I know the thread was about kids being immunized but I thought the article below was interesting. I did vaccinate my kids but not on the dr's timetable. I'm not convinced that they should all be required. There is a lot of debate about illnesses that are coming back (thought were wiped out yrs ago) due to the number of people not vaccinating. I think it has more to do with the number of immigrants who were never immunized. IMHO
Flu shots a tough sell to health care workers
By MELANIE S. WELTE
Associated Press
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Operating room nurse Pauline Taylor knows her refusal to get a flu shot is based on faulty logic.
But ever since she got sick after getting a shot a few years ago, she’s sworn off the vaccine.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics operating room nurse Pauline Taylor, outside her home in Iowa City, knows her refusal to get a flu shot is based on faulty logic, but ever since she got sick after getting a shot a few years ago, she’s sworn off the vaccine.University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics operating room nurse Pauline Taylor, outside her home in Iowa City, knows her refusal to get a flu shot is based on faulty logic, but ever since she got sick after getting a shot a few years ago, she’s sworn off the vaccine.
“I rarely get sick. The only thing I could narrow it down to is that I had gotten this shot,” said Taylor, who works at University Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City in Iowa. “I know that it’s not a live virus. It just seemed pretty coincidental.”
Such stories frustrate Dr. William Schaffner. As chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University, he hears that kind of talk frequently and knows it’s in part to blame for a surprising statistic —
nearly 60 percent of health care workers fail to get a flu shot. That’s despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all health care workers get vaccinated, from hospital volunteers to doctors.
The nonprofit group educates the public and health care industry about the causes, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. It gets about 75 percent of its budget from major vaccine makers, but executive director Len Novick said the money comes with no strings attached.
Schaffner said health care workers opt not to get vaccinated for the same reasons others are hesitant. Some also don’t realize how easily they can spread the disease, sometimes before they know they’re infected or even if they have only a mild case.
And, he said, there’s the “myth” that you can get flu from the vaccine.
I just copied points of interest (mine). You can read the entire story here
http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/health/stories/2008/10/16/flu_healthcare_workers_hardsell.html