Doctors debate H1N1 vaccine

Proposal to vaccinate students in schools may cause harm, some say. Others discount fears.

By Ashley Breeding

October 3, 2009

As the Laguna Beach Unified School District gears up for the possibility of vaccinating students against H1N1, or so-called “swine flu,” concerns regarding the vaccine were raised at the Sept. 22 school district board meeting by parents and community members who fear it might be dangerous to children or cause more outbreaks.

The vaccine should be available to the public by mid-October, health officials said.

Supt. Robert Fraisse said the district has a task force working on the issue and will modify its H1N1 preparedness plan in accordance with advice from health-care officials.

“We’ve created a district task force which meets bi-weekly to address the issue in terms of emerging trends, review our absences daily to notify any early trends of the flu impacting our schools and have provided training and materials to our schools for [proper] cleaning and sanitation,” he said.

“If any school or multiple schools faced a significant outbreak of H1N1, our protocol for considering a school closure would be to consult with our health officials and determine through discussion at a special board of education meeting what our action should be in view of the facts.”

Constitutional issue raised

Among the community members who addressed the board were Gary Arthur of the Health in Balance Natural Healthcare Center in Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach high alumnus and parent Robert Potter and Leonard Horowitz, who presented pamphlets that list so-called “risks” and offered legal advice should the vaccine become mandatory for students, which he said would be a violation of 1st and 5th Amendment rights.

“I condemn the idea of this vaccination for all students and urge you to take the time to critically analyze the science before administering anything,” Horowitz said. “We need to stop the advancement of these vaccines.”

Arthur addressed the dangers of squalene and thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that has been used for decades in the U.S. in multi-dose vials of vaccines in order to ward off bacteria, and is being used in some forms of the H1N1 vaccine.

He also argued that “personal freedoms should be recognized” when it comes to deciding on whether or not to be vaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA-approved H1N1 vaccine will be manufactured in several formulations, including multi-dose vials (to be administered on two occasions, four weeks apart) that will contain thimerosal and single-dose units, which will not require the preservative.

In addition, the live-attenuated version of the vaccine (one that contains bacteria or viruses that have been altered so they can’t cause disease), administered intranasally, will be produced in single units that do not contain thimerosal.

Doctor defends vaccine

Dr. Thomas Bent of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, who is also president of the California Academy of Family Physicians, and Perry Sheidayi of the Sleep Hollow Clinic, not only condone administering the vaccine to all high risk groups, but are pushing for it.

Bent, who said his clinic is pre-registered for the vaccine as soon as it is available, said people who do not get vaccinated are more at risk of getting sick.

“The mercury levels are not dangerous, and you cannot get the H1N1 flu from the vaccine,” he said.

“In my studies, I’ve found that the mercury levels in multi-dose vaccines are the same as in a tuna sandwich, so if you’ve had the Ahi tuna at the Lumberyard, you’re equally at risk.”

Children 9 and younger are advised to get a multi-dose vaccination, administered four weeks apart, while those 10 and older should get a single-dose.

The H1N1 vaccine, he said, should be taken in addition to the regular flu shot, as two do not “cross over.”

Sheidayi, who has seen a “rare” three to four flu cases during summer months, said the clinic expects that number to increase to four or five per day during the “flu season.”

She also said that more than 90% of current flu cases, while not tested, are estimated to be the H1N1 influenza.

“There is a bigger risk in not getting this vaccine, than in getting it,” she said.

Target groups who should get vaccinated, according to the CDC, include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months, health-care and emergency services personnel, people between ages 6 months and 24 years, and those between 25 and 64 who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune system.

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