The swine flu vaccine has finally been developed and approved and is about to be rolled out across the UK amid a flurry of controversy.Should pregnant women get it? Do I really need it if I'm young, fit and healthy? Should I get the seasonal flu vaccine, too?
The anti-vaccine lobby suggest we are using claims of an impending emergency to rush medical products through the usually tight controls to the detriment of their safety.
They state that the swine flu jab hasn't been properly tested or put through the normal process of long-term safety testing that the public expects.
They also argue that because the fatality rate from swine flu is remarkably low, in fact no higher than seasonal flu, there is no real need for a vaccine at all.
Most other non-live vaccines and previous flu vaccines are safe for pregnant women to be given, and as they are more likely to be hospitalised if they catch the flu it seems sensible they are vaccinated.
The European Medicines Agency has given a clear recommendation that the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine can be given safely to pregnant women and side-effects will be monitored closely during the initial campaign.
The Department of Health has issued a dramatic statement claiming that the risk of swine flu is so great that patients' health will be put at risk and the NHS left understaffed through illness if the majority of its workers are not vaccinated.
Many NHS nurses see the jab as unnecessary and potentially unsafe.
To add to the mêlée, some very up-to-date reports of Canadian research suggest the possibility that having the seasonal flu jab could double your risk of developing swine flu.
No wonder NHS Direct is already swamped with calls.
This is an unfortunate example of the medical establishment's attempts at reassurance and calls for calm backfiring on them.
The repeated reminders of the benign nature of swine flu, and the recent claim that the UK is "tantalisingly close" to beating the virus, is making many believe that vaccination is neither important nor necessary.
My view is that frontline staff should strongly consider the vaccine, especially those working with very ill patients.
As was proved in round one of the swine flu attack, most of us who got it were relatively mildly ill for a short time but it did kill those with pre-existing conditions.
I will be getting vaccinated because, as a London doctor, I am almost certainly going to be exposed to the virus by my patients.
I often see the elderly and the frail and those with serious immune diseases so I need to be sure that I will not be passing this potentially life-threatening virus on to them.
Flu can kill the vulnerable. Nor do I want to give it to my grandmother on a Christmas visit.
Perhaps we need to start thinking about this issue a little more altruistically?
The anti-vaccine lobby suggest we are using claims of an impending emergency to rush medical products through the usually tight controls to the detriment of their safety.
They state that the swine flu jab hasn't been properly tested or put through the normal process of long-term safety testing that the public expects.
They also argue that because the fatality rate from swine flu is remarkably low, in fact no higher than seasonal flu, there is no real need for a vaccine at all.
Most other non-live vaccines and previous flu vaccines are safe for pregnant women to be given, and as they are more likely to be hospitalised if they catch the flu it seems sensible they are vaccinated.
The European Medicines Agency has given a clear recommendation that the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine can be given safely to pregnant women and side-effects will be monitored closely during the initial campaign.
The Department of Health has issued a dramatic statement claiming that the risk of swine flu is so great that patients' health will be put at risk and the NHS left understaffed through illness if the majority of its workers are not vaccinated.
Many NHS nurses see the jab as unnecessary and potentially unsafe.
To add to the mêlée, some very up-to-date reports of Canadian research suggest the possibility that having the seasonal flu jab could double your risk of developing swine flu.
No wonder NHS Direct is already swamped with calls.
This is an unfortunate example of the medical establishment's attempts at reassurance and calls for calm backfiring on them.
The repeated reminders of the benign nature of swine flu, and the recent claim that the UK is "tantalisingly close" to beating the virus, is making many believe that vaccination is neither important nor necessary.
My view is that frontline staff should strongly consider the vaccine, especially those working with very ill patients.
As was proved in round one of the swine flu attack, most of us who got it were relatively mildly ill for a short time but it did kill those with pre-existing conditions.
I will be getting vaccinated because, as a London doctor, I am almost certainly going to be exposed to the virus by my patients.
I often see the elderly and the frail and those with serious immune diseases so I need to be sure that I will not be passing this potentially life-threatening virus on to them.
Flu can kill the vulnerable. Nor do I want to give it to my grandmother on a Christmas visit.
Perhaps we need to start thinking about this issue a little more altruistically?
