Nu är resten av familjen vaccinerad också, hoppas de klarar sig med lika få biverkningar som mej. Men än kan vi inte ropa hej, det tar väl upp emot tre veckor innan man har fullgott skydd om jag förstår det hela rätt!

Trodde faktiskt inte att C skulle ta sprutan för han har varit paniskt rädd i alla år för att ta sprutor. Men det hade gått jättebra sa han, kändes inte det minsta. Och DET är stora ord för att komma från honom vill jag lova!

Här är det riktigt trist väder, regnet fullständigt vräker ner. Mr Hund och jag har trots detta kavat runt ute en stund, ingen av oss var väl helt nöjd med det, men skönt när vi kom in i alla fall

Svininfluensan i media i dag: Aftonbladet, DN

By Christine Moffa, MS, RN, AJN clinical editor

Head in the Sand, by jvh33, via Flickr

A few weeks ago I attended an orientation provided by the New York City Department of Health for a school-based H1N1 vaccination program. Years ago I worked as a school nurse here in New York and I thought participating in the program would be a great way to keep up some clinical skills and spend time with patients. A physician from the bureau of immunization gave an informative lecture reviewing the epidemiology, signs and symptoms, prevention, and treatment of influenza.

There were about 100 nurses in attendance, many of them new graduates who were unable to find full-time work. During a break one of the new grads said to me, “why do we have to sit through this irrelevant lecture?” I couldn’t believe it. If you’re administering a medication, I told her, of course you’d want to understand how it works and why you’re giving it. In addition you need to be able to explain it to the patient or their parent. She rolled her eyes and walked away. And I thought, once again: this is why nurses are not taken seriously as professionals.

Here at the FOX News bureau in Atlanta, we’re awaiting a 12 PM Eastern media briefing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases is scheduled to update reporters on the latest H1N1 activity and the distribution of vaccine.

Last week, the CDC reported a downward trend in influenza activity, but cautioned that it was too early to declare the worst was over. Health experts say holiday travel may cause temporary spikes.

AAA projects 38.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday (a 1.4 percent increase over last year when Thanksgiving travel decreased by more than 25 percent amid concerns over the economic meltdown),

In addition to the usual recommendations to wash hands, cover coughs and get vaccinated as soon as possible, the CDC is urging people not to travel if they’re sick.

As of yesterday, 49,584,300 doses of H1N1 vaccine have shipped nationwide, according to flu.gov.

Although state health departments continue to focus vaccination campaigns on high risk groups, such as children, health care workers, pregnant women and persons with underlying health conditions, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told reporters, vaccine could become available to the general public within the next few weeks.

Canadian health officials have advised doctors in that country to stop using a specific batch of H1N1 vaccine, representing 170 thousand doses, after half a dozen patients had severe allergic reactions. A CDC spokesman says the batch in question is an adjuvanted version of the H1N1 vaccine that is not distributed in the US.

Adjuvants are ingredients added to a vaccine to increase the body’s immune response, which often allows for the use of smaller doses — thereby extending limited vaccine supplies. Although widely used in Europe, Asia and Canada, adjuvants are not currently authorized for use in influenza vaccines here in the US.

Experts say it’s still unclear whether adjuvants played a role in the adverse reactions, or whether some other factor came into play.

Meanwhile, China has reported eight cases of H1N1 mutation. However, Chinese health officials say the variant form of the virus is still prevented by vaccines and responds to anti-viral drugs.

And four patients in an isolated unit at Duke University Medical Center have contracted a strain of H1N1 that shows resistance to Tamiflu, a leading anti-viral drug. However, doctors say this new form of the virus is no more severe than the original.

Early on, researchers warned that the H1N1 virus could mutate or develop resistance to anti-viral drugs. So far, variant forms of the virus do not appear to be in wide circulation.

When I heard the CDC hedge their language over the entire Summer about the future use of adjuvants in vaccines used in the USA, I knew it was only a matter of time before they would move forward. Here’s the press release from Novartis about the facility they set up jointly with HHS:

http://www.novartis.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2009/1356789.shtml

Basel, November 24, 2009 – Today, Novartis officially inaugurated the US’s first ever large-scale flu cell culture vaccine and adjuvant manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina. The facility is a result of a partnership between Novartis and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

….

“We are proud to be one of the first companies to bring influenza cell culture as well as adjuvant technology to the United States,” said Daniel Vasella, CEO and Chairman of Novartis. “We have seen a great need to invest into new technologies for flu vaccines that will allow for quicker and more reliable production capacity. We are pleased to be working closely with the US government to build a world-class, state of the art manufacturing facility in the US that will change the way we manufacture influenza vaccines in the future.”

The total investment in the facility is nearly USD 1 billion, through a partnership between Novartis and HHS to support the design, construction, validation and licensing of the manufacturing facility in Holly Springs.

The operations at this facility will use modern, cell culture-based manufacturing technology. Cell culture-based production operations are cleaner, can be scaled up more quickly to respond to a pandemic and do not rely on eggs for rapid response to a pandemic. Cell culture technology for influenza vaccines is not yet approved in the US, however part of the HHS contract support for Holly Springs includes funding for the development of a flu cell culture vaccine. If licensed in an emergency, the facility will be ready to respond to a pandemic as early as 2011. The plant is planned to be running at full scale commercial production in 2013.

Novartis already operates a cell culture-based manufacturing plant in Marburg, Germany. It is licensed to produce a seasonal cell culture-based influenza vaccine, Optaflu®, which is approved in all 27 member states of the European Union as well as in Iceland and Norway. It currently produces Celtura®, a H1N1 pandemic vaccine licensed in Germany and Switzerland.

The Novartis Holly Springs facility can also start producing MF59®, the Novartis proprietary adjuvant, as early as December 2009. Although not yet approved in the US, studies with adjuvants are currently underway in the US. Results of the most recent clinical trials conducted with the Novartis MF59 adjuvanted cell culture-based vaccine have shown that it is possible to induce protective antibody levels against A(H1N1) infection within two weeks of administration of a single low-dose adjuvanted vaccine. MF59 has also been shown to provide cross-protection across similar strains of a H5N1 virus, which is an additional important element for a pre-pandemic vaccine given that mutations are a common feature of emerging influenza strains.

As part of its partnership with HHS, Novartis is responsible for, among other things, pre-construction document development, land use and zoning, construction, commissioning, validation and licensing of the facilities with the goals of regulatory licensure, manufacture and release of seasonal and pre-pandemic vaccine, as well as provision for pandemic vaccine supply in the event of a pandemic or other vaccines or biologicals in the event of an emergency for an emerging infectious disease. The partnership also requires Novartis to provide two commercial-scale annual lots of pre-pandemic vaccine for a minimum of three years. In addition, HHS has the right to exercise options to purchase additional influenza vaccine over 17 years.

….

Novartis proprietary MF59 adjuvant has an established safety profile, supported by more than 12 years of clinical safety data and more than 45 million doses of commercial use in Europe. The adjuvant has been studied in clinical trials involving more than 33,000 people, including children, and has been licensed for use in people 65 years of age and over in the seasonal influenza vaccine Fluad® since 1997 in the European Union. Novartis also produces two A(H1N1) vaccines, Focetria® and Celtura, which contain MF59 and are available outside the US. Currently, there are no approved vaccines in the United States that contain MF59.

….

Let’s see what else wikipedia has to say about MF59:

MF59 is an immunologic adjuvant that uses squalene. It is Novartis’ proprietary adjuvant that is added to influenza vaccines to help stimulate the human body’s immune response through production of CD4 memory cells. MF59 is the first oil-in-water influenza vaccine adjuvant not to be commercialized in combination with a seasonal influenza virus vaccine.

More info on squalene from wiki.

Info from the DoD website on squalene.

First paragraph:

A few people claim the Department of Defense (DoD) added squalene to anthrax vaccine to stretch the vaccine supply. Four civilian panels have looked into these allegations since 1999 and repeatedly found them groundless. Neither DoD nor anybody else added squalene to anthrax vaccine for our troops. DoD does not conduct illegal experiments.

The biological testing officially ended in 1969 and the chemical testing officially ended in 1975.

I could always switch over to another federal Department and we could look at their history as well.

How about this one or this one. And how could we forget that contaminated Factor 8.

Quote from the video in the last link: “Americans were dying from the product before it was pulled off the market.” The FDA response to the issue was that it be “quietly solved without alerting the Congress, the medical community and the public…”

Yeah, difficult to build up trust once it has been violated…again and again…

My advice to health care practitioners is that they must always fall back on the Hippocratic Oath. I like the wording from the original Greek version (translated to English):

I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement:

To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.

All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.

Firstly I would like to say “Ow!” Secondly I would like to say “Ouch!” Thirdly I would like to do some very offensive swearing. Yes, I had the swine flu vaccination yesterday afternoon and my arm now feels as though elephants have been punching it with their trunks whilst their trunks were curled around enormous tree trunks covered in nails.

There are other side-effects too. My chest  is apparently being sat upon by Fatty Arbuckle; my neck has been thrown down a very deep well shaft and is currently trying to crawl its way back up in order to get on with the job of preventing my head from being all floppy; there is a pain behind my left eye which hurts so much I am not entirely sure I haven’t been mistaken for a former king of England and stuck with a Norman arrow; and I feel close to tears over the slightest of things. Obviously I am almost entirely wrapped up in how dreadful I feel and wondering how long these effects will last, but there is a crumb of concern too for the others who were given the shot yesterday.

The letter from the doctor’s surgery said to come in any time between one and six in the afternoon. I thought I would be clever and get there pretty much at one and get it over and done with. Hmm, so clever that I had to join the queue along with some forty or fifty other folk. I have a ‘normal’ flu jab every year and ordinarily there are maybe two or three other people waiting to have their arms stuck with a pin too. The surgery yesterday was standing room only. I did begin to wonder if most of those who arrived after me were either blind or terminably stupid as, despite clearly being able to see that there was lots of standing space within the room, and having seen that there were more and more people arriving after them, many of them came into the room and stood blocking the doorway. Way to go – let’s fray everyone’s nerves that little bit more by causing an obstruction, shall we?

I’m probably being harsh. I know I was nervous – my wife will testify to that as I was in ‘cheeky schoolboy’ mode, the frame of mind in which I tend to act like a nine year old in public rather than the forty-something allegedly grown-up human I actually am. My mood was not helped by the inevitable chorus of frustrated moaning and the odd voice of misinformed doom and gloom: “I don’t even know why I’m bothering,” I heard one chap say to the person sitting next to him, “There’s already a new strain of the virus which is resistant to this vaccine anyway.” I love the way people spout such desperate ‘certainties’ which are in fact entirely apocryphal, don’t you?

Every couple of minutes somebody’s name would flash up on the digital display board, accompanied by the sort of buzz that I previously assumed was a television sound effect. One woman’s name did not trigger a responding walk to the inner door, through which the two over-worked nurses could be found armed with stabby jabby utensils. A minute or so later that name disappeared and was replaced by someone else’s, someone who spotted they’d been called and went on in for their shot. Maybe five minutes after that a woman came through from reception where she’d presumably been chatting to a friend. A large smiley man told the newcomer that she’d missed her name on the board. “No I haven’t,” she replied. “Yes it came up a few minutes ago,” he insisted. “Rubbish, I’ve only just got here,” she said. Mrs Planet then tried to back the smiley man up and repeated the name that had been on the screen. The woman was having none of it. I wonder if she is still sat in the surgery this morning waiting for her name to come up?

When my name was finally called I walked through, rolled up my sleeve, said “Ow,” as quietly as possible, and that was that. It did hurt more than my seasonal jab has ever done but part of me wanted to believe that was because the nurses were working that little bit faster than usual in order to get through everyone, and were possibly a tiny bit less gentle than they could be. For the rest of the day I was a bit sore on that side but not too bad. And then I woke up in the middle of the night, having rolled over onto the jabbed side at some point, and was in agony. My arm was numb, my neck and eye had begun to hurt and that’s when I noticed how tight my chest had become. Which made me panic and thus tighten my chest even more. I could not get comfortable after that and ended up downstairs on the sofa trying to stay as upright as possible as it seemed the only position which eased the aches and pains a little. I intend to spend most of today catching up on the sleep I didn’t really manage to get last night.

And this is where my concern comes in. I am forty-something and obviously not the fittest of folk otherwise I would not need to worry about the swine flu vaccination in the first place. But I am obviously fitter than quite a few of the mostly elderly people who were also having their shot yesterday. So if I am feeling rotten and miserable today, how on earth are those guys feelings? I do hope they have people with them to help get them through the next day or two while their bodies adjust to having this new stuff pumping through their immune system. And I hope they’ve chosen more uplifting reading material to while away the day. I had already begun to read ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. Well done, Planet Boy, forward thinking there. Oh well, at least it isn’t ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’.

Ce mercredi 25 novembre marque le lancement de la campagne de vaccination contre le virus H1N1 en milieu scolaire. Collégiens et lycéens sont invités dès aujourd’hui à se faire vacciner sous réserve de l’accord de leurs parents. Les écoliers eux, devront attendre « les premiers jours de décembre » a indiqué Roselyne Bachelot.

Fermetures d’écoles à la chaîne

Le coup d’envoi de cette campagne intervient dans un contexte de recrudescence de la pandémie. L’augmentation spectaculaire du nombre d’écoles fermées en atteste clairement. Mardi soir, 315 établissements scolaires étaient fermés pour cause ou suspicion de grippe A. En l’espace d’une semaine, ce nombre a quintuplé.

Les conséquences dans les familles

Les fermetures des établissements scolaires comme des classes relèvent, soit de la compétence des préfectures (au titre de leur pouvoir général de police), soit du ministère de la santé, via le centre interministériel de crise. Ce dernier regroupe les ministères touchés de près ou de loin par la pandémie, comme celui  de la santé, de  l’éducation nationale, ou de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche…). Les préfets devront résoudre le dilemme suivant: limiter la contagion en fermant les écoles mais aussi gérer l’impact sur la vie professionnelle des parents, directement concernés par les problèmes de garde d’enfants. Pour autant, certains ne se découragent pas et optent pour le télétravail, pour eux mêmes comme pour leurs enfants, qui devront utiliser les technologies (radio, tv, web…) pour maintenir une continuité pédagogique. Mais Dominique Rousset, responsable de la Fédération des parents d’élèves des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, reste sceptique :”Cela se saurait si Internet et la télé pouvaient remplacer un enseignant. Vous imaginez un adolescent seul chez lui ? Vous croyez vraiment qu’il va rester toute la journée sur ses devoirs ? », interroge t-elle.

Chômage partiel ou droit de retrait?

La réouverture des établissements sera décidée par les mêmes autorités que celles qui sont compétentes pour leur fermeture. Appel à la solidarité familiale? Echange de bons procédés entres voisins bienveillants? Ces solutions, certes efficaces, ne sauront durer plus de quelques jours. A l’heure actuelle, peu d’entreprises ont élaboré des mesures claires pour répondre à l’absence des parents. Une solution s’offre à l’employeur, saisi par le comité d’entreprise, il peut tenter le recours au chômage partiel, encore faut-il que les conditions le justifient, au choix:

• la conjoncture économique ;
• des difficultés d’approvisionnement en matières premières ou en énergie ;
• un sinistre ou des intempéries de caractère exceptionnel ;
• la transformation, restructuration ou modernisation de l’entreprise ;
• toute autre circonstance de caractère exceptionnel. (la grippe A? )

Une autre solution concerne cette fois le salarié, faire jouer son droit de retrait. Confronté à un danger qu’il juge grave et imminent pour sa vie ou sa santé (par exemple, si c’est une personne “à risques”), tout salarié à le droit d’arrêter son travail, et si nécessaire, de quitter les lieux pour se mettre en sécurité. Il n’a pas besoin de l’accord de l’employeur, mais doit tout de même l’avertir le plus rapidement possible du danger de sa situation, à défaut, avertir le représentant du personnel, ou le comité d’hygiène, de sécurité et des conditions de travail (CHSCT).Le droit de retrait n’entraîne ni sanction, ni retenue sur salaire, mais des attention aux abus car ces derniers peuvent être sanctionnés, notament si la décision du salarié crée pour d’autres personnes une nouvelle situation de danger grave et imminent. (comme par exemple, un déménageur quittant son échelle, laissant un piano à queue tomber sur  Georges Clooney, qui sortait tranquillement de sa boutique préférée…). What else?

Skokie is offering free H1N1 (swine flu) vaccinations to all state residents who are considered at higher risk for the virus during four clinics scheduled for December.

The village is one of the few venues in the area to make available swine flu shots for high-risk residents of all cities and villages after it received 20,000 new doses last week. The clinics are scheduled from noon to 8 p.m. Dec. 3 and Dec. 9 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 at Oakton Community Center, 4701 Oakton St. A total of 5,000 vaccinations will be given at each clinic.

Those interested in receiving the vaccinations must make reservations through Skokie’s Web site at www.skokie.org where an easy-to-follow scheduler is available.

(read the rest of the article)

Click Here to Make an Appointment for the H1N1 Vaccination

Här är det råttjakt morgon, middag och kväll tror jag. Herr Katt har minsann släpat in en levande råtta till mej i kväll. Snäll kisse, ger matte lite käk. Verkar inte alls uppskatta när jag tjoar och härjar. Massor med råttor ute när det är sånt här väder tydligen, och inte vill jag ju ha in dom. Men herr Katt har andra tankar om det tydligen!

Annars är jag mest mätt, belåten och trött. Har vräkt i mig massor med kyckling med jordnötssås, slöat med familjen (jagat råtta) och promenerat med mr Hund. Mr Hunds ben verkar hålla ihop fortfarande, tre veckor och tre dagar sedan något smärtsamt inträffade. Banne mej nästan så man räknar timmarna också. Benskyddet sitter på dagtid fortfarande, men nu får han lite större frihet när vi är ute – något han är riktigt tacksam över!

Vågade mig på spikmattan igår, trots vaccination några dagar tidigare, och det verkar ju ha gått vägen. Inga allvarliga krämpor har uppstått! Så nu får det bli en stund på den igen! Vaccinationsköerna verkar annars skapa en smärre panik kan man läsa i Expressen, folk både stjäl vaccin och bråkar i köerna.

Hello everyone!  We’re still monitoring the H1N1 situation in the European Command area of responsibility.  Vaccinations have begun for our military members and we’re doing our best to get the vaccination to everyone. 

There are still lots of questions out there and I want to answer some of those in this blog.  I will continue to keep you posted on the latest information.  In the meantime, if you have questions you want answered, feel free to comment on my blog and let me know what’s on your mind.

Since vaccinations have started for military members, everyone wants to know when the vaccinations will become available for beneficiaries? 

The H1N1 vaccine for Europe is coming from two sources. The first was purchased by DoD under contract from Novartis. The second was purchased by Health and Human Services from Sanofi to cover all of the U.S. population. This obviously a huge order and production continues.

The DoD shipment arrived first and has been used to cover our active duty folks. Since we had some additional supply of this vaccine, we used the excess to treat our family members who are at highest risk (such as those who are pregnant or with chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and other chronic disease conditions).

The shipment of the HHS vaccine will come in at small amounts at time. Sufficient amounts have been ordered and should be available for all who want it. However, for those unwilling to wait, TriCare has allowed for family members to obtain the vaccination from their local host nation providers without prior approval and then obtain reimbursement for this. While not FDA approved, the European Union has their own equivalent safety and approval process. The current vaccines that are approved by the European Union are produced by known international manufacturers who provide vaccines worldwide for not only Europe but the U.S. and others.

Another question weighing on the minds of many is why young children and young adults experience the heaviest burden from H1N1?

First, children are congregated in schools, daycare centers, playgrounds and other areas where they are in close contact with each other. Children also tend to be less disciplined with hand-washing, cough control and other preventive measures. Children can spread virus for many days without showing symptoms of flu.

Regarding adults, many older adults have been exposed to similar flu viruses during their lifetime and as such may have some level of partial immunity that prevents them getting the disease or they may get a milder form of it. Our younger adults do not have this protection, thus we recommend the vaccination.

Folks are wondering if hand sanitizer is better than the good old washing your hands with soap and water?

Good ol’ soap and water works, as long as you use the soap and you allow sufficient contact time for it to work. Ideally you should lather up and rub for about 30 seconds (about the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday to yourself). Hand sanitizer is a good alternative when traveling or during the day when actual use of soap and water is not available. This helps reduce the germ burden on your hands and limit the spread of disease.

And of course, people want to know if the H1N1 vaccination really works?

The H1N1 vaccine was designed to specifically target this unique pandemic virus. This virus is taking over the usual flu viruses we see seasonally. The vaccine helps us generate protective antibodies against this pandemic strain. While the majority of us do develop protective antibodies, a small number of folks don’t which could lead to a flu episode despite having received a shot. Additionally, the virus may mutate which can also cause a decrease in effectiveness. So far we have not seen this occur. I still strongly recommend you get vaccinated.

Lastly, people are concerned about proper vaccination of their children and are confused about how many doses of vaccine are required for children under 10 years old?

Some kids require twoshots and others only require one. Let me explain.  After doing studies on how effective a single vaccination performed in children, the FDA found that children under 10 did not develop a high enough antibody response to provide adequate protection. The CDC currently recommends that children six months to nine years old, who are receiving the influenza vaccine for the first time, receive two doses, separated by four weeks.

Keep your questions coming!  That’s what I’m here for!

(Col Dave Schall is the European Command Surgeon. He has served in this capacity for over three years. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine. He has a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University. He is board certified in Aerospace/Preventive Medicine as well as Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery. He completed a Fellowship in Otology/Neurotology Skull base surgery.)

The following Ria Novosti press report states that of 1,636,000 victims..Death toll in Ukraine flu, ARVI epidemic reaches 388. The flu is being referred to in many reports as “black lung” flu, pneumonic or hemorrhagic flu.

http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20091124/156960614.html

Please see previous reports here to gain a background to this update.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXcPr3QzChs&NR=1

This Youtube video of a report from RT( Russia Today) looks fairly comprehensively at all aspects of the Ukraine pandemic and even includes the possibility of aerial  spraying from planes over various cities reported by the population around the outbreak of this virus.

British scientists suspect that the swine flu virus has mutated in the Ukraine. Some doctors say that flu in the country has shown unprecedented symptoms, creating the effect of burnt lungs, the  UK Daily Mail reports. The similarity to the 1918 spanish flu and pneumonic flu indicate that this may be a new specially released laboratory combination or the H1N1 with added viruses.   It appears to be very virulent. Many reports have indicated that Tamiflu is not having any effect on this flu and apparently nobody has been vaccinated in the Ukraine so what is being called the “black lung” flu has not been caused by vaccination.   It is reported that the Ukraine has been quarantined by WHO currently and every effort is being made to contain the pandemic.

There are reports on Project Camelot of spraying evidenced over Chicago the recent days…

“     24 November 2009

• As promised, here’s an expanded report from our Ukraine update yesterday.

We’ve not communicated directly with our source, who relayed this report via an intermediary who spoke to her in depth on the phone two days ago. The source is a doctor and qualified nutritionist in Kyiv [Kiev] with recent hands-on experience of treating patients who are seriously ill…. go to http://projectcamelot.org or remainder of report.

“   23 November 2009 – Update 2

• We have just received an indirect report from an apparently reliable source in Ukraine – confirming (in essence) what we reported here yesterday. More on this within 24 hours when we can update in more detail. Our source is keeping patients alive with massive doses of Vitamin D (30,000 IU per day- see our recent interview with Gabriele Stähler). In Russia, the problem is being termed “Mutant Black Lung” – the H1N1 mutation, attacking the bottom of the lungs, which has just been disclosed by the WHO. Ukraine is in partial lockdown and there is quite a lot of chaos. More soon.

“     23 November 2009 – Update 1

• A source is sending us photos of chemtrails seen this weekend in the skies over Chicago area.. stating that this amount of activity appeared to be much worse than previously seen…

They included various photos including this one showing what they labeled as 9 visible chemtrails at once:

They wrote:

I live in a visible path of commercial aircraft that land at Chicago O’Hare. No commercial aircraft came through my sight today during these chemtrails (11 am – 4 pm CST). The commercial aircraft have been put back on their regular paths in my sight since about 6 pm today. It appeared that these chemtrails started south of Chicago at an unknown earlier time and finished in my sight around Milwaukee, WI around 5 pm, from my view. FYI.

They are concerned in case this may be a precursor in spreading the virus. We are posting this for the record at this time in case other reports begin to surface around the U.S. and rest of the world of unusual escalation of chemtrail activity prior to any future outbreaks.
–Kerry Cassidy  “

The purpose of this post is to report the latest on this matter and not to cause fear and negativity. Please remember that the Galactics have advised us that the virulence of these attempts by the dark forces will be neutralised and that although there will be some deaths that these will be mainly contractual agreements to leave the planet at this time.

Blessings

Noeline Clayfield

Reflecting back on the H1N1 outbreak during the Michigan 2009 “MacRib Test”:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1568739/Michigan.News/114.Michigan.Schools.Closed.by.%27Swine.Flu%27

114 Michigan schools have closed so far this school year [within less than a week], amid concerns that Swine Flu is spreading.

School officials across the state are seeing rising student absentee rates.

Martin Ackley is the spokesman for the State Department of Education. He says schools are reacting quickly to reports of H1N1.

Southwest Michigan by itself had more than half of all schools closed nationwide that week due to H1N1 aka swine flu. Despite that, there was barely a mention of Michigan being the “epicenter” (the word used by the CDC in local coverage) in the mainstream media. However, while Michigan schools were closed down and restaurants went empty that week, the MSM only reported school closings in distant countries like Iraq. But, let’s look back a week before the outbreak happened:

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/kalamazoo-1368197-margin-0in.html

The number of flu-like cases in a nine county region of southwest Michigan is nearly double what it was the year before. Experts say the high number of cases is due to H1N1. There have been 1,100 cases since the beginning of 2009.
 
Now, the first H1N1 vaccination clinic is operating in Kalamazoo.
 
The clinic is by invitation only, and first up was health care workers from around Kalamazoo County.

….

Most of those at the clinic Thursday [10-15-09] were given the flu mist, the shots are being saved for those who can’t get the mist because of other health concerns.
 
Among those at the clinic on Thursday were paramedics and public safety officers who are also first responders.

A few days later that area of Michigan became the CDC’s “epicenter” during the week of 10-19-09. Let’s move over to Detroit on the southeastern side of Michigan:

http://www.freep.com/article/20091016/FEATURES08/91016048/1319/Swine-flu-vaccine-arrives–fire-fighters-roll-up-sleeves

Firefighters and other emergency personnel today rolled up their sleeves and submitted their upper arms for the injectable vaccine at the Wayne County Department of Public Health’s administration building in Wayne, as officials repeatedly urged the public to get inoculated.

….

Authorities said they’ve received both injectable vaccine and nasal mist. The mist is now set aside for emergency preparedness and health professionals; the vaccine is being distributed — at least in the district covered by the Wayne County Department of Public Health — to targeted populations.

….

The Wayne County Health Department has made free shots available at the following locations…

Detroit is a major population center and has easy highway access (via interstate 94) to Kalamazoo, but Detroit schools stayed open. BTW, why would a major outbreak happen in a little rural area instead of one of the major population (incubation) centers nearby like Detroit, Chicago, or Indianapolis? Why did the outbreak never cross the state line south of Kalamazoo and enter rural northern Indiana?

In any case the article itself is a bit confusing: the first responders were getting shots, but later it said they’re supposed to get the mist. I guess it’s just a coincidence that the kids of Detroit where their first responders got shots didn’t get sick while the kids around Kalamazoo where their first responders got mist did get sick a week later.

Let’s move over to some other articles that got my attention on vaccines, resistance, and immunity:

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/700026

Unpublished Canadian data are raising concerns about whether it’s a good idea to get a seasonal flu shot this season.

Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the data appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn’t.

A scientific paper has been submitted to a journal and the lead authors – Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston De Serres of Laval University – won’t speak to the media. Journals bar would-be authors from discussing their results publicly before they go through peer review.

That got my attention like a 2×4 to the face considering I received my first seasonal flu shot in 3 years in Fall 2008 and became sick with a very high fever for the first time in at least 5 years in June 2009. I would later find out this fever was during a time our state health officials stated that the only active virus roaming the region was H1N1. I guess it’s just another coincidence…

A number of influenza and infectious diseases experts know of but are unwilling to speak publicly about the paper. But several were quick to note that British and Australian researchers haven’t seen the phenomenon either. The lack of corroboration in other jurisdictions is “a red flag,” said one expert, who does not believe the findings are true.

Another flu expert who was willing to speak on the record said they do not make sense to him either.

“I cannot think of a good reason why this is biologically likely, especially since we have sufficient evidence now that … there is priming in the population by the way the vaccine is working,” said Dr. Arnold Monto, of the University of Michigan.

He was referring to the fact that studies of swine flu vaccine show a single dose induces a strong and likely protective response in teens and adults. That suggests humankind’s long exposure to seasonal H1N1 viruses has “primed” or awakened our immune systems to recognize the new virus and fight it off.

Dr. Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, was reserving judgment on the findings. But he said this kind of effect of previous exposure raising the risk of future illness is seen in some diseases, like dengue fever.

“We don’t see that in flu,” Monto countered.

Unless there is a different sort of “priming” taking place. Or a mismatch. This next article is very important when considering vaccines and the concept of “cellular immunity”:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gJLYIRDvHWdvSLZTUQ_yymuF5rBg

Just when you thought the issue of seasonal and pandemic flu shots couldn’t get any more confusing, European researchers are questioning whether it makes sense to vaccinate little kids against seasonal flu.

The scientists, from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, argue preventing small children from being infected by – and developing immune responses to – seasonal flu viruses might make them more vulnerable when a flu pandemic rolls around.

Note: this is a different set of researchers than the previous article.

But the Dutch scientists, who don’t refer to the Canadian research in their article, say giving kids aged six months to 59 months flu vaccine prevents them from acquiring a broad immune response to flu viruses that can only be induced by infection.

Vaccines trigger development of antibodies to the proteins on the surface of flu viruses, proteins that change often to evade the immune system. But when you catch the flu, something called cellular immunity also kicks in. It teaches the body to recognize other parts of a flu virus; those parts don’t change as much from one virus subtype to another.

The next few paragraphs are extremely important. Read closely:

Without that cellular immunity, the Dutch researchers say, children who experience a pandemic could have more difficulty fighting off the new flu strain. They suggest this may explain why the majority of fatal cases of H5N1 avian influenza have occurred in children and young adults.

They also report that they tested the theory in mice, some of which were vaccinated against the H3N2 strain of flu and others of which were experimentally infected with the same virus.

The mice were then exposed to the highly lethal H5N1 virus. The vaccinated mice died but the mice that had been previously infected with H3N2 suffered milder disease.

….

The Dutch researchers, led by Dr. Guus Rimmelzwaan, say more research is needed to see if their theory is true.

But they also suggest young children who live in areas where H5N1 viruses are endemic in poultry should not be vaccinated against seasonal flu, because blocking the development of cross-protective immune responses in these kids could raise the risk they face if they become infected with H5N1.

I know we started off discussing H1N1 and ended up with H5N1, but this doesn’t change the concept of cellular immunity. This next article explores how parents are approaching the concept of building natural immunity instead of using vaccines:

http://www.thrivinghealthywomen.com/info/infoprint.asp?documentid=397

And although many pediatricians are readying stern lectures in support of vaccinating children, several in Southern California contacted by The Times acknowledged they have doubts about recommending a vaccine that is still in testing for all of their young patients.

“A significant proportion of our population don’t want to get it,” says Sherman Oaks pediatrician Mikayel Abramyan. “I don’t even know whether I will advocate for it right now.”

To date, notes Abramyan, who saw a fair amount of novel H1N1 over the summer, the illness has been mild, and many parents of the children he cares for “want them to get their immunity that way instead of a flu shot,” he says. While Abramyan says he rarely lets such preferences go unchallenged, “it’s a reasonable position, and I understand it on an individual level. . . . I understand where they’re coming from.”

….

“I haven’t seen enough evidence to show that swine flu is as deadly and as scary as it’s made out to be,” says Stuart-Nystrom, who last week was fighting a respiratory infection. Stuart-Nystrom thinks that media outlets have whipped up the threat in a bid to gain viewers. And “anything brought out by big business, by corporations, that makes me wary for sure. . . . I’m not sure they have our interests in mind.”

Nor is the Venice mother confident that the Food and Drug Administration can reliably assure the overall safety of the vaccine. Pointing to a recent spate of contaminated-food recalls, she said that the FDA’s relationship with the industries it regulates may be too close for the agency to operate effectively as an honest broker.

She also voiced the widely held belief that immunity acquired the natural way — through a child’s having caught an illness — is stronger and longer-lasting than that acquired by vaccination. That claim is much debated among physicians and infectious-disease specialists, with evidence falling on both sides of the debate.

….

“There’s so much information out there,” Stuart-Nystrom says. “The scary thing is, you don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Since one paragraph in the above article mentioned a “debate” over the long-lasting effects of vaccination, I’d like to jump to another virus, the vaccines promoted, and their not-so-lasting protection. Here’s one link straight from the FDA:

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm187048.htm

The FDA today approved Cervarix, a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and precancerous lesions caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. The vaccine is approved for use in girls and women ages 10 years through 25 years.

Genital HPV infections are the most common sexually-transmitted diseases in the United States, and HPV types 16 and 18 are the cause of about 70 percent of cervical cancers worldwide.

….

The primary clinical study for Cervarix included more than 18,000 women ages 15 years through 25 years in the United States and 11 other countries. Of these women, about 9,000 received Cervarix and 9,000 received Havrix, a licensed hepatitis A virus vaccine, as a control.

….

Studies also were performed to measure the immune response to Cervarix in girls ages 10 years through 14 years. Their immune response was similar to that of women ages 15 years through 25 years, indicating that the vaccine should have similar effectiveness in the 10 through 14 year age group.

The current data show that Cervarix provides protection for about 6.4 years, but additional information on the length of protection is forthcoming.

No vaccine is 100 percent effective, and Cervarix does not protect against HPV infections that an individual may already have at the time of vaccination, nor does Cervarix necessarily protect against those HPV types not in the vaccine.

Provides protection for 6.4 years against a virus which I’ve heard other people state that most healthy females will overcome on their own. But wait, what else is in this vaccine:

Cervarix contains the adjuvant ASO4. ASO4 is a combination of aluminum hydroxide and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) and is the first vaccine licensed by the FDA that includes MPL as an adjuvant. An adjuvant is a substance incorporated into a vaccine that enhances or directs the immune response of the vaccinated individual.

Little is known about how adjuvants really work and there is a lot of debate in the scientific community. However, every time I hear about a new adjuvant being injected into someone I can’t help but think this is just a modern version of snake oil. Let’s switch to a different HPV vaccine and some recent revelations from one of its former researchers:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/19/cbsnews_investigates/main5253431.shtml

Amid questions about the safety of the HPV vaccine Gardasil one of the lead researchers for the Merck drug is speaking out about its risks, benefits and aggressive marketing.

Dr. Diane Harper says young girls and their parents should receive more complete warnings before receiving the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Dr. Harper helped design and carry out the Phase II and Phase III safety and effectiveness studies to get Gardasil approved, and authored many of the published, scholarly papers about it. She has been a paid speaker and consultant to Merck. It’s highly unusual for a researcher to publicly criticize a medicine or vaccine she helped get approved.

Dr. Harper joins a number of consumer watchdogs, vaccine safety advocates, and parents who question the vaccine’s risk-versus-benefit profile. She says data available for Gardasil shows that it lasts five years; there is no data showing that it remains effective beyond five years.

This raises questions about the CDC’s recommendation that the series of shots be given to girls as young as 11-years old. “If we vaccinate 11 year olds and the protection doesn’t last… we’ve put them at harm from side effects, small but real, for no benefit,” says Dr. Harper. “The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers, they are just postponed, unless the protection lasts for at least 15 years, and over 70% of all sexually active females of all ages are vaccinated.” She also says that enough serious side effects have been reported after Gardasil use that the vaccine could prove riskier than the cervical cancer it purports to prevent. Cervical cancer is usually entirely curable when detected early through normal Pap screenings.

I’m going wrap up this blog post and let you contemplate the “risk-versus-benefit” comment from Dr. Harper. It will be helpful for deeper thinking by putting that comment into context with the earlier articles on cellular immunity, the unintended consequences of vaccinating for weaker (or the wrong) viruses and how this will play into long term health. I will do some more posts on health care in the future. Thanks for reading today.

Defining a “MacRib Test” as used earlier in this post.

I was very grateful the other day for the messages of support and good vibes sent by people after I had written about the fact that I have not been particularly well in recent weeks. Things are moving slowly on that score now. I have had some TB tests results back which were negative (as expected) which means we can no go ahead with a new medication which might help prevent things getting quite so bad in the future. The chest specialist has also set things in motion so that I will soon be able to take part in some pulmonary rehab – basically spending time in the gym at the hospital, not only increasing my fitness by working out on certain machines, but also listening to some health care professionals talk through the ins and outs of certain respiratory conditions and ways of dealing with them and living as healthilty as possible under such circumstances. And today I go for my swine flu jab. Contentious, to some, I know, but for someone with underlying problems like mine it is the smart move to make. I shall let you know if it hurts as much as our neighbour reckons (she ought to know, she had it weeks ago as she is a paediatrician).

Anyway, this all seems pretty positive. And I have also found out that some of the chest pains I have been experiencing are nothing to do with respiratory problems at all. No apparently I have also been suffering with acid reflux, possibly caused by the plethora of anti-biotics which have been pumped through my fragile system in recent months. Had you asked me earlier in the year if I thought acid reflux was a serious condition I’d have said no, thinking it is just a bit of heartburn. I have changed my opinion. It hurts like hell and can send vicious spasms right across the chest and into the neck and throat too. So now I have yet more meds to take, but hopefully they will calm things down. I am also between antibiotics too, so that must also give my stomach acids a better chance of returning to some semblance of balance.

Sometimes the best medicine is other people, of course. Being unwell means I’ve not seen too many people, however, apart from my long-suffering and ever-wonderful wife, without whom I might just give up and go completely mad. I am also very grateful to the people who have been helping to take my mind off of things at times with their excellent blogs, foremost among them being someone who is known to me in the physical world and whose posts keep the grey matter churning: MDS. The others I want to mention today are part of a cyber community which has entertained me – thanks Paudie -  taught me much about sport and now about wider-ranging topics too – thanks Steve - and brought music, opinion and oddities such as yesterday’s kids TV swine flu jab song – thanks Jane. There are many others but these guys are the ones I return to again and again and am always so glad that I do. Check them out.

Maud Olofsson är i blåsväder. Och det är väl bra, eftersom det handlar om vindkraft. Vad pressen tycker är mindre bra är att hennes agerande gynnar företaget där hennes son jobbar. Småsint. Det är inget fel på nepotism – så länge man håller den inom familjen.

Leif

Den där fula tröjan hade hon aldrig köpt innan vaccineringen.

Leif

Inte för inte utsågs den ju till Årets Julklapp.

Leif

Get ready for a tidal wave of flu lies

Desperate. That’s the only word I can come up to describe the people responsible for pushing the flu vaccine.

Public health officials are now chalking up the dangers of the swine flu vaccine to little more than unproven rumors that need to be nipped in the bud. Any supposed side effects are purely coincidental.

So let me get this straight… I’m supposed to overlook the fact that so far in Britain, 22 developed Guillain-Barre syndrome and six died of unexplained causes shortly after receiving the swine flu vaccine?

Those officials may have convinced themselves that’s a coincidence, but I don’t buy it.

Leonard Marcus of Harvard University’s School of Public Health said, “The greatest danger ahead is that there will be coincidental events between (swine flu) vaccination and adverse health events and people will draw conclusions that are not based on science.”

That’s funny. I would have thought that the “greatest danger ahead” would be the aftermath of a mass vaccination program that pumped millions of milliliters of an untested and unproved substance laced with harmful additives into millions of unsuspecting people.

But hey, what do I know?

Of course, if you read the fine print, you’ll see that several of the study’s authors received grants from swine flu manufacturers. Talk about a coincidence…

And just when you thought they couldn’t stoop any lower, the medical powers-that-be are conning pregnant women into getting this vaccine with promises of a healthier baby.

Puh-lease. Talk about a guilt trip! Next thing you know, pregnant women who don’t get this shot will be locked up for child abuse!

The real problem here is that too many pregnant woman are saying “no thanks” to the flu shot – and that’s bad for business. One researcher called the number of pregnant women who get flu shots “dismal.”

I call it dynamite.

These women are among the best-informed and most health-conscious consumers out there, and they’re unwilling to risk the lives of their unborn children for a questionable vaccine.

We could all learn a lesson from them.

And as for the studies showing that babies benefit when their moms get vaccinated — well, you can ignore these studies, because they’re not worth a box of used baby wipes.

Two of the four studies took place entirely in Bangladesh. One of them didn’t compare the flu shot to no vaccination – it compared the flu shot to pneumococcal vaccines. There are so many variables in this one you can’t even begin to make sense of it.

And I’m not going to try, either.-by William Campbell Douglass, M.D.

Today is the first day of the massive vaccination of children against the Mexican flu (H1N1) in the Netherlands.  All children from 6 months to 4 years old will be getting the injection. The family members of children younger than 6 months old will also get the vaccination. In total, about a milllion people are covered by this vaccination order.The vaccination will be given within the span of two weeks, in a military-like operation which was ordered just two weeks ago.

It seems that up to 80% of those called for the vaccination are indeed coming to have their injections.

The Netherlands is ready with enough vaccine for the whole population, if that is needed. So far, it is only the “risk groups” of old people, people with heart or lung sickness, health workers, and now the children who have been called to have their vaccinations. The other groups are in the process of having their vaccinations.

This is the biggest vaccination campaign ever in the Netherlands. It is in response to the pandemic of Mexican flu which has claimed 22 lives in the country.

J’ai longtemps hésité.  Je me suis beaucoup posé de questions. Pourtant, du fait de ma fonction et de mon lieu d’exercice, je n’aurais pas du m’interroger autant. Une infirmière qui bosse en pédiatrie et auprès d’insuffisants respiratoires fait parti des prioritaires à la vaccination antigrippe A.

Prioritaire… « Prioritaire parmi tous les autres » même qu’elle a dit ma ministre de la santé. Prioritaire pour protéger, pour soigner et pour promouvoir la santé. Oui, ok mais aujourd’hui, certainement pas prioritaire pour se faire intoxiquer. Intoxiquer : c’est ce à quoi j’ai pensé, c’est vrai les premiers temps, quand les gentils docteurs de mon unité sont venus me trouver pour me persuader d’aller me faire piquer en même temps qu’eux.

Ils ont bien essayé usant d’arguments sérieux, de statistiques et de chiffres alarmants sur la réalité de l’épidémie de grippe A. Ils m’ont parlé des morts, des syndromes de détresses respiratoires aigus qui affectaient même des personnes sans facteurs de risques.

Leur discours était bien rodé mais à chaque fois, ma réponse l’était tout autant : – comment avoir confiance dans un vaccin dont les firmes pharmaceutiques ont obtenues aux Etats-Unis d’être déchargées en cas de problème ? Et puis, utiliser des adjuvants et des conservateurs sans être vraiment certains de leur innocuité, ce n’est pas franchement se moquer de nous ? Se faire vacciner dans des centres  dédiés (en l’absence totale de règles d’hygiène dans la salle d’attente et en l’absence de mon médecin traitant qui me connaît bien et est capable de me vacciner d’habitude), cela ne défie pas toute logique ?

Franchement, tout cela n’était pas pour moi. Très loin de moi, sauf que…

Sauf, que je suis infirmière ! Bordel, je suis infirmière. Par ma fonction, j’expose ma famille au risque non négligeable de cette grippe A en la ramenant à mon domicile sans le vouloir. Pire encore pour moi, je risque par le biais des consultations de patients d’en contaminer un (nous sommes contagieux 24 heures avant l’apparition des premiers symptômes) et par ce fait, de l’envoyer potentiellement en réanimation. L’idée même d’être responsable d’une dégradation de l’un d’entre eux, je ne peux pas ! Bien sûr et je l’ai déjà dit ici, rien ne vaut les règles d’hygiène. J’aurais très bien pu protéger les patients et ma famille en portant sur mon lieu de travail mon masque en canard et en me lavant mes mains avec une intensité inégalée. Mais, l’idée du doute de contamination et la peur, elle-même, de la grippe A ont achevé de me faire changer d’avis.

Le critère majeur, celui qui a achevé de me convaincre est la situation préoccupante des services de réanimations parisiens qui s’interrogent sur les déprogrammations d’interventions pour libérer d’éventuels de places en réanimations. Moi, qui ai bossé en réanimation pédiatrique néonatale, c’est l’argument de poids. Le truc qui a eu le plus de poids. J’ai vu trop de gosses mourir en réa pour me dire que je risque d’en envoyer. Encore plus, s’il s’agit de la mienne. Je me suis donc fait vacciner, il y a quelques jours. Sans vraiment me sentir à l’aise, en lisant avec beaucoup d’attention la fiche d’informations et demandant à l’infirmière qui serait tenu pour responsable en cas d’effets indésirables survenant après cette vaccination.

A ce jour, ce qui m’inquiète le plus, en dehors du risque lié à la vaccination, c’est la gestion des jours à venir.

En effet, avec l’arrivée exponentielle de cette épidémie, les fermetures de classes qui augmentent, en dehors de tout impact médical, c’est l’impact économique qui m’interroge. Si la France reste  clouée au lit avec un syndrome grippal quelques jours, on fait quoi ? Si les infirmières qui bossent en réanimation et autres n’arrivent pas à faire garder leurs mômes, on fait comment ? Je n’ai pas souhaité l’apocalypse, on pourrait bien la voir venir.

Ce billet n’est pas sponsorisé par l’assurance maladie et ne sera pas ouvert aux commentaires. Ce billet n’est rempli que de mes impressions. Ceux que ce billet dérange peuvent me le dire à cette adresse : milliejolie@gmail.com.

Edit de fin de soirée:  parce que je ne suis pas la seule infirmière qui s’interroge allez lire celui-ci et encore mieux celui-là!

Sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut. I already knew that, but knowing something and actually show behavior which is in accordance with that knowledge is something else. My latest mistake, in a steadily extending line, was when I somehow got involved in a discussion about vaccination. Like in many other countries, many people around here can get vaccinated against H1N1 (or: Mexican flu).
Our best medical experts, health scientists and epidemiologists have been debating this for weeks and decided: yes, for certain groups it is wise to get vaccinated and should they so desire, they should be given the opportunity to do so. As a parent of a five month old son I belong to one of those groups. I hav been informed that my son does not have an increased risk of actually dying of H1N1, however, there is a higher chance that he might need medical care in hospital. I think every parent would do anything to avoid that as well.

The wiser choice
What I also did was read up on the subject as I had also done when it came to all the other vaccinations that babies and infants receive in the Netherlands (like tuberculosis, polio et cetera). I was always a bit sceptical about the idea of injecting perfectly healthy people with all sorts of drugs, so I wanted to know more about it. As it turns out, all scientific evidence points clearly towards: getting vaccinated is the wiser choice.  The diseases that are prevented by it are serious and horrific and the odds of side-effect are very small indeed.

Gullible people
I thought (stupid, stupid, stupid) I could have an intelligent and respectful debate about this with someone who was clearly an anti-vaccine crusader. No way. Within seconds I was treated to an extremely unpleasant mixture of conspiracy theories (our government wants to make us all ill because of the powerful and wealthy vaccination lobby), misinformation (I was informed that there is scientific evidence that vaccination causes autism. I know for a fact: there is no such evidence whatsoever), bad source-material (websites by -mostly- moms who makes claims they do not provide any relevant evidence for) and plain old gossip (our national top medical advisor has shares in pharmaceutical companies (true) which is why he is not to be trusted because vaccines make him rich (not true)). In short: I should have ignored all this. But I didn’t. I explained, calmly or so I thought, why all their theories are dubious,  non-scientific and in fact: dangerous. Gullible people believe them. They do no get -their kids-  vaccinated and people might end up in hospital (let’s not even talk about ‘dead’) because of it. And I am pretty sure that no one of those vaccination critics will take any responsibility for it. It will undoubtedly be the government’s fault yet again.

Stay critical
The anti vaccination lobby’s mantra seems to be: stay critical. Which, as mantras come and go, seems to be a clever one. Unfortunately these ‘critical lobbyists’ have something in common with conspiracy theorist’s; being critical only refers to ‘them’ and never to ‘us’. The anti-vaccination crusaders use unscientific source material, myths and nonsense as arguments, while at the same time spreading lies and gossip about scientists, researchers, policy makers and politicians who have to work by ethical and scientific rules and laws. Perhaps there are good arguments why there is a better alternative to vaccination, but they will come, in time, from the latter group, not the misinformed cynical mob. And in the mean time, all these bad arguments and poorly informed ‘worried parents’ are taking up a lot of research time that could also be used for advancing medical knowledge. Not to mention all the victims of unnecessary diseases.

6 Ways to Stay Healthy While Traveling

Fundamentalist religious people, 9/11 truthers, anti-vaccine conspiracists and all people of that sort have one thing in common. They all ultimately want one thing. I can tell you now that it isn’t the truth. And they sure as hell don’t want rational discourse. They are all out to get one thing: the satisfaction of their personal emotional needs.

These kinds of people did not come to their beliefs because they were convinced by a rational argument. They have either been taught these beliefs by their families, been convinced emotionally, or a combination of the two. The justifications and special pleadings only come after their conversion. This is why a rational argument isn’t going to convince them and neither is all the disconfirming evidence in the universe ever going to change their minds.

And the irrational, illogical, and unscientific nature of their beliefs becomes very clear when their last resort is to hide behind an argument that is unfalsifiable. For religious people it’s God and for 9/11 truthers and anti-vaccine conspiracists it’s a huge government scheme to create a world government or something equally ridiculous. This is usually followed up with an argument from ignorance such as, “You can’t prove that God doesn’t exist”.

This thought process often strikes me when I am about to make a comment in response to another comment or video on youtube made by these types of people. Is there a point in responding to people who don’t think logically? Sometimes I even write out the whole comment and immediately discard it afterwards because I know that I am just going to get a bunch of bullshit back. However, there are times when I feel that a point needs to be made.

The only way to get to these people seems to be an appeal to emotion. But, I am not willing to stoop to this level to convince people. I have more integrity than that.