Should we get the swine flu vaccine?

This is a critically important question, particularly if swine flu ripens into the epidemic that public health authorities are warning us about.

So we look for coverage that helps us answer that question. We find creditable stories from many outlets, some of which has been noted here earlier by Charlie Petit. But there are other stories slipping into the news stream that raise concerns about reliability and accuracy.

Two themes caught my eye this morning: Stories about the dangers of vaccine preservatives; and others about health care workers refusing to take the vaccine.

In the first category, see a youtube video that pops up prominently in a Google search, and which has been reposted on various websites. It’s entitled “Makers of the Swine Flu Vaccine Refuse to Take It,” and it comes from RT, an English-language television network based in Moscow. For starters, here’s what the video actually says:

“I know from talking to people in the research community, even scientists who helped develop the vaccine for smallpox are saying they’re not going to take the vaccine and they’re urging their friends and family not to take this vaccine either.”

That’s from Wayne Madsen, an online investigative journalist I’m not familiar with. In an interview in RT’s Washington studio, he says unnamed developers of the smallpox vaccine–not the makers of the flu vaccine–refuse to take it. Perhaps that’s a minor error; his point is that people who make vaccines and know a lot about them don’t want to take this one.

But before we lend too much credibility  to this report, however, stick around for what comes later. He says the vaccine contains thimerosal (some flu vaccines do), and that thimerosal, which contains mercury, has “been proven to cause not only Guillan Barre syndrome but also autism in young children.” [Emphasis mine.]

The CDC begs to differ. “There is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the small amount of thimerosal in vaccines,” on a web page on the seasonal flu vaccine. You can find similar information on the FDA’s website.

Despite these stories, many people still want the vaccine. The New York Times, in a front-page story by Anemona Hartocollis, discusses the huge demand for the swine flu vaccine, and notes that pediatricians are being overwhelmed by demand, even though the vaccine is not yet available. USA Today reminds us that the signs still point to a potentially devastating epidemic, and it includes some helpful news-you-can-use sidebars on the vaccine, including one by Steve Sternberg noting that thimerosal “isn’t thought to pose a problem.”

And what about health care workers refusing to take the vaccines? Many of the stories are coming out of the UK. The Guardian reports that “up to 60% of GPs would oppose being immunised because they are concerned the safety trials will be rushed.” The Telegraph hits the other side of the story, quoting authorities who say doctors are “potentially putting patients at risk if they refuse the swine flu vaccine.”

On this side of the Atlantic, Donald G. McNeil Jr. and Karen Zraick covered the issue for The New York Times on Sept. 20, reporting that health care workers oppose a rule that they must get the vaccine. The story includes this tidbit: “Across the country, federal health officials say, only about 42 percent of all health care workers get an annual flu shot.” I caught part of an interview on WNYC this morning featuring a health-care worker angry that she was being forced to get the vaccine.

At issue here is whether these stories, while accurate in their particulars, provide a confusing message to the public.

It’s clear that public-health authorities believe Americans should be vaccinated with both the swine-flu vaccine and the seasonal-flu vaccine. But when we write that many health workers are not getting vaccinated, do we not convey the idea that vaccination may be a bad thing? And isn’t that contrary to what our reporting is telling us?

I’m not suggesting that we ignore or suppress stories about swine flu dissidents. I’m saying that these stories require particular care if we want to report the disagreements without confusing our readers.

- Paul Raeburn

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Health & Medicine Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.