PSW - Double-Edged Sword: Swine Flu and Vaccines

Double-Edged Sword: Swine Flu and Vaccines

By guest author Terry Doherty and Ilene, your editor at Phil's Stock World

Terry Doherty is the Research Program Coordinator in the Depts of Biomedical Sciences and Academic Affairs at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles, California.

My point in this article is that there’s plenty that is unknown about the swine flu and the swine flu vaccine.  Deciding whether or not to be vaccinated may be a tough decision.  A lot of emotion may go into the decision making-process.  How - without having the background to write a swine flu study grant proposal, conduct the research, and get the thing published in the New England Journal of Medicine - do we decide whether or not to get a swine flu shot?  

One way is to attempt to evaluate and weigh the risks of the vaccine against the risks of the flu.  That is how I approach the subject but it’s easier said than done.  As is often the case with medical interventions, the risks are not fully known. And even if you’ve carefully assessed the risks based on available evidence, your underlying assumptions may be entirely wrong.  Besides the holes in the available data, personal beliefs and biases may drastically affect our thinking in such matters.   

.... Continued here