Flu facts and myths

  • Published
  • By Nancy Driscoll
  • 452 AMW Public Health Office
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Unlike the rampant H1N1 rumors and e-mail forwards currently in circulation, messages from all official medical and scientific resources-- civilian, state, county, federal, military--are consistent and based on measurable, objective data. A quick browse on the Internet yields a disturbing amount of false information about the seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus, and the H1N1 vaccine. 

One e-mail that claimed to have been written by a doctor recommended extreme measures such as "not getting flu shots because the vaccine is a very powerful immune system stimulant making flu viruses more lethal." This is not true. 

A very healthy, responsive immune system is what helps to overcome viral and bacterial infections. The recommendation to "forego flu vaccine and take vitamin D3 to prevent the flu" is inaccurate at best. Vitamin D3 is a very important vitamin-hormone, playing an important role in bone, teeth, neurological, skin and intestinal health. This advice, if followed, could actually put a person in serious medical danger, especially if they had underlying chronic medical conditions. 

The bottom line is: be very skeptical of H1N1 information unless it's coming from an official source, such as the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, Health and Human Services and renowned medical centers. 

FIVE FLU MYTHS DEBUNKED 

Source: Office of the Surgeon General, Assistant Surgeon General, Dr. Anne Schuchat's Oct. 30 responses to a question and answer session on "The Doctors," a daily TV show with four career physicians in different specialty areas, addressing today's medical-surgical issues and answering viewer's questions. 

1. Vaccines that contain Thimerosal are unsafe for children and pregnant women.
"It is safe for children and pregnant women to receive flu vaccine that contains Thimerosal. The intra-nasal and single dose injectable flu vaccines do not have Thimerosal; only the multi-dose injectable vials contain 0.01% Thimerosal as a preservative." 

2. The federal government is running a mandatory vaccination campaign. 

"The federal government's vaccination program for seasonal and H1N1 is voluntary. Some hospitals and local communities are requiring that health care workers get flu vaccinations. The petition on a few select internet sites protesting the federal government's "mandatory" vaccination campaign is simply false in its claims." (NOTE: The Department of Defense does require all uniformed personnel, active, guard, reserve, to be vaccinated for both the seasonal and H1N1 influenzas.) 

3. You need to get two doses of H1N1 vaccine, and it takes one month between each dose. 

"Based on the clinical trials done by the National Institute of Health and flu vaccine manufacturers, the H1N1 vaccine is a very good match to the H1N1 virus in circulation worldwide, and adults and children 10 years of age and older only need one dose of vaccine. Children 9 years of age and younger, receiving the seasonal and/or H1N1 vaccine for the first time should receive two doses 4-weeks apart." 

4. The new vaccine is untested and is unsafe. 

"Clinical trials ongoing since July '09 by the National Institute of Health, the vaccine manufacturers and other research centers have shown the new H1N1 vaccine is both safe and effective. The FDA has licensed it. There have been no safety shortcuts. The H1N1 vaccine was produced in exactly the same way the seasonal flu vaccine is produced every year. Our top doctors and scientists believe the risk of flu, especially for pregnant women, children, and people with chronic health conditions, is greater than any risk that might come from the H1N1 vaccine." 

5. You can get infected with H1N1 virus from eating pork and drinking water. 

"False. The 2009-H1N1 virus is not spread by food or water. Eating properly cooked and handled food, including pork, is safe. The chlorination process used in our portable water systems is designed to kill organisms (bacterial and viral)."