Does The Vaccine Matter?

Shannon Brownlee - Senior Research Fellow, Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation

The safety of the swine flu vaccine remains to be seen. In the absence of better evidence, vaccines and antivirals must be viewed as only partial and uncertain defenses against the flu. And they may be mere talismans. By being afraid to do the proper studies now, we may be condemning ourselves to using treatments based on illusion and faith rather than sound science. Dr Tom Jefferson MD, head of the Vaccines Field at the Cochrane Collaboration, said: "The vast majority of the studies were deeply flawed. Rubbish is not a scientific term, but I think it's the term that applies." As with vaccines, the scientific evidence for Tamiflu and Relenza is thin at best. The possibility, of course, is that we're relying heavily on vaccines and antivirals that simply don't work, or don't work as well as we believe. And as a result, we may be neglecting other, proven measures that could minimize the death rate during pandemics. One Click writes: Journalists take not e. Much evidence and stats for your features. From the antivirals to the vaccines, this paper is THE MUST READ OF THE MONTH.

Shannon Brownlee, Senior Research Fellow, Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation

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* UK Government Swine Flu Dealers Busted In Public
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* GSK’s Pandemrix Swine Flu Vaccine - Pandora's Box Release
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* Swine Flu: To Vaccinate Or Not?
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New York Judge Blocks Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccines

A New York State judge on Friday suspended a health regulation that would compel hundreds of thousands of health care workers and hospital volunteers to be vaccinated for seasonal and swine flu. The litigation in Albany and a parallel case in New York City reflect an undercurrent of public anxiety about the swine flu vaccine. Terence L. Kindlon, a lawyer for three nurses who filed one of the suits said: “They’re saying: 'We don’t need this vaccination. We don’t think, for any number of reasons, it’s effective or necessary. It might be harmful to us. It hasn’t been adequately tested.’”.

Anemona Hartocollis & Sewell Chan, The New York Times

Related Links:
* Pregnant Women In Britain Given Untested Swine Flu Vaccine Against WHO Advice
Thomas Moore, Sky News