Expert casts doubt on flu vaccine

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Expert casts doubt on flu vaccine
Press Association
Friday October 27, 2006 3:58 AM

Flu vaccines may not be as effective as people think, an expert has warned.

There is little clinical evidence that the vaccines have an effect on things like hospital stay, time off work, death in healthy adults or even those with conditions like asthma and cystic fibrosis, he said.

Vaccines given to children under the age of two have the same effect as if they were given a dummy drug, he added.

Tom Jefferson, co-ordinator of the vaccines field of the highly-respected Cochrane Collaboration, called for an "urgent" re-evaluation of vaccination campaigns.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he said that, because influenza viruses mutate and vary from year to year, it was difficult for scientists to study the precise effects of vaccines.

Most studies are of poor quality, and there is little comparative evidence on the safety of the vaccines, he said.

In addition, policy makers wanted to be seen to be doing something, all of which leads to a "large gap" between policy and the evidence, he said.

The difficulty in distinguishing between flu and flu-like illness added to the confusion, with some illnesses listed as flu when they were not, he said.

Earlier this month, there were fears that vulnerable people in the UK might have to wait for flu jabs after the Government confirmed stocks would arrive late.

The jab is given to high-risk groups first, including the over-65s, people with respiratory conditions such as asthma, and those with chronic conditions such as diabetes.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/s...174061,00.html

Palermo · October 30th, 2006, 04:55 PM

you really don't want to get one do you

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2006, 05:06 PM

nope! I don't believe in them anyway; I didn't get one last year or the year before that and some of the dopes I know who did; got sick as fuck regardless.

-just been my personal experience though

dakodas · October 30th, 2006, 05:48 PM

BIG PHARM strikes again!

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2006, 06:21 PM

- yeah no shit! ^

_________________

suede · October 30th, 2006, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AliceInWonderland

nope! I don't believe in them anyway;

I don't either.
Never had the flu in my life - never had a shot.

I know more people that have gotten sick from their flu shot than I know people per year that GET the flu.

PPPFHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh

pacific breeze · October 30th, 2006, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AliceInWonderland

nope! I don't believe in them anyway; I didn't get one last year or the year before that and some of the dopes I know who did; got sick as fuck regardless.

-just been my personal experience though

The flu shot is prepared for the most common viruses. That doesn't mean it covers them all -- that's why your friends got sick. And people who get the flu even if they have the shot for different viruses, don't get anywhere near as sick, according to my doc.

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2006, 06:41 PM

Yeah and the vaccine is different every year obviously and is only a prediction of the 3 worst strains so it only vaccinates against 3 out of thousands of strains that are all capable of mutating anyway......

A*O · October 30th, 2006, 06:42 PM

Oh Alice, just go and get the damn shot already! If it works, yay! If it doesn't, oh well.

UndercoverGator · October 30th, 2006, 07:09 PM

Alice I bet you're one of those nightmare patients doctors hate who blow off all their doctors advice because they think it's a 'conspiracy'

While I do believe there are lots of things we're manipulated about the flu shot is one I have unswerving faith in. You don't want the flu, or any possibility of getting it.

celeb_2006 · October 30th, 2006, 07:29 PM

Whenever I had a flu shot, it never prevented me from getting mightily sick from the flu within a few months. And whenever I didn't get it, I didn't get sick. It's probably just an 'odds' thing, but I don't think I'll be getting it this year.

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A*O

Oh Alice, just go and get the damn shot already! If it works, yay! If it doesn't, oh well.

Aaaaaaaaaaahh Noooooooo you can't make me damnit!!!!

- I already have to get my blood tested! What more do you ppl want from me?!?

- doctors are dumb; they just say stuff verbatem what they read in medical journals and you're lucky if you have a doctor who's actually 'up' on the latest medical information and/or studies. They just recite what they read w/o doing any analytical thinking of their own.

-ok they're not dumb, you know what i meant damnit!

UndercoverGator · October 31st, 2006, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AliceInWonderland

Aaaaaaaaaaahh Noooooooo you can't make me damnit!!!!

- I already have to get my blood tested! What more do you ppl want from me?!?

- doctors are dumb; they just say stuff verbatem what they read in medical journals and you're lucky if you have a doctor who's actually 'up' on the latest medical information and/or studies. They just recite what they read w/o doing any analytical thinking of their own.

-ok they're not dumb, you know what i meant damnit!

"Bwwakkk, cluck, cluck,, cluck..." (trying to make poultry noises) Is someone a bit chicken of the doctor???

Sojiita · October 31st, 2006, 07:09 AM

Well once my parents found out I was sick they RAN to get their shots..

They know very well how I so easily get sicknesses and then transmit them to everyone around me like a regular Typhoid Mary. Watch out for an interfection!!!

AliceInWonderland · October 31st, 2006, 12:17 PM

^ omg great! I always get sick from interfection; there's just no stopping it!