Well, flu season is upon us and this year all the worry is on the H1N1 virus that is poised to become a pandemic. There’s lots of information and disinformation out there that makes it quite confusing. If you have questions, read on. Hopefully I can help point you in the right direction.
There is an excellent Flu Shot FAQ on the background for the flu and flu vaccines at Mental Floss, that seems quite sensible and informative. Another excellent but extremely long article helps dispel some of the disinformation spread by idiots about the flu vaccine. For vaccines in general, you can peruse the Toxic Myths about Vaccines. A lot of the fears of vaccines comes from a misunderstanding about a concept that the amount of a substance is important, not simply the presence. I would recommend that anyone that feels worried about thing like toxins in vaccines, in fish, their homes or whatever really should read “The Dose makes the Poison.” It’s weird, people are perfectly happy to buy strong cleansers that are full of very, very, toxic chemicals that off-gas or evaporate into their homes in shocklingly large quantities, but as soon as they learn that there might be traces of mercury in something, they go crazy. I guess that leads into the second problem, is that people in general are horrible risk evaluators. The perception of risk is often not the real level of risk.
From an epidemiological point of view, watching the progress of H1N1 has been fascinating. The prevalence of the H1N1 virus across the world is also well documented. What is remarkable is the relative dominance of H1N1 over that of other seasonal strains.
