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Nesaie
B.V. Info-a-holic
Joined: Aug 04, 2005
Posts: 10412
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 Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:57 am Post subject: |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6087270.stm
Winter flu jabs evidence queried
There is not enough evidence to support the policy of immunising people against seasonal flu, an expert has claimed.
Given the huge resources involved in yearly vaccination campaigns, an urgent re-evaluation is needed, Tom Jefferson says in the British Medical Journal.
Mr Jefferson said when he studied the data much of the work was flawed and he found little proof of the jab's merit.
BMJ editor Fiona Godlee criticised the way the UK evaluated the merits and costs of jabs and called for change.
The government's drugs watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), has already said it would be happy to take over this job.
Ms Fiona Godlee said: "The problem is that the UK has no transparent process for evaluating the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of vaccines.
"NICE would like to take this on. The government should let it."
Currently, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory committee first set up in 1963, does this.
Policy versus evidence
In the UK, experts say groups most at risk, such as the elderly, should get the vaccine during the flu season.
But it is difficult for scientists to make the vaccine because the influenza viruses mutate and the strains circulating vary from year to year.
This also makes it difficult for scientists to study the precise effects of vaccines, said Mr Jefferson, who works for the Cochrane Library - a body that determines the relative effectiveness of health interventions.
He said the most reliable way to judge their effects was to use systematic reviews - impartial summaries of evidence from many different studies.
But when he did this, he found flu vaccines had little or no effect on many influenza campaign objectives such as hospital stay, time off work, or death from influenza and its complications.
Most studies were of poor quality and there was little evidence on vaccine safety.
Mr Jefferson said: "There is a misfit between the evidence and policy, and tax payers ought to ask why."
He said it was possible that some of the sickness labelled as flu was actually due to other infections, which would cloud the picture.
Best guess
This is compounded by a lack of accurate and fast surveillance systems that can tell what viruses are circulating in a setting or community within a short time frame.
In the hurry to prevent sickness and deaths, vaccine campaigns begin before more precise information about the circulating virus is available, he said.
"Given the huge resources involved, a re-evaluation should be urgently undertaken," he said.
Last year's flu campaign cost £115 million.
Dr David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said evidence showed flu vaccines could give up to 80% protection from infection and prevented hospitalisations and deaths.
He acknowledged that the vaccines were not perfect, but said: "We are hopeful that new vaccines currently in development may overcome some of the concerns raised about efficacy."
He said the JCVI's work was open to public scrutiny and that the committee would consider Dr Jefferson's research.
Dr Douglas Fleming, director of the Royal College of GPs' Flu Unit, said: "We need to support the flu vaccination programme.
"There is good evidence from clinical trials that flu and its more serious effects are prevented by vaccination when you look at the community effect." |
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Nesaie
B.V. Info-a-holic
Joined: Aug 04, 2005
Posts: 10412
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 3:00 am Post subject: |
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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E5D61030F936A25752C0A9629C8B63
Vaccine Is Said to Fail to Protect Against Flu Strain
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
A small study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that this season's influenza vaccine failed to protect against the Fujian strain that has caused most cases.
Depending on the way the data were analyzed, the vaccine protected zero to 14 percent of participants in the study, said a scientist briefed on the study who would not allow his name to be used.
Officials of the centers said last night that they hoped that continuing studies to be completed in the spring would show that the vaccine offered more protection than this study indicated.
Officials had warned that there was a mismatch between the current vaccine and the Fujian strain of influenza virus that was causing most illness this season. But they said the vaccine should still offer some protection to many people.
Officials of the centers discussed the findings with dozens of influenza experts yesterday in a teleconference in advance of the study's publication in today's issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The scientist who was briefed on the findings cautioned against drawing conclusions from the study because of serious flaws in its design. The findings may be countered by reports of other comprehensive studies later, the scientist said.
This study was the first that the centers had conducted in the middle of a flu epidemic. It involved a questionnaire sent to 3,100 health workers at Children's Hospital in Denver, asking whether they had been vaccinated, when and whether they developed an illness compatible with influenza.
The study was carried out in the five weeks when influenza hit hardest in Denver, from late October through late November. Colorado, like other areas of the United States, experienced an onset of the influenza season earlier than usual.
Because just 61 percent of health workers responded, and many other infectious agents can cause flulike symptoms, experts said the study had limitations.
An additional weakness is that epidemiologists did not take specimens from the respondents for laboratory tests to determine what proportion of the reported illness was actually from the influenza virus.
At meetings last February and March where experts made educated guesses about what strains to use in preparing this season's vaccine, the panel members knew about the new Fujian strain. But it was too late to include it in the vaccine manufactured for the Northern Hemisphere. The vaccine being prepared for the Southern Hemisphere is formulated to protect against the Fujian strain.
The Denver study is the first of many that the disease control centers and other scientists have undertaken.
''It is the first bite out of the apple, but it has left a bit of a sour taste,'' said the expert, who was referring to the findings of a low level of protection against Fujian.
The effectiveness rates of influenza vaccine vary in part according to the age and health status of the individual. Influenza vaccine prevents illness in about 80 percent of children and young adults. The vaccine is less effective in preventing symptoms among those 65 and older, but prevents major complications like pneumonia in about 70 percent of those who receive it in the older population.
Correction: January 16, 2004, Friday The headline and the opening paragraph of an article yesterday about a government study of the effectiveness of this year's influenza vaccine misstated a finding. The research, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested that the vaccine was largely ineffective against influenza and other ailments that resemble it. But because of the limits of the study, the researchers were unable to conclude specifically that it was ineffective against any influenza strain, including the Fujian strain that has caused a majority of cases this year. |
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Have you had your Soma today? |
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Nesaie
B.V. Info-a-holic
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Posts: 10412
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| Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I haven't seen Martian around lately, so I'll post more info as I get time and see things.
If anyone else is interested in this subject, I think its an important one to question and explore. |
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Soma: All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.
Have you had your Soma today? |
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Nesaie
B.V. Info-a-holic
Joined: Aug 04, 2005
Posts: 10412
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| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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Well, since martian doesn't have the guts to come down to the appropriate forum to play, I'll just play by myself. Often times, it's more fun that way. 
Anyway, this is from faux news. I thought it would be a nice place to show the difference between media blitzes and actual studies. I really want to remind myself to devote time to this argument. I feel its important to know all sides. There are never only two sides.
With no further adieu, here it is:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,460645,00.html
5 Flu Vaccination Myths
Tuesday , December 02, 2008
By Marrecca Fiore
ADVERTISEMENT
No one looks forward to getting stuck with a needle at the doctor’s office. But the flu vaccination is one shot that everyone should get each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is because influenza is one of the most common and most deadly viruses spread throughout the fall and winter months. About 200,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 people die each year from flu-related complications.
Generally speaking, symptoms of the flu are worse than those of the common cold and may include high fever, headache, coughing, weakness and muscle aches. Even in mild cases, the flu can leave sufferers bedridden for several days.
The CDC recommends that everyone age 2 and up get vaccinated each year, but annual shots are especially important for age groups 2 to 18 and 65 and older, and people with compromised immune systems. In addition to the flu shot, a nasal spray vaccine is available for people under 50. Unlike the shot, two doses of the nasal spray are required for sufficient protection against the virus.
Still, many myths prevent people from getting vaccinated each year. Here are five of the most common ones:
1. I’m healthy, I don’t need to get vaccinated. It’s true that most healthy people are not at risk for the most severe flu-related complications, but the people around them may be.
Anyone who has regular contact with very young or elderly people, or people with weakened immune systems, should be vaccinated to ensure they don’t get sick and spread the flu virus to those who may not be able to fight off its deadly effects, said Dr. Anthony Fiore, a medical epidemiologist with the Influenza Division of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“You should get it just because you don’t want to get sick,” he said. “Even if you get a mild case, you’re still going to have a high fever and miss work, possibly infect others. It’s not an expensive way to avoid a lot of misery.”
2. The flu vaccination might give me the flu. This is a myth, said Dr. Su Wang, assistant director of medical affairs for the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in New York City.
The flu shot contains three strains of inactive flu virus. Because the virus is dead, it cannot reproduce in the body, but it can stimulate the body to build immunity to the virus. Similar to the chickenpox vaccine, the nasal spray vaccination, called FluMist, contains a weakened live virus. The weakened virus is not potent enough to sicken the body, but will help it develop antibodies that protect against the flu.
“I hear it over and over again, it’s going to make me sick,” Wang said during a recent roundtable discussion on influenza hosted by the CDC. “We have to keep emphasizing to people that it doesn’t make you sick. I think that’s one of the most important things you can do.”
3. I got vaccinated last year and still got sick. Many times people confuse a cold with the flu. Although a fever always accompanies the flu, it rarely accompanies a cold. Likewise, the sneezing and stuffy nose that always seem to accompany a cold are not symptoms of the flu. Unfortunately, the flu vaccination does not protect against a cold, which may be bothersome but is rarely fatal.
4. It’s December, you need to get vaccinated in September or October. The flu may surface in United States as early as September, but it sticks around through March, which means that it’s too late to get a flu shot only when the season is over.
“A lot of people get busy with the holidays and forget about it,” Dr. Tyra Bryant-Stevens, founder and director of the Community Asthma Prevention Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said during the roundtable discussion. “But flu season peaks around February, so you can get [vaccinated] after the holidays, through February and even in March.”
5. Sometimes the vaccination doesn't work. I read that people got vaccinated last year and still got the flu. Last year’s flu vaccine was 44 percent effective in preventing the flu in the general population and about 54 percent effective in preventing the flu in healthy people, according to Fiore. In a good year, the vaccine is about 70-90 percent effective in preventing the flu in the general population.
Last year’s vaccine failed to cover two strains of the virus that surfaced late in the season. But even if the vaccination doesn’t prevent someone from getting the flu, it still prevents the severity of the illness overall, Fiore said.
“We didn’t hit it right on the spot, but getting it still wasn’t a waste of time,” he said. “It’s still undoubtedly the best way to prevent flu-related illness and death.” |
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Soma: All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.
Have you had your Soma today? |
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Nesaie
B.V. Info-a-holic
Joined: Aug 04, 2005
Posts: 10412
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| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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1. I’m healthy, I don’t need to get vaccinated. It’s true that most healthy people are not at risk for the most severe flu-related complications, but the people around them may be.
Anyone who has regular contact with very young or elderly people, or people with weakened immune systems, should be vaccinated to ensure they don’t get sick and spread the flu virus to those who may not be able to fight off its deadly effects, said Dr. Anthony Fiore, a medical epidemiologist with the Influenza Division of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“You should get it just because you don’t want to get sick,” he said. “Even if you get a mild case, you’re still going to have a high fever and miss work, possibly infect others. It’s not an expensive way to avoid a lot of misery.”
To quote the article, "most healthy people are not at risk for the most severe flu-related complications".
--Question, Define "most healthy people", in a quantifiable way.
--Question, Devine, "severe flu-related complications". Are you talking death? Coma? What?
Ah, screw it. This article, in this first attempt to dispell a myth, makes claims that it shows no evidence for. So, if I'm around old people and/or children I should get a shot so they don't get the flu. Where the hell is their evidence that it works that way? Some doctor? I had a doctor as a roommate.  He beat me at pool and chess, when drunk. One of the more intelligent men I've known...but he had no common sense. Yet, he coulda run circles around me when it comes to IQ. I should trust one loan doctor's opinion...why?
I'll get back to this. I'm tired and have to work many hours tomorrow. I'll be back. |
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_________________
Soma: All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.
Have you had your Soma today? |
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