Public refusal to take flu vaccinations worries health experts, fuels pandemic concerns

Carol Forsloff — According to January 10, 2012 reports, approximately 91 percent of the types of flu viruses are ones included in the currently available flu vaccine. The H1N1, or swine flu virus, that has been an ongoing concern since it was identified several years ago, is one of those types presently circulating. Yet, in spite of widespread publicity on television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet, many people refuse to accept the vaccine or the evidence of its protection, fueling pandemic concerns.

Around the country the flu outbreak is reported to be increasing and in some cases to be deadly. Boston, for example, refers to the flu season this year as a public emergency. But if it is an emergency, then why are there people who refuse the vaccine?

In 2009, a research survey found that 60% of Americans refuse to take the flu vaccination. This number reflects specifically the refusal to take the vaccine for the H1N1 flu virus. Reasons given include safety concerns, belief the vaccine won't work, or that there are side effects that can be troublesome. The percentage of those refusing the vaccine in the United States was reflected in the numbers found to refuse it in other parts of the world.

Ethel Hoover, a former nurse for IU Health Hospital Goshen, was recently terminated because of her refusal to take the vaccination, as she cited some of the reasons listed for that refusal. On the other hand, Elaine Cox, Director of Infection Prevention at Riley Hospital for Children, an IU Health Hospital, recommends the vaccine for health workers, saying, “If you go patient to patient, you can be the vector of which the flu is spread,” Cox said. “We get them the flu shot so they won’t unwillingly spread it to patients.” She also recommends college students get vaccinated since the flu symptoms are usually not noticed until three to five days of exposure.

Morbidity rates among young people were especially higher among young people during the outbreak of the swine flu virus in 2009.  By late 2009, 30,000 people had died worldwide.

But despite the entreaties from health care management, people continue to refuse vaccination for the flu. This is in spite of entreaties from national and international organizations and a history of influenza in the recent past that reveals the millions of people that died during epidemics, such as the one in 1918. More recent estimates by researchers indicate global mortality from the 1918-1919 pandemic at anywhere between 30 and 50 million. estimated 675,000 Americans were among that number. Life expectancy in the United States during those years was 20 - 25 years less than it is today, with part of the reason cited as the influenza virus and other diseases for which modern medicine has found prevention.

Some experts maintain vaccinations are being used to control the population, directed at infecting otherwise healthy individuals. An article on this publication presents an interview with one such "expert, "Dr. Rebecca Carley. " I say there is no such thing as a safe vaccine" and goes on the downplay the news information on vaccines such as those for polio viruses, although she has made a generalized statement about all vaccines and their risks. Dr. Carley, however, lost her license to practice, but is the kind of medical expert sometimes cited as an authority by those who retain fears of vaccine risks.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination, especially seniors and children, but also for for  the general population. The Agency maintains that some people can still get the flu even if vaccinated because of age and health factors related to given individuals,  because they were vaccinated after having been exposed to the flu virus, or because they have that small percentage of viruses not covered by the vaccine.

"It’s important that health care providers and the public remember that influenza antiviral medications are a second line of defense against influenza. CDC has recommendations on the use of these medications (sold commercially as “Tamiflu®” and “Relenza®”) to treat influenza illness." The CDC further states that " Influenza vaccination is not a perfect tool, but it is the best tool currently at our disposal to prevent influenza."