Swine flu politics is back. It helped claim the career of a president more than 30 years ago. As if Barack Obama needed any more headaches.
Gerald Ford's decision to inoculate every person in the country (including himself) resulted in a political debacle that contributed to a reputation for incompetence that scuttled his 1976 election bid. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and became a public relations nightmare as Ford was accused, perhaps unfairly, of coddling drug companies aiming to profit from the scare. By the time the program was canceled only about 24% of the population was inoculated - and the president ended up looking foolish.
The Obama Administration quickly called attention to this latest outbreak, putting pressure on itself to do something. Tread carefully, Mr. President.
Craig blogs daily at craigcrawford.com on CQ Politics
If you are looking for NATURAL ways to protect yourself, check out Roanne Weisman's Own Your Health blog
www.ownyourhealth.wordpress.com.
You learn about the Three P's: Prepare, Protect, Pull through
Alexa Fleckenstein M.D., physician, author.
Here's the warning ads that ran at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASibLqwVbsk
"Within days, however, several people who had taken the shot fell seriously ill. On Oct. 12, three elderly people in the Pittsburgh area suffered heart attacks and died within hours of getting the shot, which led to suspension of the program in Pennsylvania.
Jersey pressed on with inoculations, however. Through the fall, even as more bad reports about the side effects of the vaccine came out, thousands of mostly older people in Greater Trenton lined up outside health centers, schools and firehouses to get the shot, sometimes waiting for an hour.
One of them was Lawrence's Mary Kent, a 45-year-old mother of two teenage boys who couldn't tie the ribbons on Christmas presents only days after she got her shot at the Trenton War Memorial in early December.
On Dec. 16, increasingly concerned about reports of the vaccine touching off neurological problems, especially rare Guillain-Barre syndrome, the government suspended the program, having inoculated 40 million people for a flu that never came."
http://www.capitalcentury.com/1976.html
Last week, before this flu outbreak,I wrote a blog on why the CDC needs a complete overhaul- See http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
They have lost the trust of the American public which is both sad and dangerous
See my blog on the CDC- http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
Seriously is swine flu more dangerous than flu flu? At the risk of sounding completely ignorant.
I understand the risks are higher for the young or elderly but that is generally true with any virus or form of the flu. Why should I be panicking about this?
Another reason for their concern is that it seems to be more prevalent in young people. In Mexico I think most, if not all of the deaths occurred in young otherwise healthy adults and that is unusual for flu deaths.
The good news seems to be that Tamiflu (sp?) and I believe one other drug are pretty effective at fighting the virus.
It is correct that antivirals, such as Tamiflu, are effective in combating this, so it's not an end of the world scenario or anything. BUT, it's only effective for areas that have enough antivirals on hand. No one does. Not even the US, though we are in far better shape than most of the world. The WHO just raised the Swine Flu outbreak to level 4 (out of 6). We'll know in the next few days (by Friday was the estimate I heard), how bad it will be. Frankly, I'd rather we erred on the side of caution.
were sloppy and I guess this is the result. When I clicked on the link it was removed however, I did
save the headline.
http://blameblakeart.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/prove-me-wrong-on-this-one-please/
Talk about grasping at straws.
Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu October 31, 2005: 10:55 AM EST
Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing.
By Nelson D. Schwartz, Fortune senior writer
http://bit.ly/t9R4D
http://blameblakeart.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/prove-me-wrong-on-this-one-please/