It's fall, the weather is nice, and flu season is just around the corner. I notice that the Community Pulse question on Healthcare Travelbook today was a survey about flu shots. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell you about some concerning trends that are starting to gain credibility in the minds of many Americans, and how they can effect the health of your community overall. What I wanted to address in today’s blog is a startling movement that is beginning to gain influence throughout many different groups, even some traveling healthcare professionals currently – the anti-vaccine lobby. There are hundreds of websites and pseudo-scientific blogs proclaiming that vaccines are responsible for a variety of illnesses – autism, ADHD, Alzeheimer’s, the list goes on….
What are the facts surrounding these very serious accusations? Is it true that vaccines contain harmful ingredients like aluminum, formaldehyde, mercury, and even antifreeze? Surely these ingredients are harmful when we put them in our bodies, and the risk of catching the flu is still there even if we are vaccinated….so what’s the point?
If we look at these accusations with a skeptical mind and research some of these claims, we will find that the Centers for Disease Control maintains a list of vaccine ingredients sorted by vaccine or ingredient. Using this list we can play “mythbuster” and prove or disprove these claims as scientific or pseudo-scientific. Here's the link.
For sake of keeping this blog concise, I won’t address all of these ingredients and their effects, but I wanted to give one example of an over-hyped additive and explain its use in a vaccine: Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde (or Formalin, the liquid version of Formaldehyde gas) is an ingredient in 4 of the 6 flu vaccines listed on the CDC website, so we know that the flu vaccines listed DO contain a substance that is harmful to humans….if you or I were to drink Formalin it could be fatal. [1] However, if any of you out there have taken a chemistry class or two, (which as healthcare professionals I assume you have) you will know that Formaldehyde is used to sterilize things. Also, another interesting fact about Formaldehyde is that small amounts of Formaldehyde occur naturally in the human body. [2] Upon further investigation, we find that flu vaccines contain LESS Formaldehyde than is found in the human body naturally, so receiving a vaccine that has been sterilized with Formaldehyde or Formalin should have no adverse effect on you.
What about the risks of actually catching the virus you’re being vaccinated against? Yes, this will be a possibility with any vaccine, since vaccines are designed to invoke a response from you immune system. While it is true that sometimes people will become ill after receiving a vaccine, the benefits still largely outweigh the drawbacks. First, in a public health setting, the more people in a community that have a vaccination will lead to a smaller likelihood of a localized outbreak. Second, even if the vaccine does make one slightly ill, the benefits of having antibodies suited for a virus outweigh the inconvenience of a mild immune response.
In closing, some people do have valid reasons for declining a vaccine. If you don’t believe in inoculations because of a philosophical or religious reason, you are certainly entitled to that belief. The main thing to keep in mind is to understand what your objections are, why you have them, and if they are based on philosophy or science. If you are basing your objection on a scientific belief, be sure to fully research these theories and come to a well-informed decision. With such a powerful group of anti-vaccine activists online today, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy.
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