N Engl J Med. The Emotional Epidemiology of H1N1 Influenza Vaccination

[Giuseppe]

The Emotional Epidemiology of H1N1 Influenza Vaccination (N Engl J Med., extracts, edited)

[Source Full Free PDF Document: LINK. EDITED.]

The Emotional Epidemiology of H1N1 Influenza Vaccination

Danielle Ofri, M.D., Ph.D.


Last spring, when 2009 H1N1 influenza first came to our attention, my patients were in a panic. Our clinic was flooded with calls and walk-in patients, all with the same question: ?When will there be a vaccine??

It was all so new then, and we didn?t have an answer. That lack of answer seemed to fuel anxiety to a fever pitch. A substantial cohort of my patients continued calling, almost on a weekly basis, to ask about the vaccine. These, of course, were the same patients who routinely refused the seasonal flu vaccine. Each year we?d go through the same drill: I?d offer them the flu shot. I?d explain the clinical reasoning behind this recommendation. I?d strongly encourage vaccination. ?No, thanks,? they?d say. ?The vaccine makes me sick.? Or ?My brother had a bad reaction.? Or, simply, ?I don?t do flu shots.? The irony was painful. No matter how often I trotted out the statistics of 30,000 to 40,000 annual deaths from influenza, the patients would not be moved. So when they demanded the H1N1 vaccine last spring, I reminded them of their reluctance over the seasonal flu shot. ?Oh, that?s different,? they said. Six months have passed. Flu season is now here. After repeated delays, H1N1 vaccine finally arrived in our clinic earlier this month to the uniform relief of the medical staff. But my formerly desperate patients were now leery. ?It?s not tested,? they said. ?Everyone knows there are problems with the vaccine.? ?I?m not putting that in my body.? I was unprepared for this response, but maybe I shouldn?t have been. For weeks now, in the schoolyard of my children?s elementary school, other parents had been sidling up to me, seemingly in need of validation. ?You?re not giving your kids that swine flu shot, are you?? they?d say, their tone nervous, if a bit derisive. How to explain this dramatic shift in 6 short months? It certainly isn?t related to logic or facts, since few new medical data became available during this period. It seems to reflect a sort of psychological contagion of myth and suspicion.

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[Laidback Al]

Re: N Engl J Med. The Emotional Epidemiology of H1N1 Influenza Vaccination

The critical section in this article. . .

The dramatic shift in public
sentiment over the course of this
H1N1 epidemic is both fascinat-
ng and frustrating. It is clear that
here is a distinct emotional epi-
demiology and that it bears only
faint connection to the actual
disease epidemiology of the virus.
We cannot combat H1N1 in-
luenza merely by ensuring ade-
quate supplies of vaccine and oseltamivir.

Unless the medical
profession confronts the emotion-
al epidemiology of H1N1 with a
full-court press, we run the risk
of an uncontrollable epidemic.
There is no doubt that we are
far behind the curve in terms of
public relations. Our science has
not been dithering at all, but our
articulation of that science has
often seemed that way, from the
unfortunate initial appellation of
swine flu to our inability to clar-
ify distinctions between vaccine-
production issues and clinical-risk
issues. Suspicion has its own con-
tagion, and we have not been ag-
gressive enough in countering it.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: N Engl J Med. The Emotional Epidemiology of H1N1 Influenza Vaccination

It seems to reflect a sort of psychological contagion of myth and suspicion.

Sometimes some people transpose the possible into the probable.

Listening to the news and watching the many "action" shows, a young child can get imprinted with the assumption that the world is full of people with the worst of intentions. How big of a leap is it for that child to become a fearful adult?

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