The emergence of the Swine Flu and the resulting vaccine has sent conspiracy theorists into overdrive.  One doesn’t have to look very hard to find fringe groups who sincerely believe that the H1N1 virus is a “bioterrorism attack by the New World Order” and that the vaccine itself is a “eugenics weapon” aimed at reducing the world’s population.  As evidence of their theories, they point to the fact that President Obama refuses to have his own children vaccinated against the virus.

Those conspiracy theorists will now have to look elsewhere for their proof as the White House has announced that Sasha and Malia Obama received the H1N1 vaccine last week.

While that should shut the conspiracy theorists up for a while, something tells me it won’t.  The same article on the White House Blog confirms that while the First Daughters were vaccinated against H1N1, the President and his wife were not.  They received only the seasonal flu vaccine.  Of course, the President and First Lady are not in the priority groups for the vaccine as identified the by CDC – those under the age of 24, pregnant women and people with underlying conditions. But a good conspiracy theorist never lets the facts get in the way.

Image: sxc.hu

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With all the concern about swine flu, not to mention the regular flu (hey, remember that?), conversation about the potential dangers of vaccinating our children is bubbling up again.

Jeanne posted an item earlier this week, pegged to a story on Slate, about how non-vaccinated children can have a potentially negative impact on children whose immune systems are compromised by leukemia or other conditions. Shelley Abreu also wrote this piece right here on Babble about why parents should not be afraid to get their children an H1N1 flu vaccine.

But one of the most candid,  no b.s. media reports on the anti-vaccination movement has to be the cover story of November’s Wired magazine. Let’s put it this way: when Jenny McCarthy reads it, she will not be pleased.

Continue reading »

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I’m having a hard time figuring out why perfectly pro-vaccines people are shunning the swine flu shot. Even if you’re very confident you won’t get it, even if you’re confident that if you do get it you won’t die from it, who would even want to suffer through the dang thing in the first place?

Oh, and to then have your kids and whoever else lives with you come down with it? That sounds like a couple of months of absolute misery to me. Am I waiting for the email that our HMO has a nice juicy shot waiting for me and the brood. Yes, yes, yes I am.

But really, how bad could it be? Pretty bad.

The NY Times features Aubrey Opdyke, who was in a coma and nearly died from the swine flu, the saddest part being that her 27-week-old fetus, who was delivered via emergency c-section during yet another lung collapse of the mother’s, did die. Continue reading »

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A midwest school district has said “we get it, kids are getting sick,” and they’re dropping notification calls to parents every time another child is diagnosed with swine flu.

The Wichita school district put out a notification (isn’t that ironic?) to parents last week that they’re calling it quits because the numbers are so high. Continue reading »

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Warnings that the swine flu vaccine will be most effective if given to children doesn’t seem to be swaying the majority of American parents. In a survey by Consumer Reports, sixty-five percent of parents said they won’t be getting the swine flu shot for their kids. Continue reading »

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If you want to get a shot for swine flu, aka H1N1 (or “heinie”, which is not catching on no matter how many times I mention it), you can.

Maybe. Continue reading »

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News that there will be only forty-five million swine flu vaccine doses avialable for millions more Americans might not be so bad after all. A new study indicates vaccinating kids and parents, skipping the rest of the adults, may be enough. Continue reading »

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