KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As a pediatrician working in the Emergency Room of Children's Mercy Hospital, Dr. Beth Schissel has seen and heard it all. September, amid the H1N1 flu frenzy, was the busiest month in the hospital's history.
Schissel says of all the confusion, the biggest myth about swine flu is that the new vaccine is not safe. Many fear that because there was less time to make the H1N1 vaccine than the seasonal flu vaccine, there wasn't enough time to test it properly. Schissel says the vaccine is safe.
"Absolutely," said Schissel. "It is absolutely safe, even though they had less time because the bottom line is, it is the same technology. It is the same method of making the flu vaccine that we've used year after year after year."
Schissel adds that if the H1N1 virus had become prevalent a few months earlier, we wouldn't even need separate clinics for the vaccine. She says production for the seasonal flu vaccine begins in January. If the virus had been prevalent then, officials would have made the H1N1 vaccine a part of the seasonal flu vaccine. It is now a separate vaccination because the virus didn't appear until production was well underway for the seasonal flu vaccine.
Schissel also stressed the importance of vaccination and dispelling rumors over safety.
"It is huge because vaccines prevent illness," said Schissel. "They give us a chance for our bodies to build up immunity. So if you are exposed to it, even if you do get it, you will have a milder case or you may not get it at all. There's a reason I'm getting vaccinated. I see this every day. I need to build up these new antibodies in my body because this is a new virus to my system."
If you would like to get vaccinated against the new H1N1 virus, check out our full list of area clinics under local news.
