The Swine Flu Shot a Waste of Time!

[OakLeaf]

Haemophilus influenzae (the agent that causes Hib meningitis) does not cause influenza, despite its name.

I'm not at all opposed to vaccines in principle.

I did read the Wired piece, before you linked to it actually.

I have serious reservations about universal vaccination for a disease with a low rate of complications.

When there are complications, of course it's tragic for the individuals involved. I'm not dismissing that at all. But the fact remains that the rate of complications for seasonal flu is very low, and at this preliminary stage they're not finding H1N1 to be significantly different, despite the initial fears.

I referenced the book Sway in the thread about cancer screenings. It's a laypersons' book, but very well documented, and I highly recommend it. (The book has nothing to do with medical decisionmaking specifically, but rather - in part - with how our minds are hard-wired to choose a known harm in order to avoid a remote risk.)