What People Think About the Swine Flu Vaccine?

The Swine flu vaccine has drawn much controversy over whether it`s safe or not. Some people remember the 1976 Swine flu vaccine that did more harm than good, however the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are claiming that it is safe. With so many different opinions it`s hard to know what the right thing to do is.

Back in the summer of 2009, the swine flu hit everywhere hard. People who were normally healthy were getting sick and even dying from it. The flu hit people at record numbers and did so out of regular flu season. In light of that, a vaccine was in the works and was released in November.

The vaccine was at first released to only high needs groups. These groups included; pregnant women, babies and young children, and people with chronic health conditions and health care workers. There were line ups everywhere, as people waited in the cold to get a swine flu shot. Many people were eager and jumped on the idea to get vaccinated. However there were some, who were unsure as to its safety.

Some people felt strongly that it was too soon for a vaccine to come out and know what the effects are going to be. And these concerns came from people and some health officials. Some paediatricians refused to give out the shots. And this fear didn`t come out of nowhere. There was talk of the swine flu vaccine that hurt lots of people back in the seventies.

The drug administration claimed that the vaccine was safe and stated that the vaccine was manufactured using the same approved ingredients used to produce the seasonal influenza vaccine and that it didn`t contain any new adjuvant which are vaccine additives.

Still people had their doubts. They remembered that over five hundred cases of Guillain Barrre Syndrome were reported and that the vaccine was stopped. They found that the vaccine was actually doing more harm than good.

Officials responded claiming that the vaccine today is different from the vaccine three decades ago. Still, people felt that with a new vaccine it was hard to know what all the side effects would be.

The vaccine comes in three choices. It can be done in two doses for healthy people with an inactivated virus, or it can be in a single shot without the inactivated virus or it can be given through a nasal spray to healthy people two years old and up, and it contains a live attenuated flu virus.

Known side effects to the vaccine are having a mild fever, muscle aches, nausea, headache, fainting, soreness of the arm and a runny nose. The incidence of GBS is reported just as common as in the regular flu shot.

Many people still feel torn as to what to do over the vaccine. Even with all of the information out there, where some are claiming its bad and others say that its fine is still making people feel undecided. Nobody wants to give a vaccine to a child and then find out that it has adverse side effects that later come out. Nor do they want it to happen to themselves. On the other hand some people are just getting the shot and getting on with their lives. So are people just being worry warts over the whole vaccine issue? Only time will tell.

You can have access to articles about health in Portuguese language from page Health Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil