Tag: influenza

H1N1 Pandemic Update

In a special episode of the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, I host a discussion with David Gorski, Mark Crislip, and Joe Albietz about the flu, the H1N1 “swine” flu pandemic, and the controversies surrounding the flu vaccine. You can download or stream the episode here. You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other popular aggregators.

/ November 16, 2009

H1N1 Update

I know we have been focusing on the vaccine issue extensively, but this is crunch time and the anti-vaccine forces are relentless. We are now facing a regular seasonal flu spiked with the H1N1 pandemic. Our best weapon against morbidity and mortality caused by the flu is information, and yet the public is being barraged with misinformation designed to encourage poor choices...

/ October 14, 2009

Flu Vaccine Efficacy

I guess I will be spending the rest the flu season writing about the nonsense that is promulgated about the flu vaccine and the disease. One of the more common laments about the flu vaccine is that it doesn’t work: I got the flu vaccine and still got the flu. Well maybe. Maybe not.  It takes a few weeks to get protection, so...

/ October 9, 2009

Even with the H1N1 pandemic flu strain going around, you should still be vaccinated against the seasonal flu

Even with the H1N1 pandemic flu going around you should still be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. revere has the details. Read. Enjoy. Be educated. I guess that means Dr. Doug Bremner must think that revere is an idiot. After all, Bremner tells us that the flu vaccine is all a plot for big pharma to make money, don’t you know? Subtlety...

/ September 17, 2009

Swine Flu Vaccine Fearmongering

Fear is a curious thing. It often bears no relation to the actual risk of what we fear. When swine flu first broke out in Mexico, people were understandably afraid. Travel was restricted, schools were closed, and so many people stayed home that the streets of Mexico City were empty. As the disease spread around the world, Egypt developed a paranoid fear...

/ September 8, 2009

An Influenza Primer

What is influenza? What is H1N1 influenza? Why is it more worrisome than the usual 'flu season? Read on to find out...

/ September 4, 2009

The $150,000 Vaccine Challenge

A man named Jock Doubleday has offered $150,000 to any physician who gives vaccines to drink the chemicals in a vaccine. It's a profoundly dishonest challenge, so full of conditions that it's clear it was meant never to be honored, much less paid.

/ December 30, 2008