No Vaccines For Me Please, But Thanks Anyway
This week I had to fill out some online modules so that I could retain admitting priviledges at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Part of that involved filling out a questionnaire about vaccines where it asked if I had been immunized with the various vaccines for hepatitis, the flu, and chickenpox. Well my daughter and I spent some quality time together with the chickenpox when she was three, so I don’t need that vaccine, and the fact is that I never got vaccines for hepatitis, and I don’t feel like getting one now. And readers of Drug Safety and Health News Blog know my opinion about flu shots. The form included the lovely lie from the CDC about how 36,000 people die from the flu each year (half of those are actually flu-like illness, not the flu, get your facts straight, Julie). Anyhoo they had a helpful multiple choice where they asked you why you weren’t getting vaccinated, and for the flu I stated that they didn’t work. After refusing the hepatitis vaccines the program froze me out, so when I went in to get my TB test I asked the nurse about it, and she had me sign this declaration form about why I didn’t want the vaccine. So I decided to do some research. I found a Dr. Di Bisceglie touting Hepatitis C vaccines in development, and what struck me was how LONG his list of disclosures were! Looky here:
Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, MD, FACP, has disclosed that he has served on the advisory boards of Roche, Idenix, Novartis, Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Metabasis Therapeutics, Anadys, and Globe Immune. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he has received research support from Roche, Gilead Sciences, Idenix, Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Sci-Clone. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he serves on the speaker’s bureaus of Roche, Gilead Sciences, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he has served as a consultant to Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott, Schering Plough, Pharmasset, and Sci-Clone.
I mean geez, how can you do all that, plus do his research and be chairman of his department? Note that Roche is the maker of drugs for bird flu, which as I have written about in “Bird Flu Drugs are for Bird Brains” won’t work once the virus mutates to spread to humans, but which has made a ton of money for them and their pitchman ex Vice President Cheney.
How to Poop on People
Anyhoo anyone who serves on 8 advisory boards, get research money from 6 companies, is on three speakers bureaus, and serves as a consultant to 5 companies, is spending an awful lot of time hob knobbing and dining and getting payments and therefore is unlikely to be un-biased. For the hepatitis B vaccine there was some evidence that it might be associated with an increase in multiple sclerosis although it looks like the jury is still out on that one. As for Hepatitis C that is new and we don’t know the long term risks. I don’t get hepatitis vaccinations because even if you get it (which is unlikely) it probably won’t kill you. Gardasil? As I have written before I would rather have you guard your girls than give them Gardasil.
Anyhoo here I am back filling out my infectious disease module.
As I was taking the online exam I couldn’t help but notice that is said that most Emory employees encountered potentially infectious materials in the workplace that could transmit HIV or Hepatitis through percutaneous transmission, i.e. needle sticks involving infected blood. However they also listed “Other Potentially Infectious Material” (OPIM) as follows.
Other Potentailly Infectious Material (OPIM)
Did you notice the first few? It seemed odd that Emory Healthcare would be listing those as possible sources of transmission of viruses for people in the workplace! Especially for a place that is so worried about their public image, and which recently started a public “trust line” where people can call to anonymously report anything which is not consistent with Emory’s morals and ethics, including conflicts of interest, apparently in response to recent negative publicity (but don’t get me started on that). Anyhoo I was puzzling over this when I noticed the Emory logo…
Advancing the possibilities, indeed!
See how long it takes me to get fired for this one…
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By Dan, January 29, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
Thoughts from a non-doctor:
Historical Facts Believed To Be Associated With Influenza:
The last influenza pandemic that occurred in the United States was nearly 100 years ago, and this deadly outbreak resulted in about 50 million deaths worldwide. The pandemic that occurred before this one happened about thirty years before the 1918 flu. Influenza epidemics typically occur about every 8 months or so. Influenza is caused by a virus, which is a parasite that needs a host to survive and reproduce.
It was called the Spanish Flu because the first human case was identified there. The pandemic ended up killing more than those that died during WWI. Understandably there was panic among people worldwide, as influenza was not discovered until 1933, so the mystery was rather frightening of what was happening.
Those who survived have allowed others to obtain antibodies from them to develop other antibodies for future viral outbreaks that may occur with this type of virus. This last influenza pandemic also allowed others to obtain this virus from those who died as a result to facilitate effective treatments and vaccines for viral outbreaks that may happen in the future as well.
The virus responsible for the 1918 pandemic was an avian influenza. Nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. died as the result of the Spanish Flu- and those that did die was due often to a bacterial pneumonia that followed the viral invasion and damage. Ultimately, this pandemic killed nearly 3 percent of humans infected. Normally, an influenza strain may kill less than one percent of those infected. The Spanish Flu caused an unusually severe immune response in the human host which made it very deadly due to overkill of the cells of this host.
The influenza viruses are categorized as A, B, and C. The Influenza A virus is the one that historically has caused pandemics that have developed-, such as the Spanish Flu Pandemic. The other influenza pandemics primarily have occurred in countries in Asia.
With influenza, it is understood that the disease influenza is a disease caused by a RNA virus that can infect both mammals and birds. In fact, this particular virus can mutate to where it can be shared between the two life forms and multiply within each one of them. Unlike coryza, influenza expresses symptoms more severely, and usually lasts two weeks until one recovers who has the flu. Influenza, however, poses a danger to some with compromised immune systems, such as the chronically ill, so the recommendation is greater in such populations, along with women who may be pregnant during the flu season, residents of nursing homes or chronic care facilities. Health care personnel are encouraged to get the flu vaccine as well. Such populations allow influenza to progress to deadly pneumonia.
Symptoms of influenza usually start to express themselves symptomatically about two days or so after being infected with the virus. Over 10 percent of the population is infected with this virus every year- resulting in about 200,000 hospitalizations and nearly 40,000 deaths. This season’s first influenza case was identified in Delaware in November of 2008, and it was a type B influenza strain.
The flu vaccination is trivalent- meaning it contains three viral strains of suspected viruses for flu outbreaks during a particular winter season, as determined by the World Health Organization, as well as the Centers for Disease Control, and other organizations. Unfortunately, the influenza vaccine administered last flu season was largely ineffective due to unsuspected strains of the virus infecting others, although about 140 million injections of this vaccine were administered.
After giving the vaccination dose to one, it takes about 10 days for that person to build up the immunity for the disease of influenza. The months of October to December are recommended to receive this vaccine. And the vaccine is about 50 percent effective in offering protection from influenza, according to others. Vaccines are a catalyst for antibody production in humans, which protect them against the virus. Influenza vaccines can be given by injection or nasally.
Anti-virals, on the other hand, decrease greatly the ability for viruses to reproduce once established in a human.
The Avian influenza that many have heard of is potentially the next flu pandemic- as humans have no immunity to what is called the H5N1 virus- on of about 1 strains of avian Influenza. For an Influenza pandemic to occur, which means a global disease existence, the virus must emerge from another species to humans without immunity, as well as the ability to make more humans ill than normal. Also, the virus must be highly contagious for a pandemic to occur. The H5N1 virus appears to replicate in the human GI tract and also has a longer incubation period in humans, one to two weeks, compared with other influenza strains. The H5N1 Avian influenza virus seems to have become progressively more pathogenic in the past decade, according to others.
With the Avian Influenza existing with the H5N1 strain, millions of birds have been slaughtered due to the danger and unpredictability of this strain. The first human case infected with this strain occurred in China in 1997. The first human avian flu case outside of China was identified in 2003 in the Netherlands. The first recorded incidence of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus was in Thailand in 2004. In 2006, it was discovered that the H5N1 had split into two separate strains. There have been outbreaks of Avian flu in about 15 countries in the world so far- with Indonesia being the worst. Migratory birds spread this influenza virus between continents.
The pathogenic strength of the H5N1 strain varies due to constant re-assortment or switching of genetic material between the viruses- essentially creating a hybrid of what it was before this occurs. So far, about 300 people worldwide have been infected with this strain- and about half have died from the infection. Vaccinations are being developed and reformulated constantly at this time due to the pandemic threat of the H5N1 Influenza virus.
Yet, the normal flu season that is now occurring was supplied with 150 million vaccines in the United States. However, some studies have shown that this vaccine is rather ineffective based on incidences of the acquisition of the influenza virus by others anyway.
The influenza season peaks between the months of January and March. The vaccine for this influenza season is manufactured by 6 different companies. Yet the strains chosen are speculated influenza viruses, as this does not eliminate the chance of a new and dominant influenza viral strain that possibly could cause a pandemic. It takes manufacturers about 6 months to make and formulate the influenza vaccination. There is a vaccine for this illness that is produced every year according to which type of virus may be prevalent during a particular flu season. If influenza occurs in a human host, the results may be the patient acquiring pneumonia or meningitis.
The presence of influenza can be widespread in certain states, yet not others. The vaccination is recommended to be administered to those who are at high risk, such as the chronically ill. Also, it is recommended that those under 18 years of age get the vaccine, as well as those people over the age of 50. Furthermore, those people who regularly take aspirin should receive the vaccine, as the influenza disease can become a catalyst for what is called Reye’s Syndrome. Pregnant women should receive the vaccine as well- as there are many other vaccines available to fortunately prevent other diseases, perhaps.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
Dan Abshear
By Gianna, January 29, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
I’m with you on the vaccines…I haven’t ever gotten flu vaccine…they used to push them on us because I worked in public health…
so answer me back and I’ll let you know if I get notification….
By admin, January 29, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
Apparently it is OSHA standards in GA that healthcare workers have to get vaccinated or sign something like a conscientious objector or something. I told the nurse I stay home when I have the flu. You are infectious from one day before symptoms until seven days later. No big deal. I got sick this year and read one book a day in bed.
By Gina Pera, January 29, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
Dr. B,
My biologist-husband faithfully gets his flu shot every year. I decline, insisting as you do that they don’t work and why would I want to inject myself with that stuff for no good reason. He doesn’t say it, but I suspect he thinks I’m acting like a bird brain.
My backup the last few years has been Tamiflu. Because while I never contract the flu on my own, my husband does, and so I will catch it from him. As luck would have it, he gets mild cases but mine are severe. Hence the Tamiflu on reserve.
But this year, my physician informed me that the flu strain wasn’t responding to Tamiflu and, in fact, the flu shot this year was actually effective. So, I ran out and got the last flu shot available in our town.
Neither of us contracted the flu, but who knows why.
Love your artwork.
Gina
By admin, January 29, 2009 @ 2:19 pm
Thanks!
By Steve, January 29, 2009 @ 2:47 pm
Nice to see you on a real blog, Doug- looks good!
By Therapy Patient, January 29, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
I am just posting to let you know that at least ONE person who reads your blog is the vaccination “queen”. This all happened BEFORE I started reading your blog, but in the last year (at age 57!) I was vaccinated for ALL the childhood diseases (plus tetinus) because it was required to enter Cal State East Bay’s teaching credential program, PLUS I got the Shingles vaccine, PLUS I got the flu vaccine PLUS my GYN talked me into getting the HUGELY expensive ($375 for each of 3 injections!) Gardasil series of 3 injections. They were NOT all at the same time except the childhood series. The good new is that I have had NO side effects other than slightly sore arm at times (YET!!). I enjoyed your post!
By Doug Bremner, January 29, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Gardasil??? Ha! HPV takes about 25 years to turn into cervical cancer anyway. But we hear about all those wild parties out there in Ca anyway. Ha Ha!
By Therapy Patient, January 29, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
Well, my gyn knows I am newly single after a 30 year marriage so she’s trying to protect me!
(OR: She’s tight with the drug companies. She’s a clinical faculty member at UCSF, though she’s always struck me as very ethical.)
Twenty-five years? Well, I will be a spry 82 about then. I’d hate to get cervical cancer at that young age.
By Doug Bremner, January 29, 2009 @ 11:43 pm
Darn! Maybe we’ll have to set up a drug news singles finder function! Should we celebrate or mourn end of said marriage?
By Doug Bremner, January 29, 2009 @ 11:45 pm
BTW the official corporate policy at the Drug News and Health Safety Blog is that therapy and inner exploration of the self is always preferred over psychopharmacology! And that is from a member of the American College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology! (so far)
By Lynn, January 29, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
Love your blog and sense of humor! Ah, a breath of fresh air – I need so bad. Trying to work on Lyme disease conflicts of interest. Received the disgusting news that a Carol Baker, MD, Past President of IDSA is being named head of the new IDSA panel. She’s a VACCINOLOGIST. Lyme disease patients don’t have a chance. Instead of a revision, we’re getting an entombment (of the past guidelines). This is a person into vaccine clinical trials. The main problem with the Lyme guidelines from IDSA, and its various iterations, is that it biased towards vaccine manufacturers. The “thought leaders” [sic] want to produce a Lyme disease vaccine. Persistent infection, despite antibiotics, stands in their way. So, the solution is to LIE about it — to say, uh, these people are sick with SOMETHING ELSE. Dr. Wormser, the former chair of the committee was caught lying about his connection to a Lyme disease vaccine manufacturer. So — now we have a VACCINOLOGIST as head of the committee!! OMG.
To our dismay, the ombudsperson has followed the conflicts of interest guidelines to a T — but it’s all about money. So, the honest souls who made $10,000 seeing LD pts in their offices are being excluded — equating this to the conflict of interest seen with the guys who do all the pharma consulting.
The committee has ignored the world literature in their guidelines, cherry picking through it to suit their business model of the disease.
does anyone have any ideas about how to combat this? Thanks in advance. LTSHEPLER@AOL.COM
By Therapy Patient, January 30, 2009 @ 1:50 am
CELEBRATE!
It was an achievement of psychotherapy!
I agree with your official corporate policy about therapy and inner exploration of the self in lieu of psychopharmacology. Luckily, so does my psychiatrist who encouraged me to go off medication. I was on medications for a relatively short time (about 10 months), but it was long enough to form a very negative opinion.
By Cousin in Eastern Washington, January 30, 2009 @ 11:38 am
I think they ought to make a shot for glycerin headaches. I happen to not believe in taking any shots that are free, I heard that is how cyphallis was started. Injecting into African American men during the war. Nice move by the government, if they want to give you something for free, there is something wrong with it. As for the headaches, does it help to wear rubber gloves when handling dynamite?
By Dan, January 30, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
A Viscious Parasite- Void Of Symbiosis
The last influenza pandemic that showed it’s presence in the United States was nearly 100 years ago, and this deadly outbreak resulted in about 50 million deaths worldwide.
The pandemic that occurred before this one happened about thirty years before the 1918 flu. Influenza epidemics typically occur about every 8 months or so. Influenza is caused by a virus, which is a parasite that needs a host to survive and reproduce. Some are stronger and more deadly than others.
It was called the Spanish Flu because the first human case was identified there. The pandemic ended up killing more than those that died during WWI.
Understandably there was panic among people worldwide, as influenza was not discovered until 1933, so the mystery was rather frightening of what was happening.
Those who survived have allowed others to obtain antibodies from them to develop other antibodies for future viral outbreaks that may occur with this type of virus.
This last influenza pandemic also allowed others to obtain this virus from those who died as a result to facilitate effective treatments and vaccines for viral outbreaks that may happen in the future as well.
The virus responsible for the 1918 pandemic was an avian influenza. Nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. died as the result of the Spanish Flu- and those that did die was due often to a bacterial pneumonia that followed the viral invasion and damage. Ultimately, this pandemic killed nearly 3 percent of humans infected. Normally, an influenza strain may kill less than one percent of those infected.
The Spanish Flu caused an unusually severe immune response in the human host which made it very deadly due to overkill of the cells of this host.
The influenza viruses are categorized as A, B, and C. The Influenza A virus is the one that historically has caused pandemics that have developed-, such as the Spanish Flu Pandemic.
The other influenza pandemics primarily have occurred in countries in Asia.
With influenza, it is understood that the disease influenza is a disease caused by a RNA virus that can now infect and kill both mammals and birds. In fact, this particular virus can mutate to where it can be shared between the two life forms and multiply within each one of them with ease.
Unlike coryza, influenza expresses symptoms more severely, and usually lasts two weeks until one recovers who has the flu. Influenza, however, poses a danger to some with compromised immune systems, such as the chronically ill, so the recommendation is greater in such populations, along with women who may be pregnant during the flu season, residents of nursing homes or chronic care facilities.
Health care personnel are encouraged to get the flu vaccine as well. However this vaccine, as will be described in a moment, offers no reassurance that the one immunized by this vaccine will not acquire the flu.
Such populations of those recommended to get a flu vaccination need prevention from this virus the most, as such patient populations allow influenza to progress to deadly pneumonia often.
Symptoms of influenza usually start to express themselves symptomatically about two days or so after being infected with the virus. Over 10 percent of the population is infected with this virus every year- resulting in about 200,000 hospitalizations and nearly 40,000 deaths.
This season’s first influenza case was identified in Delaware in November of 2008, and it was a type B influenza strain.
The flu vaccination is trivalent- meaning it contains three viral strains of suspected viruses for flu outbreaks during a particular winter season, as determined by the World Health Organization, as well as the Centers for Disease Control, and other organizations.
Yet one should keep in mind that these three strains of influenza may not even exist in a particular flu season. The vaccination is a guess, at best.
Unfortunately, the influenza vaccine administered last flu season was largely ineffective due to unsuspected strains of the virus infecting others, although about 140 million injections of this vaccine were administered, and this proved to be pointless for preventative medicine.
After giving the vaccination dose to one, it takes about 10 days for that person to build up the immunity for the disease of influenza. The months of October to December are recommended to receive this vaccine. And the vaccine is about 50 percent effective in offering protection from influenza, according to others, if one calculates the previous flu seasons with flu vaccinations. Vaccines are a catalyst for antibody production in humans, which protect them against the virus, if it happens to present itself within them.
Influenza vaccines can be given by injection or nasally.
Antivirals, on the other hand, decrease greatly the ability for viruses to reproduce once established in a human. That seems like it sould be a focus during viral seasons instead of any vaccination that exist today regarding the disease of influenza.
The Avian influenza that has been mentioned earlier is potentially the next flu pandemic- as humans have no immunity to what is called the H5N1 virus- on of about 1 strains of avian Influenza, as it has already been identified.
For an Influenza pandemic to occur, which means a global disease existence and presence, the virus must emerge from another species to humans without a strong immune system,as well as the ability to make more humans ill than normal due to the constant mutation of the influenza virus.
Also, the virus must be highly contagious for a pandemic to occur. This particular virus that has been identified is just that.
The H5N1 virus appears to replicate in the human GI tract and also has a longer incubation period in humans, one to two weeks, compared with other influenza strains.
The H5N1 Avian influenza virus seems to have become progressively more pathogenic in the past decade, according to others. The letters H and N are the letters of proteins that protrude from the viral shell.
It is these proteins that change so often with the influenza virus, and which is why we continue to be infected with this virus.
With the Avian Influenza existing with the H5N1 strain, millions of birds have been slaughtered due to the danger and unpredictability of this strain.
The first human case infected with this strain occurred in China in 1997. The first human avian flu case outside of China was identified in 2003 in the Netherlands.
The first recorded incidence of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus was in Thailand in 2004. In 2006, it was discovered that the H5N1 had split into two separate strains.
There have been outbreaks of Avian flu in about 15 countries in the world so far- with Indonesia being the worst. Migratory birds spread this influenza virus between continents.
The pathogenic strength of the H5N1 strain varies due to constant re-assortment or switching of genetic material between the viruses- essentially creating a hybrid of what it was before this occurs.
So far, about 300 people worldwide have been infected with this strain- and about half have died from the infection. Vaccinations are being developed and reformulated constantly at this time due to the pandemic threat of the H5N1 Influenza virus.
Yet, the normal flu season that is now occurring was supplied with 150 million vaccines in the United States. However, some studies have shown that this vaccine is rather ineffective based on incidences of the acquisition of the influenza virus by others anyway.
The influenza season peaks between the months of January and March. The vaccine for this influenza season is manufactured by 6 different companies.
Yet the strains chosen are speculated influenza viruses, as this does not eliminate the chance of a new and dominant influenza viral strain that possibly could cause a pandemic. It takes manufacturers about 6 months to make and formulate the influenza vaccination.
There is a vaccine for this illness that is produced every year according to which type of virus may be prevalent during a particular flu season. If influenza occurs in a human host, the results may be the patient acquiring pneumonia or meningitis.
The presence of influenza can be widespread in certain states, yet not others. The vaccination is recommended to be administered to those who are at high risk, such as the chronically ill.
Also, it is recommended that those under 18 years of age get the vaccine, as well as those people over the age of 50. Furthermore, those people who regularly take aspirin should receive the vaccine, as the influenza disease can become a catalyst for what is called Reye’s Syndrome.
Pregnant women should receive the vaccine as well- as there are many other vaccines available to fortunately prevent other diseases, perhaps.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
Dan Abshear