Guest Editorial

Is the Swine Flu Vaccine Deadly?

By James Matthews

            As we start this semester there has been a glooming threat in the air.  Coming into this semester, swine flu has been a major concern to many people, especially school officials, state officials and medical staff.  WHO, the World Health Organization, expects the flu to really kick into high gear going into the colder months.  At one point officials said that they expect over 2 billion people to die if the virus goes unchecked.  Medical experts followed that by saying that the flu vaccine will keep the numbers from reaching anywhere near that high.  So, is swine flu (H1N1) really that dangerous? 

            The current situation is starting to look more and more like the last swine flu outbreak which occurred in 1976.  In 1976, the government said that every American should get the vaccine to prevent a possible swine flu outbreak.  Ultimately, more people died from the vaccine than from the actual flu.  Those who didn't die sued the government.  About 4,000 people sued the government for being crippled or for having a family member killed by the vaccine.  They sued because they were never warned of any possible side effects.  Are we not about to fall into the same situation?

            They already expect "mass deaths" from this flu.  There's a "Swine Flu International Conference" PDF posted on the Internet.  It's too large a document to put in this newspaper, but a lot of it talks about how they plan to handle the "mass fatalities."  There was also a law just passed in Massachusetts that will allow officials to come into a house and transport people without said person's consent.

            So, again, is swine flu so dangerous?  Is taking the vaccine worth the possible side effects?  Do your own research before you decide whether to take the shot or not.