Putting H1N1 myths to bed

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(MCT) — If there’s one thing that spreads faster than the flu, it’s unfounded rumors. We asked Dr. Dean Blumberg, pediatric infectious disease specialist at University of California Davis Medical Center, to debunk a few common myths about the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine.
MYTH: The vaccine isn’t safe.

The vaccine is functionally identical to the regular seasonal flu vaccine and has gone through the same testing, Blumberg said. While getting the H1N1 vaccine does carry the same risk as the seasonal flu vaccine, the chances of dying from the vaccine are much smaller than from H1N1 disease, he said.

MYTH: You can get sick from the vaccine.

That won’t happen, Blumberg said. The flu virus is inactivated in the shot version of the vaccine, so it can’t make you sick. The virus is alive in the nasal spray version, but it’s so weak that the most you could get would be a very mild runny nose or scratchy throat.
MYTH: The H1N1 vaccine has harmful chemicals.

Multi-dose vials of the vaccine do contain the preservative thimerosal, which contains ethyl mercury, related to the harmful type of mercury in foods, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Single-dose vials and the nasal spray version do not. Many studies have shown that thimerosal poses no danger to children, Blumberg said.

Another “risky chemicals” myth is that the H1N1 vaccine contains squalene, an organic compound obtained mainly from shark liver oil. While vaccines in other countries may contain squalene, no U.S. vaccines contain the chemical.

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