No Swine Flu Shot For This Little Piggy

Consider this fair warning to all you germaphobes and nervous Nellies: I will not be getting the swine flu shot.

And my hunch is that many other British Columbians of good health and sound mind will also not be heeding the inoculate-'em-all, big and small, entreaties issued this week from federal health authorities, who in an odd singsong of official well-meaning laced with hysteria are encouraging pretty much everyone to line up, in order of priority, for the H1N1 shot.

No argument, of course, with the common sense directive that the swine flu vaccination is a must for those with suppressed immune systems, and chronic physical infirmities such as diabetes, kidney disease, asthma and blood disorders.

And, yes, it's a scary mutating invader, showing little regard for traditional victims of flu, such as seniors, but instead an affection for young healthy women.

At risk, too, according to the experts, are pregnant women in their third trimester, natives on reserves, health care workers, and children under five.

But how did those specifics, and the actual H1N1 fatality statistics, suddenly translate into a mass inoculation program?

With few exceptions, most of the 86 deaths in Canada (nine in B.C.) attributed to H1N1 as of Oct. 22 have been linked to underlying medical conditions.

In fact, most documented cases of swine flu have been mild ones, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, which also reminds us that other flu strains account for between 2,000 and 8,000 Canadian deaths each year.

The decision is personal, of course, and mine is based on many things, including research and my relative good health.

It's based, too, on a growing unease that our modern society seems inordinately predisposed to the quick-fix petri dish cure for fear a common sniffle might morph into a death sentence, instead of trusting our own built-in immune systems.

And while I have a healthy respect for our medical system, I also have a healthy distrust of drug invention and testing, coloured by lingering memories of thalidomide and Accutane and other so-called miracle medicines gone bad.

I wonder, too, as we blithely inject ourselves with viruses to fight viruses, year after year, if our own natural antibodies will go on evolutionary strike and simply give up the fight.

Fifty years ago, my mother vaccinated me as a youngster, as I did my two children, as did my two children with their children.

Polio, tuberculosis, smallpox, measles -- these debilitating and often deadly diseases are virtually eradicated thanks to modern medicine.

But the flu? Sneezing, runny nose, coughs, aches and pains? Headache, fever, diarrhea?

Surely our mothers gave us the best health advice ever, at least in dealing with seasonal flus and colds.

Eat properly. Get off your arse and get some fresh air. Don't sneeze on people. Cover your mouth when you cough, lest you spread germs.

If you get the flu, stay home and drink soup and ginger ale.

Wash your hands. A lot.

Look after your body. Listen to it. It will usually tell you when it's in trouble.

When I was a kid and hurt myself, my mother would ask: "Are you bleeding?" If I said "no," she would say, "Then stop crying and go back outside and play."

The message, of course, was that life is sometimes tough, so suck it up, and that which doesn't kill you, well, you know.

My mother, who is 83 and a life-long advocate of managing one's own health care, gets the annual flu shot, but will not be getting the swine flu shot.

My 25-year-old pregnant daughter, still in early days, will be discussing with our family doctor the side-effects of the H1N1 vaccine, said to include Guillain-Barre syndrome, a debilitating neurological disorder.

At 56, I have never had a flu shot, and I will not be getting the swine flu shot.

Does my doctor have a fool for a patient?

Perhaps.

But the truth is, I'm more afraid of the swine flu vaccination than I am of the swine flu.

And should I be wrong, well, I'm sure there'll be a lineup at the microphone come the funeral.