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Polling Booth: The Vaccination Debate

By Marc Lostracco

It’s sick season again, but in the wake of scary-sounding names like swine flu and H1N1, there is increased skepticism around the subject of vaccination. Anti-vaccination activists claim that the materials used in vaccines may cause autism, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and even—in the case of the HPV vaccine—cervical cancer, and that their widespread promotion is motivated by corporate profiteering. Vaccination proponents say that the fear-mongering anti-vaccination campaigns are rooted in bad science and misinformation, and that the increasing hysteria is leaving schools and workplaces alarmingly vulnerable to serious, often life-threatening diseases. In some facilities, like hospitals, seasonal vaccination is mandatory, and while the vast majority of medical and science professionals say that the safety of vaccination is not even worth debating, there are still people who are convinced that vaccines are nothing but trouble.

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  • Phill MV

    Dudes, even just mentioning

    Anti-vaccination activists claim that the materials used in vaccines may cause autism, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and even—in the case of the HPV vaccine—cervical cancer, and that their widespread promotion is motivated by corporate profiteering.

    is kind of irresponsible. Much better to talk about how flu vaccines in general are kind of flakey, or whether we should worry about this strain of H1N1, etc – those are actual topics worth discussing. Bringing these people up is kind of a disservice to your readers.

  • http://undefined mark.

    For me, it’s just that there’s so much conflicting information. I can’t find out if hand sanitizer really does work against the virus (it kills bacteria only?). There are reports that there’s no co-relation between the vaccine and GBS, but my mom got GBS after her flu shot in the early 90s. It doesn’t seem like anyone even knows how a flu (swine or regular) is transmitted and so they just ‘recommend’ using hand sanitizer, cover your mouth when you cough, etc. And the vaccine isn’t ready until weeks after the virus is around… what’s up with that!? Meanwhile, there’s a bunch of people in the US arguing that vaccines have led to higher levels of autism…

  • http://undefined wesshepherd

    I believe the poll is somewhat simplistic as it isn’t possible to generalize that all vaccines are good or all vaccines are bad.
    In the case of H1N1 I believe there is a lot of suspicion regarding what the “experts” actually know. Remember, it was just a couple of months ago that they told us that the regular flu vaccine they’ve been touting would make one more susceptible to catching H1N1.
    And hearing from our Health Ministers and other politicians that getting the vaccine is the best thing to do is practically useless, because politicians just say what they’re supposed to say. I think we all stopped taking their statements at face value a long time ago.
    Will I be getting the vaccine? No. But then I’ve never got a regular flu shot either, and I’ve also never had the flu. Maybe I’m luckier than most, I don’t know, but until more is known about this particular illness and the side effects of any treatment, I’ll avoid the jabs.

  • Mark Ostler

    I think this article says a lot about how many Tory MPs view the H1N1 vaccinations and pandemic. A legitimate question about pregnant women and the H1N1 vaccines elicits disrespectful heckling:
    http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/swineflu/article/717249–tory-heckles-drown-out-liberal-mp-s-flu-questions

  • http://undefined joelphillips

    Hand sanitizer (alcohol) is effective against flu viruses:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_sanitizer
    http://microbiology.suite101.com/article.cfm/alcohol_based_hand_cleansers
    http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/07/does-hand-sanitizer-kill-bacteria-and-viruses/
    There’s good information about there about flu transmission:
    http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/longtermcare.htm
    There is no evidence that vaccines (at least, the MMR vaccine) cause autism. Here’s a great article on what happened in the UK.
    http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/the-medias-mmr-hoax/

  • http://undefined rek

    Still sick, Marc?
    I can’t recall ever getting vaccinated for the flu, even as a kid, unless it was part of a pre-travel cocktail of shots. And I’ve never had the flu.

  • http://undefined mark.

    I’ll ignore wikipedia.
    The second link (microbiology) states: “It is true that some viruses are readily inactivated by alcohol,” and of the “some viruses” it includes the influenza virus. In no uncertain terms, this is saying that hand sanitizer kills the flu virus. Period.
    But the third link (paging dr. gupta) has the doctor say, “There are not a lot of data actually on how effective those sanitizers are against viruses.” He goes on to use the word “inhospitable” – a hand that’s been ‘sanitized’ is only “inhospitable” to the virus.
    This is what I mean by “conflicting information.”