Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Health workers, public may refuse H1N1 vaccines
Health care workers will balance the risks of H1N1 flu against the novelty of vaccines developed to combat it, according to research published in Emerging Health Threats Journal.
Canadian researchers conducted 11 focus groups (eight community groups and three for health care workers) in Vancouver asking participants how willing they would be to accept a new vaccine in case of a pandemic. They found that respondents were reluctant to get vaccinated against an illness they perceived as mild.
"Participants were very concerned that in a pandemic, a vaccine would be brought to market without sufficient testing for safety," researchers wrote. Many among all 11 focus groups believed that hand washing, social distancing or a good diet conferred protection. In the words of one health care worker: "A lot, well all of us probably practice basic body, blood, fluid precautions, right? ... So, we're equipped in that way to handle new diseases. We know how to protect ourselves. At least we think we do."
Similarly, health care workers are balancing the severity of the disease vs. any potential risk in a new vaccine. One health care worker told researchers: "Information would be key and I'd have to weigh the cost and the benefit of ... I'd have to know what would be the implications of getting the disease. And what would be the implications of getting the vaccine."
Meanwhile, a panel of U.S. presidential advisors finds looked at a plausible planning scenario--not a prediction--that H1N1 could infect 60 million to 120 million Americans (20%-40% of the population), killing 30,000 to 90,000 people. And the Washington Post looks at history for a lesson from the flu outbreak of 1957.
Labels: H1N1, infectious disease, vaccination
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
11:59 AM
Contact ACP Internist
Send comments to ACP Internist staff at acpinternist@acponline.org.
Previous Posts
- Concierge medicine keeps traditional practices afl...
- Medical News of the Obvious
- 2 years and counting...HPV vaccine controversy con...
- Our image challenge
- Worrisome statistics
- A job opening for an internist
- Medical news of the obvious
- This guy is cool.
- Mr. President, please fix Medicare
- A reason not to worry about the flu.
Blog log
Members of the American College of Physicians contribute posts from their own sites to ACP Internist and ACP Hospitalist. Contributors include:
Albert Fuchs, MD
Albert Fuchs, MD, FACP,
graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of
Medicine, where he also did his internal medicine training.
Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Fuchs
spent three years as a full-time faculty member at UCLA School of
Medicine before opening his private practice in Beverly Hills in
2000.
David Katz, MD
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACP, is an internationally renowned
authority on nutrition, weight management, and the prevention of
chronic disease, and an internationally recognized leader in
integrative medicine and patient-centered care.
DrDialogue
Juliet K. Mavromatis, MD, FACP, provides a conversation about
health topics for patients and health professionals.
Dr. Mintz' Blog
Matthew Mintz, MD, FACP, has practiced internal medicine for more
than a decade and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at an
academic medical center on the East Coast. His time is split
between teaching medical students and residents, and caring for
patients.
Everything Health
Toni Brayer, MD, FACP, blogs about the rapid changes in science,
medicine, health and healing in the 21st century.
FutureDocs
Vineet Arora, MD, FACP, is Associate Program Director for the
Internal Medicine Residency and Assistant Dean of Scholarship &
Discovery at the Pritzker School of Medicine for the University of
Chicago. Her education and research focus is on resident duty
hours, patient handoffs, medical professionalism, and quality of
hospital care. She is also an academic hospitalist.
Glass
Hospital
John H. Schumann, MD, FACP, provides transparency on the workings
of medical practice and the complexities of hospital care,
illuminates the emotional and cognitive aspects of caregiving and
decision-making from the perspective of an active primary care
physician, and offers behind-the-scenes portraits of hospital
sanctums and the people who inhabit them.
Gut Check
Ryan Madanick, MD, ACP Member, is a gastroenterologist at the
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and the Program
Director for the GI & Hepatology Fellowship Program. He
specializes in diseases of the esophagus, with a strong interest in
the diagnosis and treatment of patients who have
difficult-to-manage esophageal problems such as refractory GERD,
heartburn, and chest pain.
I'm dok
ACP Member Mike Aref, MD, PhD, ACP Member, is an academic
hospitalist with an interest in basic and clinical science and
education, with interests in noninvasive monitoring and diagnostic
testing using novel bedside imaging modalities, diagnostic
reasoning, medical informatics, new medical education modalities,
pre-code/code management, palliative care, patient-physician
communication, quality improvement, and quantitative biomedical
imaging.
Just Oncology
Richard Just, MD, ACP Member, has 36 years in clinical practice of hematology and medical oncology. His blog is a joint publication with Gregg Masters, MPH.
KevinMD
Kevin Pho, MD, ACP Member, offers one of the Web's definitive sites
for influential health commentary.
MD
Whistleblower
Michael Kirsch, MD, FACP, addresses the joys and challenges of
medical practice, including controversies in the doctor-patient
relationship, medical ethics and measuring medical quality. When
he's not writing, he's performing colonoscopies.
Medical
Lessons
Elaine Schattner, MD, ACP Member, shares her ideas on education,
ethics in medicine, health care news and culture. Her views on
medicine are informed by her past experiences in caring for
patients, as a researcher in cancer immunology, and as a patient
who's had breast cancer.
Prescriptions
David M. Sack, MD, FACP, practices general gastroenterology at a
small community hospital in Connecticut. His blog is a series of
musings on medicine, medical care, the health care system and
medical ethics, in no particular order.
Reflections
of a Grady Doctor
Kimberly Manning, MD, FACP, reflects on the personal side of being
a doctor in a community hospital in Atlanta.
Technology in (Medical) Education
Neil Mehta, MBBS, MS, FACP, is interested in use of technology in
education, social media and networking, practice management and
evidence-based medicine tools, personal information and knowledge
management.
White Coat Underground
Peter A. Lipson, MD, ACP Member, is a practicing internist and
teaching physician in Southeast Michigan. The blog, which has been
around in various forms since 2007, offers musings on the
intersection of science, medicine, and culture.
ACP Internist and ACP Hospitalist also contribute to and draw upon content from Get Better Health, a network created by Val Jones, MD, to support and promote health care professional bloggers, provide insightful and trustworthy health commentary, and help to inform health policy makers about the clinician's point of view on health care reform, science, research and patient care.
Other blogs of note:
American
Journal of Medicine
Also known as the Green Journal, the American Journal of Medicine
publishes original clinical articles of interest to physicians in
internal medicine and its subspecialities, both in academia and
community-based practice.
Clinical Correlations
A collaborative medical blog started by Neil Shapiro, MD, ACP
Member, associate program director at New York University Medical
Center's internal medicine residency program. Faculty, residents
and students contribute case studies, mystery quizzes, news,
commentary and more.
db's Medical
Rants
Robert M. Centor, MD, FACP, contributes short essays contemplating
medicine and the health care system.
Interact
MD
Michael Benjamin, MD, ACP member, doesn't accept industry money so
he can create an independent, clinician-reviewed space on the
Internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news
of the day.
PLoS
Blog
The Public Library of Science's open access materials include a
blog.
White Coat Rants
One of the most popular anonymous blogs written by an emergency
room physician.
4 Comments:
In my course as a healthcare provider I have probably been exposed to hundreds of HIV positive patients without my knowledge. The HIV test is not done routinely and is highly confidential. Unless the doctor orders the test we never know. Added to that are the Hepatitis and Tuberculosis infected patients - also those with MRSA that are not routinely screened. As it is, once a year I am forced to receive a tuberculosis skin test. Usually after this test I get a bad cold or flu. Now I am expected to serve as a guinea pig for a the new H1N1 vaccine. I received notification that if I sign a declination form I will be required to wear a surgical mask throughout my ENTIRE shift for six months (which represents the flu season). I am going to decline the H1N1 vaccine for several reasons. I do not appreciate the hospital attempting to infringe on my civil rights and putting my health at risk by requiring me to accept a vaccine for which effects are not known. As healthcare workers we are exposed to violence in the workplace and a multitude of diseases. We understand we did not sign up to take care of healthy people and accept this risk. However, the line must be drawn and forced vaccination is where I draw that line. We cannot take care of anyone unless first we take care of ourselves.
Anonymous, you're being joined by others in your resistance. The story and a quick-vote poll are here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20090909_Health_workers__who_often_balk__pressured_to_get_flu_shots.html
Civil rights is correcet. I agree with the fact of your unknown exposure to patiets with MRSA when we find out we have taken cre of them for days and then come to work and they are in Isolation. We have to decide what is right for ourselves. I never receive the flu vaccine and just last year had to sign a release form. They didn't make us wear masks for entire shift, and I know alot more people have died from the seasonal flu than H1N1. When do our rights end? Do we leave the profession or the Country?
You cannot threaten consequences for refusing a mandate against your civil rights. That is extortion. We are the American people. We have rights.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home