More Than Just a Theory
A friend of mine has a theory. He says all the computer viruses out there are unleashed by the PC security software firms. The more viruses your computer gets infected with, the more security software you buy.
Sound paranoid? Maybe. But as scams go, it wouldn't be a hard one to pull off. Most of us are dependent enough on computers to fear viruses - but we don't understand enough about them to know when we're being had.
We're in a similar situation now in healthcare. The government is telling everyone 60 and older that they need to get the new shingles vaccine. Most of us know enough about the shingles to want to avoid it: at best it means several very painful weeks, at worst it means a lifetime of intermittent nerve pain. But we don't really have enough information about the vaccine to know if it's a good idea.
And in this case, the scam suspicion is more than just a theory.
The shingles vaccine is manufactured by Merck, the same company that manufactures another vaccine that authorities rammed down our throats a decade ag the chicken pox vaccine. And some scientists think that the first is directly related to our "need" for the second.
Here's why: shingles is caused by varicella, the same virus that causes chicken pox. When an adult who had chicken pox as a child is exposed to the varicella virus again, the exposure can "awaken" varicella remnants that have been lying dormant in the nerve cells.
Before the chickenpox vaccine, there was plenty of varicella floating around in the air. Adults got small exposures to the virus all the time, sort of like a vaccine from Mother Nature. Each small exposure helped adults strengthen their resistance to the virus and helped protect them from shingles.
Now, fewer and fewer kids get chicken pox each year. There isn't as much varicella floating around. But what is still floating around has gotten stronger - and now, when it hits adults, their immune systems are blindsided.
This isn't just my theory - it's been written about by a number of scientists. They speculate that shingles will become more and more rampant as use of the chicken pox vaccine becomes more and more universal. So what do we do? Create another vaccine, of course! (and another revenue opportunity for Merck.)
What's worse, the vaccine doesn't even appear to be that effective. The government based its sweeping recommendation on the results of a study of some 38,000 adults 60 and older. The vaccine only worked about half the time overall. In people over 70 - the group most at risk for developing shingles - it worked less than 40 percent of the time. And the guidelines don't recommend the vaccine for people with compromised immune systems - again, those most at risk for developing shingles in the first place.
The vaccine seems to be fairly safe - there were few side effects and those were minor. But there just isn't enough research yet to know for sure. The study only followed participants for three years, and only tracked side effects for 45 days after the vaccine - hardly enough time to guarantee complete safety.
The government recommendations are hot off the presses, so it will likely be awhile before your doctor starts talking to you about the shingles vaccine. It will also take some time for insurance companies to figure out how they will cover the costs - right now, the shot costs about $150 a pop. Maybe in the meantime there will be more research that will make me feel more comfortable with this. But for right now, I won't be recommending the shingles vaccine for my patients.
Paranoid? Maybe. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.
