- Hello Jeff - As you note in the article below, it just
gets worse. Pharmaceutical companies must be very thrilled with airport
flu shot mills because this will bring in more revenue.
-
- I think that taking any vaccine, especially one that
people take on a yearly basis is risky. As the article points out below
"thimerosal, is a preservative in flu shots." We know the varous
poisons like Aluminum and Mercury are in these shots as are other poisonous
substances. Taking a yearly flu shot even for 3, 4 or 5 years can increase
a persons risk for Alzheimer's Disease tenfold. It is believed the Aluminum
which goes directly to the brain sets people up for Alzheimer's Disease.
-
- These "shots 'r us" clinics do not have
a patient's records in front of them and have no idea if the traveler has
HIV/Aids, Diabetes, etc. which could effect both the efficacy of the flu
shot and the patient's health.
-
- Do we need another vaccine mill? Vaccine should be
looked upon as a dangerous drug and one would not carelessly take medication
without first having a complete physical, tests, etc.
-
- Atlanta airport plans on offering pneumococcal vaccine
once flu season ends. In no time at all, we could see airport kiosks offering
all types of vaccinations to anyone who wants one (whether they need it
or not).
-
- Last year Chicago's Ohare airport offered 5,000 flu shots.
The idea of selling flu shots, and eventually pneumococcal vaccine from
kiosks next to the airport gates is not a helpful one as the article would
have us believe.
-
- I would have preferred to see wash basins and castile
soap set up at the gates so that people could wash their hands properly
and reduce their risk for influenza. Flu shots do not prevent flu. It
was discovered that flu shots are not as efficacious in the elderly and
immune compromised as once purported by the vaccine companies. The best
hope is that a flu shot MIGHT help in preventing some complications in
some people and, maybe shorten duration of flu. It is not a silver bullet
at all.
-
- Let us hope these kiosks do not offer nasal flu vaccine
sprays because passengers will be shedding flu virus as they use airport
facilities and travel. This could cause influenza to travel and spread.
-
- Airports Offering Flu Shots
- Time.com
-
- (ATLANTA) - After taking off shoes, pulling change
out of pockets and going through security checkpoints, passengers now can
roll up their sleeves and get a flu shot at gateside kiosks and health
stations in some major U.S. airports.
-
- Although health clinics at many U.S. airports have offered
flu shots for years in public areas outside security checkpoints, officials
found that few passengers want to risk missing their flights by getting
vaccinated before clearing the checkpoints.
-
- So this year, airports including those in Atlanta, Chicago,
Denver and Newark, N.J., are offering flu shots in "airside"
areas - passenger concourses inside the checkpoints.
-
- "It's helpful being on the airside because people
... don't know how long its going to take getting through security so they
don't want to take a risk of waiting in a medical clinic or being stuck
in security and not making their plane," said Maureen Zampella, director
of nursing and general operations manager of Harmony Pharmacy & Health
Center Inc. The company offers flu shots at its clinic in Terminal C of
Newark Liberty International Airport.
-
- It takes less than five minutes to get vaccinated at
an airside flu shot clinic, says Dr. Dominic Mack, chief medical officer
of The AeroClinic, which has two flu shot kiosks in Concourse C of Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport.
-
- The cost ranges from $15 to $35, depending on the clinic.
Shots are available to most flyers. Exceptions include people with allergies
to chicken eggs and feathers or thimerosal, a preservative in flu shots
and contact lens solution. Most of the gateside clinics are in domestic
concourses, but clinic officials say they provide service to passengers
who connect to other domestic and international flights.
-
- "It's a viable option ... especially for business
travelers. They don't have time to go to the physician," Mack said.
"This offers another option for the population to get their flu shots."
- But passengers taking the shots won't be protected right
away. Those vaccinated develop some immunity to the flu virus after three
or four days. It takes about two weeks for a flu shot to offer full protection.
-
- Being vaccinated now offers plenty of time for the shot
to fully take effect before the peak flu season begins in the U.S., typically
after December, Zampella said.
-
- Danny Manzon of Jacksonville, Fla. wanted to get a flu
shot for three months but the busy restaurant consultant never had the
time to get vaccinated. So he jumped at the chance to get one from a kiosk
near his airline gate at the Atlanta airport.
-
- "The convenience is great," Manzon, 53, said
after getting a flu shot on Tuesday from The AeroClinic kiosk, located
in front of an AirTran Airways gate in Concourse C.
-
- Ultimately, airport health clinics may offer more than
flu shots to busy passengers near gates. Health officials say they're considering
other kiosk-based services in the future, including more vaccinations and
tests for high blood pressure or cholesterol.
-
- "We're finding that's where people are," said
Michelle Smith, spokeswoman for Denver Health, which operates the Medical
Clinic at DIA, or Denver International Airport. "Especially if you're
in an airport where a large percentage of our travelers are there for connecting
flights, you want to be able to offer that convenience."
-
- The Atlanta airport clinic is considering offering pneumococcal
vaccine once the flu season ends, based on requests from travelers approaching
the kiosks. It also may offer blood pressure and cholesterol tests at the
kiosks in the future, Mack said. The Denver clinic wants to offer similar
services and may also address altitude sickness, Smith said.
-
- Last year, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport offered
about 5,000 flu shots to airport passengers and employees from kiosks next
to gates.
-
- "We didn't know if it was going to be successful.
It went over great and we asked the (Chicago) Department of Aviation this
year to do kiosks full-time" at O'Hare and Chicago Midway Airport,
said Dr. John Zautcke, medical director for the University of Illinois
Medical Center at O'Hare. "Business travelers love it. They are just
thanking us."
-
- Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, assistant professor of public health
and medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New
York, says the gate vaccination programs make sense as a public health
measure.
-
- "Anything that makes flu shots more accessible is
a good thing," said Hupert, who has no connection to the flu shot
clinics. "It's always helpful during normal times to try out new mechanisms
(to distribute vaccine). This idea of offering vaccine in airports is actually
an interesting and helpful step."
-
- http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1691202,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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