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H1N1 Vaccine Fears

2009-11-08 · letter vlog · John · 2:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Health · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, community lore

John admits an irrational fear of the H1N1 vaccine sparked by the Desiree Jennings story, argues that not vaccinating is also a choice with a worse side effect (the flu), debunks the quack doctor who claimed to cure her, and concludes we play best when we play the odds rationally.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Sunday: no more puff, behind on NaNoWriMo; agenda; John's irrational nervousness about the H1N1 vaccine; not high-risk; Hinsdale, Illinois plug; the Jennings story begins

  • ★ John says it is Sunday and announces 'no more puff'. (playful) — 00:00:00 · the Puff
  • ★★ John is 9,000 words behind on NaNoWriMo but says he is doing fantastic in 'Neanderthal November'. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Neanderthal November
  • ★★ John admits that, though he knows it is irrational, he felt a little nervous about getting the H1N1 vaccine. — 00:00:00
  • ★ John says he is not in the vaccine's high-risk group of health-care workers, children and pregnant women. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John tells Nerdfighters he will be in Hinsdale, Illinois this week (week of 2 November 2009) and invites them to come; details in the doobly-doo. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria, doobly-doo
  • ★★★ John recounts the reported story of Washington Redskins cheerleader 'Denise' (Desiree) Jennings, who after a flu shot had seizures and was diagnosed with incurable dystonia blamed on the vaccine. — 00:00:00

00:00:47 — Jennings' reported vaccine-caused dystonia; 40% of parents plan to vaccinate, fearing side effects; not vaccinating has a worse side effect; active vs passive choice; Jennings recovers, so not dystonia

  • ★★ John says the story made him feel that even a 1 in 10 million chance of that side effect was one he did not want. (hypothetical) — 00:00:47
  • ★★★ John cites a study finding only 40% of parents of American schoolchildren plan to vaccinate their kids, the top reason being fear of side effects. — 00:00:47 · United States
  • ★★★ John argues there is also a side effect to not getting the vaccine: the swine flu itself. — 00:01:16 · oinkbarf
  • ★★★ John says swine flu is by any measure much more dangerous to schoolchildren than the vaccine, which isn't dangerous at all. — 00:01:16

  • ★★★ Because getting vaccinated is an active choice and not getting it a passive one, not vaccinating feels more conservative: the illusion of not choosing. — 00:01:16

    “the illusion of not choosing”

  • ★★★ John reports Jennings is making a full recovery, can talk and has stopped moving strangely, which means she did not in fact have dystonia. — 00:01:16

00:01:49 — Dr. Rashid Buttar: urine injection therapy, conning cancer patients, no clinical trials

  • ★★★ John says the doctor credited with curing her, Dr. Rashid Buttar, believes in urine injection therapy (filtered urine reinjected to boost immunity), which doesn't work. (playful) — 00:01:49
  • ★★ John says Buttar also cons late-stage cancer patients out of their money with promises of miracle cures that never come. (playful) — 00:01:49
  • ★★ John says that if Buttar's treatments did cure dystonia, he is a jerk for never allowing a clinical trial — as if he knows he's full of crap. (playful) — 00:01:49

00:02:18 — Why Jennings got better (psychogenic component?); not entering the vaccine debate (giant squids of anger); we play best when we play the odds rationally; haircut sign-off

  • ★★ John suggests Jennings may have recovered because her initial diagnosis noted a probably significant psychogenic component, sarcastically offering her pee-injecting doctor as the other explanation. (hedged) — 00:02:18
  • ★★ John says he is not trying to enter the vaccine debate, because he fears the 'giant squids of anger'. (playful) — 00:02:18 · giant squid of anger
  • ★★★ John's point: at each moment in our lives we are playing the odds, and we tend to play best when we play rationally. — 00:02:18

Humor (significant)

  • John says he is not a child, though he does hang out with a lot of children. — 00:00:00

    “said the creeper”

  • John offers two explanations for Jennings' recovery: a psychogenic component, or her doctor's treatment. — 00:02:18

    “Or maybe it's because she saw a doctor who injects people with pee.”

  • John declines to enter the vaccine debate for fear of angry commenters. — 00:02:18

    “I love you, giant squids of anger, but I also fear you.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: 2009 swine flu pandemic · Desiree Jennings · omission bias · Pandemic H1N1/09 vaccine

Also: People: Rashid Buttar

Organizations: Washington Commanders

Terms: doobly-doo · giant squid of anger · oinkbarf (“oink barf”) · the Puff

Concepts: dystonia · psychogenic disease · randomized controlled trial · urine therapy

Places: Hinsdale, Illinois · United States

Events: National Novel Writing Month

Also centred on 2009 swine flu pandemic: Oinkbarf Pandemic! An Intellectual Response to Swine Flu

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