October 28, 2009

H1N1 FLU

I wish that I could figure out which side of the fence I'm sitting on regarding flu shots. I've never had a flu shot in my life and I almost never (touch wood) get the flu. On those few occasions over the years when I had the flu - well, I had the flu...and got over it. Color me skeptical about a vaccination that has been created in record time, approved in record time and is now being marketed by everyone from newspapers to Presidents, from doctors to Prime Ministers. What a wonderful service the pharmaceutical industry is providing to mankind - saving us all so that we can continue to buy our prescriptions, I presume. I am amazed that we have spent decades and billions of dollars trying to find a cure for cancer, AIDS and heart disease without success but in a few short months, this H1N1 vaccination has been foisted upon us as the Saviour of mankind. I have not fallen prey to the previous pandemics like the bird flu, West Nile virus, Mad Cow disease, Hantavirus, ebola and the black plague so perhaps I live some sort of charmed life.
Maybe this one is different.  All the media certainly are saying that it is, not that I think there are that many qualified journalists who also have doctorates in infectious diseases but they are parroting what other so called experts are saying. I am not suggesting that there is some sort of conspiracy about, but the speed with which this has been proclaimed and the magic bullet concocted, approved and delivered is somewhat suspect in my little corner of the world. Perhaps you think that I am just an old, curmudgeonly skeptic but what happens when people start having all sorts of unexpected reactions to the vaccinations? Is this like most other products created in the labs of big pharma and has a laundry list of side effects that are scarier than what it is supposed to cure? If you are going in for the needle - do you know the potential hazards of taking it in the arm?
Perhaps I will wait and let you and a few million others pretend to be lab rats and see what the results are. In the meantime, I will wash my hands frequently and cover my face when you cough.
I guess I'm off the fence for the time-being - is red wine good for the flu too?

No comments:

Post a Comment