Swine flu vacc being MANDATORY for HC workers.

[fireheart17]

Funnily enough, I'm deemed a "medium risk" for swine flu due to the fact that I'm constantly interacting with the public (at uni and at work). I haven't gotten the vaccine yet though, I may when the chest infection clears up, but I want to be sure that I know of the effects first.

[DesignFox]

I never get a flu vaccine. I'm not getting an H1N1 vaccine. I don't think anyone should be FORCED to do so.

It's the flu. Gimme a break. The only people dying from it are people with already overloaded immune systems and other serious health complications.

If I get sick, I know to stay home. If it's bad, I get checked out by a doctor.

Why all the paranoia? Seriously.

I think children should receive the basic vaccines- you know for the stuff we've eradicated and don't want coming back. But the flu? No.

Mandating that health care workers get H1N1 shots but not the doctors...that's just lame. If we're going to make an asinine law, can't we at least have it make SOME sense?

[radiocerk]

I will be getting my H1N1 shot. Before I started working in the pharmacy, I wouldn't have bothered, I didn't get a normal seasonal flu shot before then either. I do have an immune system from hell. (Mostly by not fearing germs and dirt.)

But I work with sick people ALL day long. On average I see 450 - 600 people a day, and most of them aren't healthy. I don't want to catch any flu bug, not because I don't want the flu, I just know what I'm like, and how likely I an to notice I'm sick and call in unless I'm dead, and I don't want to be responsible for the infection of the entire city.

We don't mandate flu shots where I work, but they are pushed as a very good idea. My SO, who has worked in a nursing home, has had the seasonal flu shot pretty much a rule.

In Seattle, I've heard about the same badges, or armbands, or whatever for non-vaccinated persons. If you choose to not be vaccinated, I don't see as the badges are Orweillian, or anything. Swine flu's going to blow over in another 4 months tops... I didn't want to wear any of the dumb badges I have in my work career, but none of them hurt me.

Look on the bright side, if you were a non-vaccinated badge, the paranoid, cranky people won't want to come near you. On second thought, where do I get one of those badges...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Think about this: the shot is no guarantee that you won't get the flu. Not getting a shot is no guarantee that you will.

So, really, what do armbands do other than identify people who don't doggedly follow what the govenment says? They identfy those who the government deems "troublemakers" or "free thinkers." That's all they really do. They don't warn anyone that you are sick or not. It would be to create an atmosphere of "us" and "them."

I guess they stopped short of suggesting symbols be sewn onto people's clothing. I imagine that would remind people of something they'd rather they not consider.

[AdminAssistant]

I wouldn't be surprised if my university mandated the vaccine for faculty, staff, and TA's. I had to get a MMR shot (again) before I could register for my second semester because my high school didn't have my complete shot record. :/

I never get a flu shot of any kind. I just don't trust 'em.

[linguist]

Absolutely no one should be forced to undergo any sort of injection, treatment, or whatever as a condition of keeping their job.

including military personnel?

Think about this: the shot is no guarantee that you won't get the flu. Not getting a shot is no guarantee that you will.

it's no guarantee, true, but it does provide for a lesser chance, especially over the seasonal vaccine, the h1n1 vac is targeted at a specific known strain as opposed to the seasonal one which is a crapshoot based on the strains doctors think may be prevalent.

So, really, what do armbands do other than identify people who don't doggedly follow what the govenment says?

it has nothing to do with the government. it's about patient safety and right to know. i, as an individual with a compromised immune system, would refuse to be treated by someone i knew had not been vaccinated, even though i have. i can't afford to take that chance.

[DesignFox]

Yea, I have to slightly revise my position on this. Talking to someone who works in healthcare, at least where they work, they are aready required to undergo certain vaccinations and take certain precautions.

The idea behind vaccinating the employees who have the most contact with people who already have compromised immune systems is to keep the patient safe.

If you pass H1N1 (or any type of bug) to someone who already has serious complications, you can kill them if you are sick and come into contact with them.

So, yes, I think hospital employees should have to get the vaccine. Of course, that SHOULD then extend to the doctors, not just the rest of the staff.

For regular people not coming into contact with already sick people, there isn't any reason to hit the panic button. But in hospitals, the patients have to come first.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

including military personnel? .

Absolutely no one should be forced to undergo any sort of injection, treatment, or whatever as a condition of keeping their job.

i, as an individual with a compromised immune system, would refuse to be treated by someone i knew had not been vaccinated, even though i have. i can't afford to take that chance.

If you've been vaccinated, then why not?

[MaggieTheCat]

it has nothing to do with the government. it's about patient safety and right to know. i, as an individual with a compromised immune system, would refuse to be treated by someone i knew had not been vaccinated, even though i have. i can't afford to take that chance.

So only HC workers should be required to wear armbands if they're not vaccinated? What about cashiers at a grocery store, or even the person standing behind you in the line at the grocery store? There's just as much risk of you getting an illness from them as you do from a nurse who hasn't been vaccinated. So should everyone be required to wear them?

[Nyoibo]

So only HC workers should be required to wear armbands if they're not vaccinated? What about cashiers at a grocery store, or even the person standing behind you in the line at the grocery store? There's just as much risk of you getting an illness from them as you do from a nurse who hasn't been vaccinated. So should everyone be required to wear them?

No there's not, a health care worker works in the *gasp* health care industry, the HC industry deals with sick people non-HC workers generally come into contact wth less sick people and they're not having frequent contact with people who's immune systems are compromised.

[BroomJockey]

If you've been vaccinated, then why not?

Because viruses mutate through generations, and the more people its been through the less effective your vaccination will be, so the more people vaccinated, the fewer people it has to go through, so the more similar it will be to the original vaccinated virus.

This means being in contact with ill unvaccinated people increases your risk of contracting the disease, whether you've been vaccinated or not.

[Boozy]

Vaccinations work best when strategic segments of the population (ie, those in a position to spread illness) are vaccinated en masse. A tipping point has to be reached to make most vaccination programs viable.

This is just one of those things that must be done if we want to live in (and reap the benefits of) a modern urbanized society.

It is important to note that hospitals are not requiring people to get vaccinated to stay out of jail. They are requiring it in order for them to continue working in buildings full of immuno-compromised individuals.

I can explain why doctors are not required to be immunized, but I would like to make it very clear that I don't agree with this logic: Most doctors are not employees of a hospital or clinic. Unlike nurses, they are considered private contractors whose services are purchased by the hospital. Therefore, unless every doctor's contract is re-written with a vaccination clause, they are exempt from regulations that apply to other healthcare "employees".

[HYHYBT]

I'd like to hear more, please, on the basis for claiming doctors generally don't practice good hygiene.

[Boozy]

I'd like to hear more, please, on the basis for claiming doctors generally don't practice good hygiene.

I can't find anyone who said this in the thread. Was it in the article?

[radiocerk]

Doctor hygiene

Well, I have read reports suggesting doctors give up lab coats, ties, rings and watches, because these things all carry ridiculous amounts of germs. By and by large, I wouldn't say doctor's have poorer hygiene than anyone else in healthcare.

Though I do remember my aunt getting in trouble a time or two with doctors by playing handwashing guard when my uncle was in the hospital. Not that I blamed her.