fear mongering and vaccines

so winter is almost upon us here in the northern hemisphere, and with it comes fear mongering of the pandemic flu threat. go! spend money for a vaccine you probably don't need! it may not even help!

pandemic flu is basically a new strain of influenza virus that usually mutates to be able to infect humans, and is usually world-wide and highly virulent. they've happened in the past (1918 spanish flu) and tend to have a high mortality rate. researchers have been warning of the very real possibility of a world-wide pandemic occurring within the next few years. the most likely candidate is H5N1 virus, or avian flu. so vaccines have been developed and marketed for the past few years. the problem in my mind is the fear-mongering tactics advertisers for these vaccines use. yes, the pandemic is kind of imminent. yes, it will be dangerous. but medicine has come so far since the last pandemic, and especially in this country it will have less of an impact. i would be much more concerned for people in other countries who don't have the medical resources we do - that is where the flu will hit hardest. besides, the best was to avoid such a pandemic would be to stay home for a few weeks - just not being in public places will reduce the disease's ability to spread.

another issue is fear mongering about the LACK of vaccines available. they were in such high demand that the pharmaceutical companies actually ran out and had to ration them the first few years. but since the pandemic hasn't hit, demand has gone down so fear mongering has gone up. not everyone needs these vaccines; they usually make the patient sick (flu-like symptoms...) and may not even be for the correct influenza strand. they're a good idea to protect the young and old, and probably people who work with the young and old, but otherwise they are a bit superfluous. but pharmaceutical companies gotta get by right?
i've actually worked on a project evolving pandemic flu. it was a presentation to pharmaceutical companies about how vaccines are distributed and advertised. eye-opening... i learned that big companies have been encouraged to offer the vaccines to their employees and families, even outside the health professions and not specified for the young and old. yet another thing to spend money on right?

so overall, having vaccines ready for the imminent pandemic is probably a good idea. but we should take advertising and fear mongering about it with a grain of salt.