Slashdot Mirror


For Some Medical Workers, a Flu Shot Or Possible Job Loss

theodp writes "Want to work at Winthrop Hospital? Roll up your sleeve, and we'll talk. TIME reports that every employee at the Long Island hospital — from doctors and nurses who care for patients to the administrative, housekeeping and food-service personnel — must be vaccinated against both seasonal and H1N1 flu or face termination. The mandate comes from the health department of New York, the first state to require all health-care workers to be vaccinated against influenza. Meanwhile, two-thirds of parents say they'll avoid flu shots for their little ones like, well, the flu. So who should you believe — Dr. Bill Frist or 'Dr.' Bill Maher? Before you decide, perhaps a consultation with Dr. Google is in order."

7 of 541 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Troll

    Aggressive vaccinations are a good thing

    Aggressive vaccinations result in higher incidence of auto-immune diseases over the long term. That's why you shouldn't give your dog annual rabies shots if you want to reduce the risk of arthritis (plus, the shot is good for 10 years, and even the vets will admit that anything over every 3 years is pushing it).

    ANY time you introduce foreign proteins into a host, you're going to provoke an immune response, and the more often you do, the more likely you are to have "your number come up" wrt provoking the wrong type of immune response - one where your body fails to differentiate between the foreign protein, and your own.

    Wash your hands, don't pick your nose, stay away from people who show symptoms, don't share your keyboard, mouse, cell phone, or cup, get plenty of fresh air and exercise, eat right, have adequate ventilation, stay away from smokers, have a glass of something alcoholic every day or two, and you'll be fine, and you'll lower your chances of rheumetoid arthritis in your old age.

  2. What you don't know by iCantSpell · · Score: 0, Troll

    The following is a list of some of the very nasty side effects that the vaccine package insert admits to.....

    *Local injection site reactions (including pain, pain limiting limb movement, redness, swelling, warmth, ecchymosis, induration)
    *Hot flashes/flushes
    *Chills
    *Fever
    *Malaise
    *Shivering
    *Fatigue
    *Asthenia
    *Facial edema.
    *Immune system disorders
    *Hypersensitivity reactions (including throat and/or mouth edema)
    *In rare cases, hypersensitivity reactions have lead to anaphylactic shock and death
    *Cardiovascular disorders
    *Vasculitis (in rare cases with transient renal involvement)
    *Syncope shortly after vaccination
    *Digestive disorders
    *Diarrhea
    *Nausea
    *Vomiting
    *Abdominal pain.
    *Blood and lymphatic disorders
    *Local lymphadenopathy
    *Transient thrombocytopenia.
    *Metabolic and nutritional disorders
    *Loss of appetite.
    *Arthralgia
    *Myalgia
    *Myasthenia
    *Nervous system disorders
    *Headache
    *Dizziness
    *Neuralgia
    *Paraesthesia
    *Febrile convulsions
    *Guillain-Barré Syndrome
    *Myelitis (including encephalomyelitis and transverse myelitis)
    *Neuropathy (including neuritis)
    *Paralysis (including Bell's Palsy)
    *Respiratory disorders
    *Dyspnea
    *Chest pain
    *Cough
    *Pharyngitis
    *Rhinitis
    *Stevens-Johnson syndrome
    *Pruritus
    *Urticaria
    *Rash (including non-specific, maculopapular, and vesiculobulbous).

    - http://www.fluscam.com/Vaccine_Package_Inserts_files/Novartis_A-H1N1_2009_Monvalent_VaccinePackageInsert_BasedOn1980Approvalfor%20Fluvirin_UCM182242.pdf

    http://www.doh.wa.gov/Publicat/2009_news/09-154.htm - "Mercury limits suspended for H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to improve access" (bullshit, but ok)

    FYI, squalene, mercury, adjuvants(look it up), cancer virus cell base = your H1N1 Vaccine

    Die slow, and a happy new year to all.

  3. Re:Flu shots in the era of John Holdren by iCantSpell · · Score: 0, Troll

    Open your eyes, read the facts, and follow the links => http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1400169&cid=29706953

  4. Re:Dumbass by jmitchel!jmitchel.co · · Score: 0, Troll

    I don't have time to google bullshit. You make the stupid claim, you carry the burden of proof.

  5. Re:Good by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yes, you will be fine. Why do you think I specified adequate ventilation? Infected people are virus shedders - you don't want to be breathing in concentrated contaminated air.

    And washing your hands is just bsic hygiene, not OCD.

    You also probably don't have to worry if you were around before 1957 - since you then have immunity to H1N1, since you were exposed to a similar live flu virus that gave broader immunity than todays' crappy vaccines do.

    Speaking of vaccines - The WHO admits that mutated polio vaccine is the source of the polio epidemic in Nigeria.

    So you can take your flu vaccine and stick it up your ... well, I guess they jab it in the arm nowadays :-) I'd warn people to be especially wary of coming into contact with anyone who is using the nasal dose - it's live (well, about as much as you can classify ANY virus as actually being a living thing - they're not, not really. They don't consume food, they can't reproduce on their own, they don't grow over time, they're just a double helix in a thin protein coat that happens to be shaped just right to disrupt cells), and it CAN mutate (it's what the flu does - mutate, mutate, mutate).

    Seriously, I've had the flu ONCE. It taught me the importance of getting enough sleep during flu season.

  6. Re:Good by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Troll
    Look through the thread, and you'll see I've documented all my claims with reliable sources.

    For auto-immune diseases and vaccines - The Lancet - a premiere peer-reviewed medical journal

    For polio vaccine mutating and causing polio in Africa - the World Health Organization - the same people pushing the "OMG vaccinate everyone or we'll all die!"

    For most people not needing the vaccine - see the MANY posts that outline who is at risk - the fat slobs, kids between 6 months and 5 years, pregnant women, and those in bad health. For the fat slobs, I even posted one of the original reports (Reuters, quoting the CDC, several doctors, etc), which has since been pulled off the net because it's "politically incorrect" to say that fat slobs are their own worst enemies, should suck it up, or be prepared to pay the price.

    Why do you seem to think that this version of the flu is special? That it won't succumb to the same basic hygiene precautions that more virulent versions of the flu do? It's weaker than many flus. Immunity to flu is supposed to fade with time because of the mutation of the little bugger, and yet those who were born prior to 1957, exposed to a different variant of swine flu, are STILL pretty resistant - to the point that they are better off than someone who was exposed to H1N1 last year. Guess H1N1 doesn't provoke that good an immune response ...

    If you're not in a high-risk group, you don't NEED the vaccine. It's optional. and it may not work. The virus can mutate, you know. As a matter of fact, it's expected to mutate to a weaker version, and you'll hear everyone going "good thing I got my flu shot!" when the shot had nothing to do with it (but the drug companies will never tell you otherwise).

    So stop accusing me of being a moron when I document what you call "non-sense" with some of the very medical authorities who are doing the current scare-mongering.

  7. Re:Hmmmm by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Troll

    It's been mostly hype and misinformation from the beginning.

    One of my daughters was in Mexico during the initial outbreak. She came back, and a week later, she thought she had it. I told her not to be stupid. "But 151 people died from it!" "No, the number's wrong. They now admit it was 6 people. And no, you don't have it."

    It's the same with the numbers all over - any case that can't be classified as something else is just added to the H1N1 numbers ("we don't actually do a test to see if it's H1N1 - that would be too time-consuming and expensive."). Then the whole "x number of new cases of H1N1" - BFD. Tell me how many DIED, not how many people got it. Oh, the number of dead isn't any worse than any other year? Then fuck off! Of course, that doesn't make headlines, get you a budget, or give you 15 minutes of fame.

    The reason they have to force medical personnel to get the shot is because otherwise, they won't - because they don't trust it!

    And then you see the people going "We need to get everyone immunized - what if this virus mutates into something worse?"

    Well, sunshine, if it DOES mutate into something worse, your shot won't protect you - it wasn't made for the mutation. Better hope you were born before 1957 and that your previous exposure to swine flu is good enough (it appears to be - older people are relatively unaffected, even though it's NOT the exact same strain).

    But seriously, if the medical personnel are so unconvinced that you have to threaten to fire them, there's a reason for such strong resistance. I've never had a shot in the past, and interestingly enough, when the topic came up at the clinic, what I got back was an under-the-breath "I don't blame you. I don't either" - and that was years ago, before all this hype.

    When I was a kid, anyone in the neighborhood got sick, our mothers would get us to all play together so we'd all get it and get over it at the same time. Measles, mumps (which I never did manage to catch), chickenpox ... get it, then get over it. Nowadays, it's "but my little precious is SUFFERING! Can't you see they're SICK! I want some PILLS!" What it really is, is a generation that hasn't got the patience to stay with a sick kid for a day and listen to them being miserable. As a substitute, they'll feed them 4 heaping helpings at every meal, then say "you're not fat, you're big-boned". Yeah, right, kid. Just like their Michelin-Man dad and 2-Ton-Tess mom.