Would you take a Swine Flu vaccine shot if needed?

Vaccines are known to help prevent diseases and infections, but sometimes vaccines do more harm to the body then good. An example of this was during the 1976 Swine Flu Outbreak strain. A army recruit was infected, and in fear of a pandemic like 1918, Gerald Ford ordered everyone to get a vaccine shot. The results of the vaccine were that 25 people died from Gullain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). GBS is “an autoimmune reaction of the body that affects the peripheral nerves and causes weakness, paralysis, and occasionally death.” It had turned out that more people had died from the vaccine then the virus.

With the current H1N1 Swine Flu virus people and the government are starting to take some action. It has been reported on April 27th that scientists have begun working on a vaccine against the H1N1 virus.  Influenza centers are currently working on creating a seed vaccine strain which is reported to take 4-5 weeks to create. It is also reported that it would take 6 months to manufacture, but Novavax (a biotech company) said that it can take about half of the estimated time, which is 10-12 weeks. It is still unclear if they have begun manufacturing or not, but it is said that manufacturing will most definitely take place if the current outbreak of H1N1 becomes a pandemic.

How would the vaccine be made: According to LA Times the vaccine is made by “growing samples of flu virus inside fertilized chicken eggs, then breaking out the key proteins that provoke an immune response.” They are then  “purified, tested and packaged into syringes for distribution around the country.”

If they decide to start manufacturing the Swine Flu virus vaccine it would coincide with their current production of normal flu vaccines.

“It will be an extremely difficult decision for the World Health Organization and governments to make,” said Dr Wood.

The final question of this vaccine debate is if  this vaccine be as much as a “flop” as the 1976 vaccine. No one will know for sure, but one thing to know is that much has changed since then. Time has said,

“Genetic advances have given researchers entirely new ways of developing vaccines. For example, instead of using the entire virus or bacterium to activate the human immune system, new strategies rely on genetic snippets from infectious bugs, which can trigger immunity without the risk of infection.”

If Swine Flu becomes a pandemic, then a vaccine would probably be a good solution. To reassure that the current vaccines are safe, Rahul Singhvi, president and CEO of Novavax had this to say:

“We have made vaccines against multiple flu strains and tested them in humans and gotten relevant and robust immune responses, which checks off the major boxes that the technology works against flu.”

Still, no one is 100% sure for anything… so the question I ask of you is, do you think that massive swine flu vaccines will be in production; meaning do you think H1N1 will keep spreading and become a pandemic or not? And if so, would you take a vaccine or would you not?.. Do you think the risks would outweigh the benefits?

Feel free to post your comments!

Tagged as: Swine flu vaccine