OT-Doctors may refuse swine flu vaccine

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Doctors may refuse swine flu

vaccine

http://www.guardian .co.uk/society/ 2009/aug/ 24/doctors- refuse-swine-

flu-vaccine

Several studies suggest up to 60% of GPs would oppose being immunised

because they are concerned the safety trials will be rushed

Half of GPs

said they believe swine flu is too mild to justify taking a vaccine … a nurse

prepares a syringe during a mass immunisation exercise at Bolton arena in 2006

to test procedures in case of a flu pandemic. Photograph:

Rickett/PA

Many GPs, as well as their patients, may be reluctant to be

immunised against swine flu once a vaccine is developed, surveys suggest

today.

A survey of GPs published on Healthcare Republic, the website of

GP magazine, found that up to 60% of GPs may decline vaccination. Although the

numbers who responded were small – 216 GPs – they are in line with a much

bigger

survey of nurses published a week ago by Nursing Times, which found that a third

of 1,500 nurses would refuse vaccination.

A Canadian study published

today in the journal Emerging Health Threats suggests the public, too, will have

reservations that must be overcome if a vaccination campaign is to be successful

in the autumn or winter. The study, which used focus groups to establish the

likely response of different people to a vaccine, pointed to the need to win

over people who believe that alternative therapies and a good diet are a better

option than vaccines.

But the biggest problem in persuading people and

healthcare professionals to have the jab may be the relative shortage of

evidence from trials about its safety and efficacy. Because of the urgent need

for a vaccine, testing will be limited.

Among the GPs who responded to

the survey published by Healthcare Republic, 29% said they would not choose to

have the vaccine and 29% said they were unsure whether or not they

would.

The biggest reason given by those who said they would not have it

was concern that the safety trials would not be adequate: 71.3% said they were

" concerned that the vaccine has not yet been through sufficient trials to

guarantee safety " . Half – 50.4% – said they " believe that swine flu is too

mild

to justify taking the vaccine " . Only 8.7% said they did not believe they were at

risk.

Professor Salisbury, director of immunisation for the

Department of Health, commented on the website that frontline health workers

have responsibilities to other people. " They have a duty to their patients not

to infect their patients and they have a duty to their families, " he said. " I

think you solve those responsibilities by being vaccinated. "

The

Department of Health played down the results, saying that the small number of

responders could not accurately be said to reflect the opinions of all GPs. But

a spokesman added: " GPs will have an important role in the height of a pandemic.

Getting the swine flu vaccine will protect them and their patients. That's why

we're offering GPs the vaccine as a priority. Of course, vaccination will be

optional, but the vaccine is being carefully assessed for safety and will be

licensed before it is used. "

Many of those questioned in focus groups for

the study in Emerging Health Threats felt uneasy about vaccination for an

illness perceived as mild. Others felt they could protect themselves through

handwashing, keeping their distance from other people and even a good

diet.

The survey results appeared as the department of health announced

14 new fast-tracked research projects into various aspects of swine flu, costing

£2.25m. These include work to establish how long somebody with the virus is

contagious and to establish the " safe distance " from a patient. Other projects

will look at whether closing schools – which was the early response to the

epidemic – stops spread and whether facemasks for healthcare workers are

worthwhile.