- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 6
- 20
-
Sparkle (1)
Google the word "flu," and you will be bombarded with scare tactics (and guilt tactics) to influence you to get a flu shot. In addition, there are many pieces of writing out there right now trying to influence public opinion about making flu shots mandatory for all health care workers. The idea of making the flu shot mandatory for anyone is disturbing to me. And if you think you don't have to worry because you're not a health care worker, think again. It's a very slippery slope.
I'm not here to tell you that you shouldn't get a flu shot; but I am here to tell you that flu shots should NOT be mandatory for health care workers or anyone else. Let's start with an analogy (because I love analogies, and I don't get to mention them half as much as I would like to).
The flu is like an impending hurricane or snow-storm (depending on what part of the country you are from).
You see, the media loves a good impending hurricane or snowstorm. They can be tracked for days (even weeks) before they ever actually hit, causing everyone to panic and purchase all the necessities for the "just in case" scenario. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't be prepared for these possible storms, but fear and over-preparation are rarely helpful. And although much of the time they get it wrong, the media still loves a good weather threat.
Let's just say the media was reporting a 10-20 percent chance the storm was going to hit your neighborhood. What would be your level of concern? Personally, I live in Florida, and if there was a 10-20 percent chance of a hurricane hitting, I'm not even worried enough to get bottled water at that point.
So, how does the flu come into this analogy? Well, I'm trying to find out at what point you become concerned about your chances of catching the flu this winter? How high would your chances of getting the flu have to be before you got a flu vaccine? Do you even know how high your chances are of getting the flu in any given year? With all the hype about getting a flu vaccine, it must be pretty high, right? Well, I guess that depends on what you consider high. Is a 50 percent chance of getting the flu high enough? What about 40 percent?
Now, what if your chances of getting the flu (without taking a vaccine) was between 5 to 20 percent? And yes, that is the actual percentage (from the CDC) of people who develop the flu in a given year. Would you get the vaccine then?
Like I said, I'm not telling anyone not to get the flu vaccine, just that it should be a decision each person makes for themselves and their family (based on the facts).
And for the number crunchers among us ...
We all know the flu vaccine is not 100% effective at protecting anyone from the flu. But did you know this?
In any given year an estimated 10 to 20 percent of vaccinated people will still get the flu. So, even if every person in the country was vaccinated, each year between 10 and 20 percent of people would still get the flu. That's not much different than 5 to 20 percent of non-vaccinated people. It seems to me that statistically speaking, the fear quotient is a lot higher than it should be based on the actual numbers. What do you think?
Even if you believe the risk of catching the flu to be low, it's still YOUR choice to decide whether or not to get vaccinated. And I believe that this choice should NOT be taken away from you or health care workers.
From the AP -- Group backs mandatory flu shots for health care workers.
In a new policy statement released Wednesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics says voluntary vaccination programs just haven't worked. Too many health workers still shun annual flu
