Week 2 - Flu Vaccine: Worth the risk?

As we have studied in class, vaccines are used to protect us from certain illnesses and diseases.  In order for it to work effectively at protecting us, a vaccine injects us with certain parts of the actual disease.  For example, when we are babies, we get the chicken pox vaccine.  During this, we actually get injected with the chicken pox virus so our bodies can produce antibodies that fight off this virus in the future.  However, when a vaccine isn't fully developed, it can actually cause us to develop that very illness in which it is trying to protect us from.

In this regard, last flu season was considered one of the worst in the history of the United States.  How can that be now that we finally have a flu vaccine?  Well, it seems as though this vaccine is just not as developed as doctors thought it was.  In the NBC interview, they describe this flu vaccine as "a dismal failure among those who need its protection the most."  In fact, during this past flu season, over 49,000 Americans passed away from this horrific illness.  Also, the number of people hospitalized 65 years and older has been the highest amount recorded since 2005.  The truth is, statistics and facts don't lie.  This vaccine is only 56% effective on average.  Also, it is only 9% effective on people 65 years and older.

So, why take this vaccine at all?  In the NBC video, they provide an example of a doctor who has receieved the flu vaccine and ended up getting the flu anyway.  On the other hand, I have never had the flu vaccine and have never gotten the flu.  Yet, my three year old cousin received the vaccine this past flu season and ended up with a severe case of the flu two days after receiving the vaccination.  Although the current vaccine may be the best option at the moment and may work for some, it may also have drastic side-effects for others.  The bottom line is, there is no doubt that doctors and scientists need to develop a much more effective solution for the flu.  Until then, should people take the current vaccine?  Is it worth the risk?
 
NBC News Flu Vaccine Video: Click to View