Swine flu

There are still unknowns

I agree with Kathy Abascal that it is important to prepare for the flu season especially in this year of pandemic H1N1 flu. (“Swine Flu is a serious concern,” Sept. 9.) The rest of her article is full of misinformation, however.

Flu shots are most definitely effective and reduce the incidence of influenza by 80 to 85 percent in vaccinated individuals. The vaccine is not as effective in the elderly but has been shown to reduce the incidence of hospitalization and death by 55 percent in vaccinated elderly individuals. Antivirals are also effective when started early and have been shown to significantly decrease mortality in high-risk individuals.

Since the H1N1 flu is new, there are still a lot of unknowns. We still don’t know how much to worry. Fortunately, the disease is mild in most individuals. In early reports, antivirals are working to reduce mortality in hospitalized individuals. The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control recommend the H1N1 vaccine, particularly for the most vulnerable groups, as soon as it becomes available.

Preliminary studies of the H1N1 vaccine in Australia showed it to be 96 percent effective. We know that vaccines work partly by inducing “herd” immunity. Since no vaccine is 100 percent effective and certain individuals (such as infants under six months old) cannot be immunized, the best way to protect the population is to vaccinate as many individuals as possible to stop the spread of the disease.

Incidentally, Vicks VapoRub — mentioned in Abascal’s piece — has been shown to stimulate mucus production and can have severe effects on breathing in small children. It is not recommended for children under 2.

I plan to prepare for the flu season by getting the vaccine when it becomes available, washing my hands frequently and keeping my kids home from school when they are ill. I will be following the advice of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov) carefully.

— Laurel Kuehl, M.D.

Health care

Rhetoric is misleading

I grew up in Charlotte, Vt., and now live on Vashon Island. I have subscriptions to both community papers. I noticed something unusual in the last few issues. Both papers contain very similar letters warning us about Pres. Barack Obama’s plans to reform our health care system. The letters are not identical but share a number of loaded phrases, such as “socialist,” “faceless bureaucrat” and “government takeover.”

I was recently sent a link to the Web site for Freedomworks, a well-funded conservative organization chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (www.freedomworks.org/blog/bstein80/how-the-grassroots-can-stop-obamacare), which outlines a coordinated plan to defeat the current efforts for health care reform. Tactics include protests, town hall “visits,” repeated calls to “target” legislators and letter writing campaigns. I’m not saying this is a national conspiracy, I am simply pointing out that it is a well-organized campaign and probably involves a fairly small number of people.

Nor do I claim that contacting your representatives or expressing your views is a bad thing — spirited public debate is one of the traditions that makes this country great. However, a more unfortunate tradition is the spreading of disinformation for political purposes.

Both letters, and much of the “outcry” against what the right is calling “Obamacare,” contain statements that simply are not true.

I would encourage people to get the facts rather than relying on statements from groups and individuals with ideological biases. Two unbiased, non-partisan sources of information are factcheck.org and the Kaiser Family Foundation (www.kff.org).

— Henry Perrin