listening to the flu show was quite painful. plus, all the pseudoscience misinformation that called in made me yell at my ipod.
1. flu is a virus that mutates very fast- that is why you should get a flu shot every year; it is generally a new strain every year
2. the flu shot is a combo of the 3 most likely forms of flu to infect people every year
3. the swine flu shot will be the same thing with the h1n1 form in it (it is NOT a new vaccine)
4. some flu shots contain thimerosol- if you are concerned, get a thimerosol free one- lying on the label is fraud and would cause a drug company to go bankrupt- i have no idea where that lady got her info, but seems nuts to me
5. a pandemic just means that it infects a large number of people, doesn't have to be deadly
6. swine flu is pretty miserable for about a week- yes, very low mortality rate
7. the total number of people with nerve damage from the first swine flu vaccine was about 500- the total number of deaths from swine flu thus far is about 500
8. the influenza virus can cause guillain-barre syndrome (paralysis that is usually temporary) and does so far more often than the vaccine
9. an allergy happens from a hyper-stimulated immune system, not a depressed one; in order for vaccines to work you must have a working immune system
10. crazy people make for entertaining radio callers