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H1N1 Vaccine: A total lack of information

Page history last edited by Justin Spratt 13 years, 11 months ago

I am attending college, and my campus is covered in leaflets regarding the H1N1 stating, "Get vaccinated. The single best way to prevent influenza is to get vaccinated."

 

I then wrote the campus nurse the following:


Hello.

Can you please direct me to a scholarly source (scientific study with a p-value) indicating the effectiveness of the H1N1 vaccine to be administered by Campus Health Services?

Thank you,

Justin


 

The response is as follows:


HI Justin,

Campus Health Services provides students with medical care and is not a research sight.  We depend on the CDC, WHO, and Public Health Dept. to evaluate pertinent research and make safe recommendations for the general public.  Given the demands on my time in Campus Health right now, I cannot provide the study you ask for.  Can you provide me with a scientific study (including p-value) that indicates it is unsafe or ineffective?

I can tell you that the H1N1 vaccine has been produced in exactly the same way that the seasonal influenza vaccine is produced.  If the H1N1 virus had surfaced earlier last winter/spring, the vaccine for it would have been included in the seasonal vaccine for this year.  Over the course of the last 20 years there have been over 30 studies done that have proven the seasonal vaccine to be safe and effective.  Given the H1N1 vaccine went through the same process of development and testing, it is deemed to be as safe and effective as seasonal flu vaccine.

Thank you,

[Nuse's name]


 

In other words, "Trust me, this is good for you."  Also, apparently, burden of proof is not a topic that got covered in her nursing education: I have to prove that unproven vaccines are unsafe in order not to take them.

 

As it turns out, the public will be the test, the H1N1 studies are not complete, and the German politicians get a special version of the vaccine.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1

 

 

 

 


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