Shot of Prevention

Last week, there was quite a lot of discussion about a YouTube video entitled, “Why This Nurse WON’T Vaccinate” that was posted by a woman who refers to herself as the “Patriot Nurse”.  I wrote a blog post here on Shot of Prevention that included the video, along with a point by point commentary from a vaccinating nurse who I refered to as the Canadian Nurse.  Since the Patriot Nurse didn’t allow comments on her YouTube video, my intent was to generate an open discussion here on Shot of PRevention, where we are proud to allow differing views in our comments.  As you can see, the post received quite a few comments and since it’s never been our policy to censor them, you can understand the debate that this video has sparked.

Well today I want to update you on some recent developments with The Patriot Nurse.

It appears that the statements made in the video by The Patriot Nurse were troubling to many people, including blog writer Martine O’Callaghan who writes for Autismum and Nerditorial. She too wanted to write about this video and bring it to the attention of her readers. However, she first tried to verify the identify of The Patriot Nurse, in order to establish her educational and occupational background and experience. That prompted her to write a letter to a birthing center in TN where she believed Ms. Greene (aka The Patriot Nurse) has been employed.

Ms. O’Callaghan explains in her recent blog post that she was in no way calling for the dismissal of The Patriot Nurse.  She simply wanted to verify whether this person representing herself as a nurse on the video was currently working for the birthing center.  She also inquired as to whether the Patriot Nurse’s views on vaccination coincided with the policies of the birthing center.  After all, if a member of the birthing center’s staff has opted out of vaccination, shouldn’t the pregnant women giving birth there be informed of this?  After all, there are dangerous vaccine preventable diseases that can be life threatening to an infant who is still too young to be vaccinated and many cases where infants have died as a result.

It appears that since our last posting, The Patriot Nurse took down the YouTube video and has since made a statement on her Facebook page that suggests that her employer had some questions for her in regards to it.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with a woman sharing her personal opinions regarding vaccines on YouTube, right?

Unless you are a nurse who attempts to speak as an authority on the subject of vaccines and you happen to have direct contact with pregnant women and newborns, is that it?

So, where exactly does the line get drawn?   What are the ethical implications here?  What are the consequences to these actions?  And what should they be? 

I’m curious to hear what you think in regards to this topic?    However, I feel it is only fair to start off with a comment we received from the Canadian Nurse who first attempted to correct some of The Patriot Nurse’s misinformation.  She commented for Shot of Prevention as follows:

Good morning angry supporters of The Patriot Nurse (TPN).

No one is debating your RIGHT to choose whether or not to vaccinate. But if you have the right to NOT vaccinate, then a patient – especially parents who …will be giving birth to a vulnerable neonate under your care – should have the right to choose whether or not you act as their nurse.

NO one is after The Patriot Nurse’s job. A science writer for a legitimate science zine contacted her work to verify her identity. Which is exactly what a responsible writer does before publication – verifies a source.

Non-vaccinating nurses at other hospitals have to take isolation per-cautions(gloves, gown, mask). This is to protect them and protect the patients. Regardless of whether YOU think vaccines work – science sure thinks that they do, and the employers have a right and a duty to protect those under its care.

The Patriot Nurse is a sham. She states in her video that saying this comes as a great cost to her as a nurse. If she so firmly believes in her anti-vaccination rhetoric – so much so that she would post it online AND STATE THAT SHE WAS A NURSE – then she should be well aware of the potential consequences.

All of you crying “free speech” are being deceived. The Patriot Nurse has deleted EVERY SINGLE comment that was not entirely supportive of her. You can’t claim that her free speech is in jeopardy while she refuses that right to others.

The Patriot Nurse made a video. A stupid video. In which she makes very very basic scientific errors. She was called to answer to those errors on her page, on this blog, on Orac’s blog and elsewhere. She refused to do so. She is not interested in having a dialogue. She had her little diatribe and that was that. NO ONE is so special that they can make sweeping, erroneous statements without recourse.

I know that you anti-vaccination activists have a lot of other anti-vaccination friends online. But the fact of the matter is that 94% of people are still vaccinating. You’re a blip on the radar. You’re the new “trendy” thing to be against. But when it comes down to it, all but a handful of people are intelligent enough to realize that:

1) there is NOT a global conspiracy of scientists and doctors trying to poison your children

2) a few bad nurses or doctors do not discount the whole of the scientific method; nor are the opinions of a few more valid than the opinions of millions

 3) researching vaccines on Google is NOT equal to going to post-secondary education for 10+ years to be a physician, pediatrician, immunologist or what have you.

The Patriot Nurse is not a martyr. She is a nurse who is expected to uphold the ideals and principles of her nursing organization and employer. And seeing as those things adhere to evidence-based medicine – and she doesn’t – she now has a problem. She brought it on herself. It was her choice not to vaccinate, and it their choice (and DUTY to the public) to deal with her how they see fit.

A Tribute To Bob Keegan, by Amy Pisani

Bob Keegan at ECBT’s 20th Anniversary Gala in October – I was so thrilled to see him after many years.

This past Monday an my old friend, Bob Keegan, succumbed to his battle with cancer.  Since hearing the news, I’ve struggled to find the words to write about his incredibly selfless efforts to save the lives of literally millions of children; partly because I know that he’d be the first to demand that instead I should go out and take a hike with my bike…literally, or grab a beer and toast him instead.  Yet, I can’t help but wonder whether he was aware that in addition to dedicating his own life towards saving the lives of people throughout the world, that he inspired untold numbers of his peers to strive to also make a difference in the lives of others?  Bob Keegan was the type of man who always gave credit to others for the accomplishments that so often he himself envisioned and facilitated.

When Bob was in his early twenty’s he began his 30 year career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the branch that is known as STD control (sexually transmittable disease control) working as a public health advisor in Newark, NJ, New York City and eventually Atlanta, GA – home of the CDC.  He helped to develop the first pre- and post-test counseling for HIV/AIDS during a time when the nation was first coming to grips with what would soon become a sexually transmitted disease epidemic.  He then spent five years coordinating CDC’s efforts to assure that refugees from Southeast Asia were properly immunized and treated for communicable diseases.

In 1991, Bob joined the newly formed Polio Eradication Activity Section of CDC along with five other dedicated individuals and a budget of only $3 million.  As the deputy director of what is now called the Global Immunization Division, the staff grew to 110 with a budget of $150 million.  Since 1988, the number of polio cases reported worldwide declined by 99 percent!  That translates into a disease that once infected 350,000 people every year in South Africa and Asia, now affects 1,000 children each year.  Yet, as I celebrate the writing of that number; I just felt Bob smack me over the head to tell me that 1,000 children is unacceptable when that number is zero here in the U.S.  Of course he is right, and so the charge continues on. Read more…

January has been a busy month here on Shot of Prevention.  We’ve had a parent speak out on the significance of HPV protection for her son, a pharmacuetical employee comment on how proud she is to help ensure the safety of vaccines, we’ve even had a nurse call out the non-vaccinating Patriot nurse for sharing misleading information on YouTube.  Of course, let’s not forget about the return of Andrew Wakefield and his plans to sue for libel. 

Which leads me to a great editorial that appeared this morning in The Huffington Post, entitled Unencumbered By Facts: What Upsets Me Most About the Anti-vaccine Movement.  In this article, Claire McCarthy, M.D, who is a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, explained why the appearance of Andrew Wakefield on Good Morning American had given her the chills.  (View it for yourself and you’ll see exactly what she is referring to.)

She explains that “My only crusade as a pediatrician is to keep my patients healthy — and vaccines are part of what I use to do just that.”  But she questions how doctors are supposed to help parents understand the enormous benefits and occasional risks of vaccines when “We stick to the facts. But people like Andrew Wakefield don’t.”

Dr. McCarthy does a great job of communicating her frustration and explaining the challenges the medical community has in countering the much publicized anti-vaccine rhetoric.  And while she speaks as one individual pediatrician, I would venture to guess that many others have echoed her views, but are, as she described, often “drowned out” by the headlines and airtime devoted to people like Andrew Wakefield.

She concludes her article by referring to what Wakefield says at the end of the Good Morning America interview;

 ”Wakefield encouraged parents to get educated, and to read about immunizations. He even suggested the CDC website. He said, emphatically, that there are two sides to the story.  I couldn’t agree more. But just one of them is grounded in facts.”

I applaud Dr. McCarthy for speaking out and I encourage you to read her article.  Of course, you are encouraged to not just listen to her opinion, but to get the facts.  Vaccinations save lives!

Recently a friend and nurse, who I adore, shared a video with me.  Now I know my friend to be a very diligent nurse and she’s often discussed how frustrating it is to come across Facebook pages and YouTube videos where nurses dangerously suggest that people should not vaccinate their children.  After reviewing this video, I knew it must have been a major dissapointment to my friend, both personally, and professionally.  While I wasn’t completely surprised by the comments this particular “Patriot Nurse” made, I am a bit concerned about the information she presents.  http://youtu.be/riM4xfrzjAY

At the beginning, the “Patriot Nurse” states that the comments are turned off, but explains this is because she is only interested in “intelligent debate”.  As far as I’m concerned, debate only happens when both sides get to present their position.  So, after viewing the video I figured that we could certainly help facilitate debate for the “Patriot Nurse”.

(Interestingly enough, it’s unclear whether this video is tied in any way to Rachel Greene of the Patriot Nurse blog.  Could this be the same Rachel Greene who works as a nurse in a TN birthing center?  I certainly hope not.  As far as the informed consent she calls for in her video, I would have to wonder if the parents giving birth in that center are fully informed about her views on vaccines. )

To kick off the discussion, I wanted to begin with comments I received from another nurse with serious objections to what the “Patriot Nurse” states in the video above.  As a Canadian nurse, with an additional background in biology, who works at a large teaching hospital, she’ll tell you… don’t’ take her word for anything, but instead, be wary of individuals who use You Tube to spout off misinformation and try to convince you not to protect your children from preventable disease.

Of course, as always, we welcome your comments in an intelligent debate below.   Read more…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 63% of healthcare workers received a seasonal influenza vaccine as of the beginning of November.  While this is a 7% increase over the number vaccinated by the same time last year, there is still significant room for improvement.

Healthcare workers include a wide variety of professions, such as nurses, dentists, lab technicians, OB/GYNs and many others.  These professionals have a great deal of contact with patients, and therefore are exposed to illness on a regular basis, which is why you might suspect they would want to be up-to-date on their vaccines.  However, we must also recognize the risks these workers pose to others if they themselves are infected.  It is possible for workers to be contagious before they realize they are ill.  During that time it is also possible that they could unknowingly spreading illnesses, such as influenza, to vulnerable patients.

Take, for instance, the example of a newborn child.  As a parent, your most important concern is for the well-being of your baby.   That’s why you may insist that friends and family members who want to visit your child, both in the hospital and at home, are immunized.  However, how would you feel if you discovered that almost 40% of the people providing care for your child are not immunized against seasonal flu?

As parents and patients we often assume that those caring for us and our loved ones are doing everything possible to protect us, and that includes getting immunized.  While we are seeing encouraging statistics to suggest that they are, this is not a universal requirement in the healthcare industry and so there is still work to do to help improve healthcare worker vaccination rates.

Since nurses play a critical role as vaccinators, educators and role models for their patients, it’s important to highlight the efforts being made by the American Nurses Association (ANA) to help educate nurses on the importance of immunizations.  Not only do they offer a free Continuing Education (CE) course entitled Bringing Immunity to Every Community, they are doing their part to engage on the issue of influenza vaccination with their Unite to Fight the Flu! campaign.  Today, they’ve even planned a clever way to offer free CE credits with a live Twitter chat.     

To join today’s twitter chat from 12:30-1p.m. EST,  all one has to do is go to http://tweetchat.com/room/anachat or use the hashtag #anachat on Twitter.  The discussion will focus on facts about influenza, with a special emphasis made to dispel the myths about the flu vaccine.  This is a free event and both ANA members and non-members are encouraged to join.  Read more…

Today marks the start of National Influenza Vaccination Week and so I ask; are you one in 111 million?

If you’ve already received your influenza vaccination this season than, congratulations…you are!

According to today’s telebriefing on U.S. influenza activity and vaccination rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s estimated that as many as 36% of the general public (which represents a total of 111 million) have been vaccinated against seasonal influenza in the U.S. as of the beginning of November.   These mid-fall statistics were compiled after phone surveys were conducted during the first two weeks of November, and while final results will not be available until the end of the season, all indications are pointing to a slight increase in this season’s flu vaccine uptake versus last year’s data.

According to the CDC’s estimates, influenza rates among the general public are up about 3.5% from this time last year.  What’s even more encouraging are that the statistics suggest greater vaccine coverage among certain high-risk populations including children, seniors and pregnant women. Read more…