FORCED swine flu vaccinations in the U.S.?

[The_Absolute]

I am concerned that the swine flu vaccines being mass-produced and given to people by the United States government in the fall of this year, will be forcefully given to the entire U.S. population mandated by federal law. Have you heard anything about this?

 

[Moonbear]

I haven't heard anything about such a thing. Where have you heard it? There isn't a lot of basis for requiring a flu vaccination. For most people, the flu isn't that big of a deal, so the risk of illness doesn't outweigh the risk of the vaccine. Those who are in higher risk groups generally get it voluntarily.

And, the other issue with flu vaccines is the rate of mutation and predicting which strains will be prevalent in any given year. There's not a lot of guarantee that the vaccine will be effective against the prevalent strain given the amount of time between selecting the strain to which the vaccine is developed and when the production is completed.

 

[ZacharyFino]

maybe they won't mandate it but rather convince a lot of people to get the vaccine. I've had swine flu before and it isn't any different than regular flu (my case at least, which was worse than all the others they had that month). i would say the numb population will get the vaccine more than others.

 

[mgb_phys]

maybe they won't mandate it but rather convince a lot of people to get the vaccine.

There are only about 60m pigs in the US and 300m people, wouldn't it be easier to vaccinate the pigs?

 

[ZacharyFino]

There are only about 60m pigs in the US and 300m people, wouldn't it be easier to vaccinate the pigs?

the H1N1 virus or any other swine flu most efficiently spreads to humans through human to human interaction and not so much human to pig interaction although in rarer cases it does and that begins a new strand that can attempt to spread again to another person and become transmittable virus. but swine flu is easily dealt with and isn't a large enough threat to be above other important issues in priority.

 

[ZacharyFino]

But actually if you isolate the threat from the pigs you take away the infinite possible retransmissions to people once the "human to human" strands are dealt with and contained. that would more thoroughly solve the problem and be much easier in practice than to spend more and more money during every retransmission to humans. i wasn't thinking long term, but in ways of battling a forever existing problem, not that this matters because it isn't a major issue in relation to others we have and will continue to have.

 

[Moonbear]

There are already flu vaccines for pigs, just as there are for humans. But, just as with humans, there are many strains of flu that pigs catch too...and every so often, humans transmit a new strain TO pigs allowing for new strain recombinations to occur in the pig to give back to the humans. The lay public seems to treat the transmission of flu virus across species as a one-way phenomenon, only going from pigs or birds to humans. But, it can happen in any direction. Humans can infect pigs too, and it's this exchange of viruses back and forth that allows strains like the current one that's a mix of flu from three different species to form.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/key_facts.htm

 

[The_Absolute]

Could the swine flu last for many years?

 

[fleem]

Fortunately in the USA the medical business is privatized so there is no interference by the government and no consideration of the commercial impact in government policy.

Although its not as bad as some countries, note that in 2007 the pharma companies spent $168M lobbying. They spend that because they've seen it change legislation in the past. I wouldn't doubt there is under-the-table money, as well.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Personally, I think the likelihood of the government using H1N1 flu to abuse its powers is less than the likelihood of H1N1 flu actually becoming a particularly deadly pandemic. Yes, there are reasons to be concerned about rushing out untested vaccines and potential policies that could be enforced to contain the flu, but there are also legitimate reasons to plan for the case where H1N1 does become a serious public health threat. Just because these plans are in place does not mean they will be used if H1N1 remains fairly mild.

 

[mgb_phys]

Personally, I think the likelihood of the government using H1N1 flu to abuse its powers is less than the likelihood of H1N1 flu actually becoming a particularly deadly pandemic.

Using H1N1 as an excuse to give free vaccinations to everybody - unlikely.
But using it as an excuse for a law which makes it more difficult to sue drug companies for vaccine side effects ?

 

[russ_watters]

Could the swine flu last for many years?

It already has been around for decades(centuries?)!

 

[mgb_phys]

Apparently it's not the pigs you have to worry about, it's having swine flu while being morbidly obese http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aM.7Dg3Z_msI

 

[vociferous]

If the government does not mandate it for serious diseases, then it seems incredibly unlikely that there would be any kind of mandatory flu vaccine, unless it were absolutely needed. Swine flu is simply not that big of a threat right now.

Personally, I would like to see the federal and state governments take stronger legal sanctions against individuals who refuse to vaccinate their children for non-medical reasons. We are starting to see isolated outbreaks of serious diseases that routine childhood vaccinations normally present, but are able to gain a foothold because the "herd immunity" has dipped far enough to no longer be effective.

 

[Phrak]

Personally, I would like to see the federal and state governments take stronger legal sanctions against individuals who refuse to vaccinate their children for non-medical reasons. We are starting to see isolated outbreaks of serious diseases that routine childhood vaccinations normally present, but are able to gain a foothold because the "herd immunity" has dipped far enough to no longer be effective.

Yeah, but you would probably want a law that forces people to wear seatbelts. Fine people; take their earnings, and threaten them with incarceration if they don't pay up if they get caught without a safety belt. All for their own good, for course. We the government know better than you the fool. Oh, wait, they already do that. Nevermind.

 

[mgb_phys]

Yeah, but you would probably want a law that forces people to wear seatbelts.

But not wearing seatbelts is good for the rest of the community (assuming you have an organ doner card)
Not vaccinating your kids risks other people, it's more like forcing people to clear brushwood in fire season.

 

[kldickson]

Phrak, not wearing your seatbelt doesn't put populations at risk. It puts you at risk.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, but you would probably want a law that forces people to wear seatbelts. Fine people; take their earnings, and threaten them with incarceration if they don't pay up if they get caught without a safety belt. All for their own good, for course. We the government know better than you the fool. Oh, wait, they already do that. Nevermind.

Yikes. I see from the number of deleted posts that this is a problematic thread, but I'd like to chime in as an EMT please.

The seatbelt laws and helmet laws are not in place to protect consenting adults from themselves. They are in place to lower the shared medical costs. I don't want to pay for your negligence. That's the botttom line.

And there is a different line on the H1N1 vaccine. There, refusal to take the vaccine shot puts me and my family and my friends at risk. You can refuse, but you belong in a quarantine of sorts if you do refuse, IMO.

 

[Phrak]

Yikes. I see from the number of deleted posts that this is a problematic thread, but I'd like to chime in as an EMT please.

The seatbelt laws and helmet laws are not in place to protect consenting adults from themselves. They are in place to lower the shared medical costs. I don't want to pay for your negligence. That's the botttom line.

And there is a different line on the H1N1 vaccine. There, refusal to take the vaccine shot puts me and my family and my friends at risk. You can refuse, but you belong in a quarantine of sorts if you do refuse, IMO.

What's an EMT?

But this is the similarity I was attempting to convey. But I think if we were to do a little research into this we would find that there was no grass roots effort by concerned citizens to lower their insurance costs, but lobbying instead, by insurance companies intested in reducing the liability side of their business interests.

I think this is all moot, in any case. We have plenty of experience in psy ops to convince most everybody, most of the time about most anything.

 

[berkeman]

What's an EMT?

Emergency Medical Technician:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_medical_technician

.

 

[Cincinnatus]

I think this is all moot, in any case. We have plenty of experience in psy ops to convince most everybody, most of the time about most anything.

what are you talking about?