After reading the insert would you still go ahead and have the flu vax?
(Tom: with up to only 50 percent effectiveness and a chance at Guillain-Barre? How could I pass up that chance? EASILY!)
After reading the insert would you still go ahead and have the flu vax?
Me: “May I please have the package insert for the flu vaccine?”
Rite-Aid Pharmacist: “Why?”
Me: “So I can read it.”
P: “Which one?”
Me: “The one advertised with the little banners on every aisle.”
P: “I will print you the information sheet.”
Me: “No, that’s not the same thing.”
P: “What do you want to know? I can tell you.”
Me: “I would just like to read the whole thing before I consider getting one…side effects, contraindications, effectiveness, ingredients like mercury.”
P: “I don’t think I have any. Let me check. (checks) Sorry, I can’t give you one until the box is empty, because it has to stay in the box. And there isn’t any thimerisol in the single dose flu shot any more. I can print you the information sheet.”
Pharmacy co-worker with big smile at me: “Hi, I found one.” (hands insert to me)
Here are some things in the insert not on the store’s sheet:
- The single dose vial contains mercury at =1mcg (This is called a “trace amount” by the industry.) The multi-vial contains 25 mcg.
- People with egg allergies are contraindicated.
- “Safety and effectiveness have not been established in pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under four. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. This vaccine should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed. It is not known whether fluvarin is excreted in human milk.”
- “Fluvarin has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or for impairment of fertility.”
- “Antibody response is low in the geriatric population.”
- “Serious reactions, including anaphylactic shock, have been observed.”
- “There are no data to assess the concomitant administration of flu vaccine with other vaccines.”
- “The vaccine has been associated with an increased frequency of Guillain-Barre syndrome.”
- “In some studies, fluvarin protected up to 50% of subjects.”
With love to those who read this far. Please share.