Category Archives: infectious diseases

Swine flu vaccination and one unimpressed media customer

September 30, 2009 – 7:22 pm

With today’s launch of what may prove to be the biggest vaccination program in Australia’s history, debate about the merits of swine flu vaccination continues.
In Crikey today, a leading US consumer advocate as well as an international expert on influenza vaccines from the Cochrane Collaboration raise several questions for Australian health authorities, while former [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in conflicts of interest, influenza | Comments (8)

An injection of common sense into the swine flu response

September 22, 2009 – 8:46 pm

The announcement last Friday that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved CSL’s vaccine against swine flu and that a national vaccination campaign will be rolled out in the next few weeks means two things:
• a lot of people must be working pretty hard and wondering how on earth they’re going to pull it all [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in TGA, global health, health & medical marketing, influenza, swine flu | Comments (0)

Dissecting the whooping cough story: facts alone are not enough

September 3, 2009 – 4:50 pm

Dr Julie Leask, a social scientist in the medical faculty at the University of Sydney, has done much research and thinking on the issues around public acceptance, or otherwise, of vaccination.
She wrote an interesting article in Crikey today about the image problem of swine flu vaccination and the need for “full transparency from the [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in consumer health information, influenza, public health, swine flu | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Why can’t we have a rational discussion about the merits of pandemic flu vaccination?

August 31, 2009 – 12:02 pm

In some public health circles, it is seen as verging on cardinal sin to raise questions in public about the safety or effectiveness of vaccines. The fear is that even mentioning these issues risks lending fuel to the anti-vaccination brigade.
One problem with this view is that is inhibits a discussion that we need to have [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in Media-related issues, Uncategorized, influenza, public health, swine flu | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Staying up to date on swine flu

April 29, 2009 – 12:30 pm

Anyone can sign up for email updates here from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US.
Don’t be deceived by the title – the updates are coming fast and furious.
But let’s just keep some sense of perspective; at this stage, the numbers of deaths are miniscule [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in influenza, poverty, public health, swine flu | Tagged , , | Comments (0)