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Fact #1: H1N1 vaccine is the same vaccine as the seasonal flu vaccine except they changed the strain of influenza in the vaccine, something they do every year with the seasonal vaccine as various strains come and go. All allergies, side effects, and risks that apply to the seasonal flu vaccine are the same ones that apply to the H1N1 vaccine. The worst thing the H1N1 vaccine will do to you is not work at all.
Fact #2: The H1N1 vaccine is made in the same facilities using the same procedures as the seasonal flu vaccine. They had to stop making the seasonal flu vaccine to start making the H1N1 vaccine and this is a) why seasonal flu vaccine was available earlier than usual this year and b) why you cannot find any more seasonal flu vaccine. Your Intrepid Pharmacist has turned away many patients in search of the seasonal flu vaccine as he, like everyone else, is sold out and unable to obtain any more.
Fact #3: In multi-dose vials there is thimerosal, a highly misunderstood component used to prevent bacterial growth after the sterile environment has been penetrated and the first dose drawn out. Your Intrepid Pharmacist exposed the flaws in the thimerosal related theories in the earlier column Holy Mercury Batman! Re-examining the Vaccine-Autism Controversy.
Fact #4: The FluMist nasal vaccine, which your Intrepid Pharmacist took as his seasonal vaccine last year, is just as safe as the injectable form. The molecule in this vaccine is heat sensitive and it deteriorates in temperatures warmer than the nasal passages. Also, for those still believing the thimerosal fear-mongering in spite of great evidence to the contrary (see column link in Fact #3), this vaccine does not contain any thimerosal as it is single dose format.
Fact #5: The Canadian study highlighted by many news sources is unpublished, which means no one in medicine has peer reviewed it for flaws in the design or execution of the study. For those readers who missed it, the study found that those who got the seasonal vaccine were more likely to get the H1N1 flu. The problem here is that for such a study to work they cannot simply divide it up between those who got a vaccine and those who did not. They have to take exposure risk into account. That is, if you work in an office with five people your exposure risk is minimal and you also are less likely to get a flu vaccine as a result, while a school teacher is exposed to many people.
http://www.examiner.com/x-16391-Nashville-Health-Examiner~y2009m11d10-Media-misinformants-round-two-false-fears-about-H1N1-vaccine-safety
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