, is an organomercury compound (approximately 49% mercury by weight) used as an antiseptic and anti-fungal agent. Wikipedia goes on to say that there have been only a very few studies of the effects of thimerosal on humans. To see the full report on Wikipedia, click on this link: The entry on Wikipedia certainly makes one think, doesn't it? I am sure that a lot of parents will opt out of this shot, but is that the correct decision? One parent I know discovered autism in her child and believes it was from prior shots and will not get the Swine Flu shot for her child and she has a lot of company. Others feel that the risk of getting the flu itself is much greater and they are afraid for the life of their children. For those that believe that the Swine Flu shot containing mercury is too dangerous to their already autistic children, they may have a point. I guess that they should talk to a trusted doctor and ask him about the risks and benefits of the shot. Health care workers, in some places, are being forced to take the Swine Flu shot and this is causing protests by the workers, whose numbers against the shot seem to be as high as 75%. I think that it is not only the shot that they are protesting, but the fact that they are being forced to take a vaccine. When children go to school, or come into contact with other children, they are at a far greater risk than those that don't. Unfortunately in today's society it is almost impossible to prevent contact among children. This contact also puts the parents of those children at risk along with anyone else that comes in contact with them. This is just about everybody in the country and that is why these things spread so quick. The world is also getting smaller as they say and travel between countries that used to be considered rare, is a common place occurrence, thus spreading even more diseases. We need to be inoculated, but our vaccines should not contain harmful preservatives just because it is easier to use them to make the vaccines. A couple of years ago an Indian company was able to make a vaccine without thimerosal. The vaccine was not for the flu, but it did show that it was possible to not use thimerosal, which has been in use since the 1930s. So what are most people going to do? If I were a betting man I would bet that about 30% of the population will refuse the vaccination. I personally will get it and I believe that everyone who is a senior citizen has nothing to lose and everything to gain at this point. The decision is much harder for young people and their children. As I said at the start, this is not an easy decision and quite frankly I am glad that I no longer have small children, because I would find it very hard to get them the shot, but on the other hand if I didn't and they got the Swine Flu, I would never forgive myself. Here is a link to the CDC's page on Swine Flu: |
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