Quote: With the number of people who I know with it, I can't see why so many people are so hesitant to get the vaccine, it's ridiculously easy to contract

I don't know about mind-controlling nanothingies, but there are nevertheless good reasons against the vaccination.

One valid reason are the possible ill-effects of the booster substances. Despite the H1N1 vaccine being officially "generally harmless", the truth is that it is not known whether that's the case. Maybe it is, maybe it is not. As for the booster substances, some are more controversial than others (such as squalene, which has been discussed in the past as the possible cause of the "gulf war syndrome").
I am not saying that this means that the vaccination is all harmful (or that the government is conspiring to poison you), but there is certainly some uncertainity involved, and one needs to trade off one risk against another. If you are a "risk person" then of course you should be vaccinated. If you're not... I'd think twice about it. There's no easy answer to that.
The simple phrase "generally harmless" coined by the PEI isn't satisfying, in my opinion.

The other valid reason not to vaccinate lies in the organisational hurdles and organisational risks.

I'm a physician (working in a different field now, but still...) and used to buy any drug I need over the counter in the next pharmacy, always, and without any questions. Not so this time. There is a huge fuss about these vaccines (this is the real "conspiracy"), you can only get them via the health office if you can present a list of 10 patients to be vaccinated (or a multiple of 10). No way you can get to it otherwise.

Where's the beef? The reason for this is organisational failure. The smallest amount of vaccine bottled is 10 doses, and once you've opened the bottle, it has to be used up within an hour or two. Now, since vaccine is cheap, government fears that you might say "oh ok...", buy 10 doses, and throw away the other 8 if none of your neighbours wants them. Which, honestly, is what I'd be doing, too.

So, you're bound to make an appointment with selected GPs or to the health office for your vaccination, and they'll be doing "mass" vaccination events in multiples of 10s. Hmm... ok.

Now my point is, if you're going to a GP in the middle of winter and sit in the waiting room for 20 minutes together with two or three dozen people coming and going, then your're practically guaranteed to catch something (including H1N1!).
If you go to the health office, you risk worse from the incompetent personnel there (the one single time I've had myself vaccinated at the health office, I couldn't lift my arm for 6 weeks afterwards, no thank you, never again).

So, no thank you, I'll rather be hoping for the best (have not had a flu during the last 10 years, so why this year?) and drinking elderberry juice. If nothing else, elderberries taste good, and they're 100% risk-free. :-)

Lot's of hysterical yelling on TV indeed. One says if we don't vaccinate we all die. The other says if we DO vaccinate we all die or turn into robots. A normal scientific answer in between... zero. Well that's not completely true, but you know what I mean. That's why I'd like to hear about nano-chips in this particular case from a technical point of view (-> gamedev).

I think everyone has an opinion, which is good as we don't swallow everything TV or leaders just say. On the other hand I think people should be carefull with degrading this virus as a joke, or play for docter while most of us have absolutely no idea about how virusses work. In this case I heard about nano-chips on the news, so I had to laugh. Then started to think if its even technically possible. I'd like to have some background knowledge before judging.

Greetings,
Rick

Quote: Original post by Yann L
That said, the whole thing is obviously an extremely profitable business for the pharmaceutical industry.

There was 20 companies producing flu vaccine in 1970, and 3 now, because of all that Xtreme profitability.

Manufacturing flu vaccine is often very low profit. It's seasonal, prone to failures, hard to judge and costly to manufacture. While this year there will be a profit due to swine flu, $3.2 billion dollars in sales worldwide, it will be lower than most other pharmaceutical activities. Tylenol alone makes $2.1 billion in sales a year, and has a much larger profit margin.

The swine flu is probably responsible for a huge increase in yellow journalism profits, but it's not so much for the pharmaceutical industry

Quote: Original post by Binomine

Quote: Original post by Yann L
That said, the whole thing is obviously an extremely profitable business for the pharmaceutical industry.

There was 20 companies producing flu vaccine in 1970, and 3 now, because of all that Xtreme profitability.

You have to be kidding me. This H1N1 'pandemic' is an extremely welcome opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry. All three manufacturers have reported an increase of their turnover due to this. This is the largest short-term vaccination campaign in human history, with governments ordering hundred millions of doses on taxpayer money. While it is certainly not the only and certainly not the largest income source for those three companies (well, duh), their executives will be very happy about all this happening. So yep, the Swine Flu is a real money maker here.

Quote: Original post by spek
But then let's move to the (technical) facts, that's why I'm posting it here at gamedev :). I'm not an expert on this, so I'll have to ask, do Nano-chips even exists? Sure, Intel or other hardware manufracturers can produce tiny stuff, but also microscopic chips that:

Sure.
H1N1 and any virus at all is a high-tech nano-robot,working at molecular level and created long before Intel.It's not a joke-Francis Crick,one of DNA invertors thought that life was created somewhere outside of the Earth ,in more silent place having less entropy level (panspermia hypothesis etc.) After reading his book I tend to think that protein life is a secondary phenomena,something like a wild nano-robots.

Use a rare earth magnet (neodymium) to deactivate the implant.
And, no I won't get a vac, only if it's a lethal virus then I 'll get one.

Quote: Original post by Marmin
Use a rare earth magnet (neodymium) to deactivate the implant.
And, no I won't get a vac, only if it's a lethal virus then I 'll get one.

Erm, flu IS a lethal virus, it can kill.

Now, chances are if you are a healthy adult who isn't too old and doesn't suffer from any chronic conditions then you'll be fine, but that doesn't change the standing of the virus.

Quote: Original post by owl

Quote: Original post by eedok

Quote: Original post by owl
It's all LIES.

You'll be better worring about getting AIDS/Hepatitis from your partner than that stupid mediatic flue.

Follow my advice. Do yourself a favor. Take a rest from TV.

ah shit better tell my brother the reason he's puking and can barely move right now is a lie manufactured by TV

With the number of people who I know with it, I can't see why so many people are so hesitant to get the vaccine, it's ridiculously easy to contract

How did he get it?

Out somewhere being sociable I'd assume

As far as he knows he could have contracted it just by breathing

Quote: Original post by eedok

Quote: Original post by owl

Quote: Original post by eedok

Quote: Original post by owl
It's all LIES.

You'll be better worring about getting AIDS/Hepatitis from your partner than that stupid mediatic flue.

Follow my advice. Do yourself a favor. Take a rest from TV.

ah shit better tell my brother the reason he's puking and can barely move right now is a lie manufactured by TV

With the number of people who I know with it, I can't see why so many people are so hesitant to get the vaccine, it's ridiculously easy to contract

How did he get it?

Out somewhere being sociable I'd assume

As far as he knows he could have contracted it just by breathing

I live in a 3rd world capital city of 10 millon inhabitants. Lots of mexicans come here for turism. Not to mention that my country limits with the Amazon Forest to the east, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru to the north which aren't exactly known for the quality of their medical system (From where we recieve a constant flow of i/legal immigration).

Yet, I don't know anyone who has had this flu, or knows someone who had it or knows someone who knows someone who had it. The only "supposedly" documented cases were (as told by the news) some students who were in touch with mexican people, and a few people who had the symptoms of the common flu and were diagnosed with the swine one and never got serious.

A couple of deaths have been reported during the mediatic neurosis a few months ago, indeed, but the coverage was short enough to be suspicious. And of course, the media never talked again about any other case since then. Seems the swine flu "fever" passed away, at least for now.

Common flu kills waaaaaaaay more people around the globe than swine flu, and, for some reason, it doesn't qualify as news, neither it fires this massive neurosis that makes people wear a nasal-protectors, carry alcohol gel arround and make them avoid streching hands to others.

I'm sorry about your brother though. I hope he recovers well very soon.

[Edited by - owl on November 11, 2009 1:07:24 PM]

Quote: Original post by Yann L
While the vaccine undoubtly works, I'm not sure if I'm getting vaccinated. We're supposed to get vouchers for a free shot from the government in the mail sometime later this month. I'll wait and see. I think my immune system can handle a flu.

I found that my immune system could handle it also (that is to say I didn't die), but it was the worst flu I've ever had my life due to the sheer discomfort of the symptoms. I'm one who usually never gets vaccinated against the seasonal flu and I rarely get sick, but if I knew how utterly miserable H1N1 would make me feel I'd have hurdled over small women and children to get vaccinated so I wouldn't have to go through that wretched 10 days of illness.