More nonexpert opinions on the swine flu vaccine

If you thought the only talk-show hosts campaigning against the government's swine flu vaccine were right-wing critics of the Obama administration, think again.

Bill Maher, a self-described libertarian (and frequent contributor to the L.A. Times Op/Ed page), may be a darling of the left. But when it comes to H1N1, he's as paranoid as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

"I would never get a swine flu vaccine, or any vaccine," Maher said Friday on his HBO show, "Real Time With Bill Maher." "I don't trust the government, especially with my health."

His guest, former Republican Senate Majority Leader and heart surgeon Bill Frist, took the medically sound position of defending the vaccine. He smiled, remained calm and refused to let Maher off the hook.

"You're wrong," Frist said. "Look at the science." 

Bloggers have taken notice.

Tara Parker-Pope demolished Maher's position today on her New York Times blog, Well. So did Phil Plait on his Bad Astronomy blog, hosted by Discover magazine. And Linda Bergthold, a health policy blogger for the Huffington Post. Even Comedy Central noted the showdown in a post titled: "Bill Maher Made to Look Stupid by Bill Frist (No, I Didn't Get That the Wrong Way Around)."

As my colleague Tom Maugh pointed out last week in this excellent post about the dangerous ignorance being spread by the likes of Limbaugh and Beck, "This is not a liberal versus conservative issue. This is a science versus nonsense issue."

And speaking of science, here's a nice roundup of the latest flu vaccine research at the Science-Based Medicine blog by Dr. Mark Crislip, a specialist in infectious diseases.

-- Karen Kaplan

Comments

[sophie]

How is it "science vs. nonsense" when every year thousands (presumably) take the flu vaccine and some of the same thousands STILL COME DOWN WITH THE FLU (and I don't mean the slight flu due to the vaccine)? Even to call it a "vaccine" is a lie because there are multiple flu viruses and they are marvelously adaptive creatures. There is no flu "vaccine" because it's simply a guess to protect you from maybe one or some variations of the multitude of viruses out there.

I have never had the flu vaccine, and have never actually gotten the flu for the last 10+ years, except for last year, and even then, it was a mild bout. I find your science to be as dogmatic as any religion.

[Duncan]

Bill Maher has a fantastic show. He is and should be applauded for his no-holds-barred way of communicating his points. He is, however, sometimes dead wrong on an issue, such as on this one. On one hand he'll tell us how we need the goverenment to provide a public option in order to reign in health insurance companies, but then he'll tell you he won't get a vaccination because he doesn't trust the government with his health. Sorry Bill, I love you, but once in a while you make absolutely no sense, like now.

[emily]

Great summation and links. Maher actually brought back the paranoia on his next show to the stunned silence and later rightful ridicule of his panel. The rest of the show was a bit awk....ward.

Maher seems to have this idea lodged in his head that as long as one eats right and exercises one can't get sick. As comforting as the idea may be that we have THAT much control over our own health - it is obviously untrue. His whole 'blame the victim' mentality with regards to healthcare is a bit sickening (no pun intended).

In response to Sophie, the efficacy of the flu vaccine varies from year to year depending on how similar the strains of the virus used in making the vaccine are to the strains actually circulating in the population. From what I've read, the vaccine is made with three different strands of the virus.

Creating the flu vaccine of course does involve some educated guessing, but completely dismissing a safe, cheap, and potentially life-saving medical procedure because you might still get the flu anyway is completely off-base and a bit selfish. Keep in mind that when you get vaccinated, it not only helps to prevent you yourself from contracting the illness, it also helps to prevent those around you from catching it (from you =( ).

I will quote Mark Crislip from his very interesting article (http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2040) on flu vaccination efficacy (loaded with *gasp* citations) which you should go read right now:

The influenza vaccine is not 100% efficacious in preventing disease, but it is as close to 100% safe, and much safer than the disease.