False beliefs about immunization risks present challenges to world health

Flu vaccinations

 Carol Forsloff------A maintenance man came by to do the regular furnace check up and maintenance in an apartment, mentioning how glad he was to be back at work having had the flu for several weeks.  He said, "You know, I got the flu shot in the morning, and that night I got the flu?  Wonder if you can get the flu by getting that shot?

Embedded in the man's questions are several misconceptions about the flu shot.  These days, in fact, those misconceptions are being reinforced by bloggers and people posting on Facebook, many of them using information that is not medically sourced or part of some conspiracy theory regarding government control.

People claim that the flu shots actually have a type of poison that is far more deadly than the flu itself.  Others maintain you can get the flu, from an influenza shot, while others claim that by encouraging people to get the immunizations one is aiding and abetting governments and other groups in the control of innocent citizens by getting them sick or creating fear where there is no rational reason for it.    For example, some Pakistanis spurn polio vaccinations because of the belief the immunizations from the West are offered as a means of controlling the under-developed nations.  And some bloggers go so far as to claim that those journalists who write about immunizations and offer the recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control as agencies of credibility are aiding some sort of "enemy" influence, either of control or to manipulate people for some ulterior motive.

These kinds of stories circulate to the detriment of a vulnerable world population where certain diseases have been spread by one person in contact with another who has not had immunizations.  Furthermore there are whole countries that resist immunization, and some of these countries have citizens traveling abroad who then expose others to whatever viruses are present in those countries.

Those who repeat these stories fail to examine the credentials of those offering the information.  In an article by someone making a false claim about influenza, the reader should observe there is no reference as to the source, author or references to support the claim that immunizations caused the Spanish influenza epidemic in 1918.  Yet it occupies a page on the Internet that someone will cut and paste and forward to someone else, or offer as credible evidence on Facebook to support an opinion that folks should not get immunized.

Scientists also tell us that diseases are increasingly resistant to protection because new strains of these diseases develop.    Furthermore new diseases can emerge as populations move onto lands with few inhabitants who have natural immunity from diseases in their communities.  Then with large population growth more people have contact with these diseases.  In addition the indigenous people are exposed to diseases for which they have no protection, and many die.  This occurred in the case of the Hawaiians, who had not been exposed to diseases of the West,  then died in great numbers after being exposed  to these diseases by settlers from the West.

But here are some of the facts that are most important for the protection of everyone.  First of all, the flu virus offers a protection and not a guarantee.  It reduces the potential of getting sick; it does not totally eliminate that potential.  Second, it has long been established that the flu immunization does not cause influenza.  And finally the form of influenza that can become fatal is of great consequence to scores of people.  In past centuries many thousands of people died from strains of diseases before immunization.  Now many of these diseases have been sharply reduced because modern medicine has offered protection from them.

Finally those who believe that the government is specifically causing a scare in order to control others is part of a long-standing practice of offering negative material, believing people will be drawn to it; and the individual offering it consequently thought of as somehow smarter or superior to health agencies for knowing something different or standing up on behalf of the people.  Often the facts used by these people who negate the value of immunizations use medical groups or individuals as evidence for their claims who do not come from recognized medical groups or who may not even be licensed to practice medicine in the developed world.

The maintenance man is one person among many with misconceptions about immunizations, but many of these misconceptions proliferate through false beliefs repeated over and over.  To claim that because a child or anyone has the flu in spite of having the flu shot as evidence that the shot is useless is a claim that refuses to recognize, or even mention, how these immunizations are offered:  as a means to reduce either the severity of the illness or to minimize one's chances of getting the disease.  It is much better than the alternative, which in the case of the more virulent strains, is death.

These false beliefs, world health experts tell us, are serious challenges to world health.