Blog #4 H1N1 vaccine
What side effects should be expected from the H1N1 vaccine? According to an article in the NC Times entitled, “Intense Tracking for Swine Flu Shot’s Side Effects”, the side effects from the “Swine Flu” vaccine are not fully known. The new vaccine for the H1N1 virus came out this month and has been abundantly administered to many Americans in which it was highly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research has shown very mild side effects, from the vaccine thus far, which includes a small, sore, red spot from the shot itself. The main question is whether this new, shortly researched, vaccine causes harmful side effects such as heart attacks, miscarriages, anaphylaxis or Guillain-Barre syndrome-a rare, possibly fatal, paralysis believed to be caused from vaccinations from flu shots? The government will be closely watching the number of these cases to see if there is a rise that may be contributed from the H1N1 vaccine.


So, who cares? Whoever considers getting this vaccine or has had the vaccine should monitor closely and report any abnormal side effects or change in their health. The risk involved in flu vaccinations, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, happens between 1 and 2 out of every 100,000 people. With rapid and mass administration of this new vaccine there are bound to be a rise in cases versus the annual administration from the usual flu vaccine. Dr. Daniel Salmon from the Department of Health and Human Services stated, “Every day, bad things happen to people. When you vaccinate a lot of people in a short period of time, some of those things are going to happen to some people by chance alone.”


So what? Ultimately, what is at stake here is the H1N1 vaccine has not had adequate time in research to determine what are the long term affects from this vaccine. Is it worth getting the vaccine risking the small chance of possible fatal side effects? “Scientists never could prove whether the vaccine really caused the extra risk. The CDC maintains that if the regular winter flu vaccine is related, the risk is no more than a single case per million vaccinated.”

Savannah Moore
http://www.nctimes.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/article