In 1976, two new army recruits were reported to have influenza-like illnesses. Upon further medical treatment, the disease was found to be similarly linked to the swine flu, a virus notorious for causing the 1918 Pandemic, otherwise known as the Spanish Flu. Professionals notified of the issue estimated that over 200 soldiers had already contracted the virus at the time of realization, quickly leading to the discussion of government response to the potential crisis.
During a meeting between the CDC, the FDA, and the Department of Health, decisions were made to increase surveillance around the army camp, investigate the potential cause of the issue, and identify the range of spread. However, this study ultimately resulted in inconclusive data, as no recruits admitted to having contacted pigs, and the only two previous cases of the flu were in 1974 and 1975, both of which had virtually no spread.
Regardless, in March 1976, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) decided that a pandemic of swine flu was a reasonable threat, and that if the action were to immediately be taken, a vaccine and prevention could be developed prior to the massive outbreak. This decision was made at a particular time. At the time, vaccines were developed using fertilized chicken eggs, which would then be slaughtered. During the ACIP's decision, however, the flu vaccine had already been produced, and many companies planned to slaughter the animals. However, the talk of the need for a new vaccine created urgency on the government to quickly decide, or else the pharmaceutical companies would kill the chickens, further prolonging the development of a vaccine.
Eventually, the plan was massed as the National Influenza Immunization Program (NIIP), hoping to vaccinate "every man, woman, and child". In total, 45 million people were vaccinated. Initially, even the announcement of the program created some doubt, as the program's cost of $137 million became misconstrued at $1.9 billion, the total spending for the Department of Labor. Several issues plagued the program, the lack of available vaccines, industry demands to indemnify themselves, and superstition of adverse side effects. Indemnification is when a company is protected from the various legal harms of a product, which, in this case, was the side effects of vaccines. Though non-threatening, this demand scared many Americans, who thought there were issues with the vaccine itself.
During the widespread vaccination period, deaths began to pop up regarding the vaccine. Three elderly citizens had died following their vaccinations, all from the same clinic. What is probably most damning about this program, however, is its link to the Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
In total, during the NIIP, 450 cases of GBS were discovered, an excess to normal levels. As such, many began to attribute this to the Swine Flu Vaccine. Eventually, this warranted a stop to NIIP, which was announced on December 16, 1976. Following this, public suspicion grew, as newspapers started targeting government inadequacy as the result of the spread of GBS. Furthermore, the attempt was labeled by some as a plot to help Ford's reelection, and signs such as the fact that the Swine Flu never spread in other countries led many to believe in potential government corruption, despite the well-intentioned effort.
In the end, this program deemed "fiasco" led to a major public backlash against the government and even the retirement of the CDC director. Others also attribute this issue to Ford's loss in the presidential race in 1977. Regardless, what is clear is the rising growth of a major public skepticism that applied to practically everything the government did.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-public-health-legacy-of-the-1976-swine-flu-outbreak
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/05-1007_article
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-shadow-1976-swine-flu-vaccine-fiasco-180961994/
This was a really interesting topic to read about. I had no idea that there was so much controversy regarding the government's response to the 1976 Swine Flu scare. It's so sad that the vaccine was linked to so many cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome and even some deaths. I find it interesting that many people saw it as a plot for reelection and a sign of government corruption. It's also interesting how this incident contributed to the public's hesitance to embrace vaccines. I found out that only one person actually died of the swine flu in 1976, despite the mass immunization program.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ops/hsc-scen-3_pandemic-1976.htm
I find it interesting that the anti-vaccine movement surged during the Swine Flu Outbreak since the media mostly points out that the anti-vaccine movement is because of the fear of developing autism. Furthermore, I decided to do some research on the state of the movement amid the current COVID-19 outbreak to see how the movement has adapter. Not to my surprise, there have been vocal members of the movement stating that they are fearful of the government forcing the vaccine due to the severity of the outbreak. Although the vaccine is far from finished, I believe that this backlash could hurt the delivery of the vaccine as there is already government skepticism which could then add to the chaos. If this happens, we might end up with the same result of the Swine Flu Outbreak: an increase distrust and skepticism in regards to vaccination.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/texas-anti-vaxxers-fear-mandatory-coronavirus-vaccines/
I find it really interesting just how much of an impact the vaccine controversy in 1976 had on much more modern times, a case example being the 2009 swine flue pandemic. Despite plenty of media coverage arguing for vaccines at the time (you can still find plenty online from 2009), most Americans did not seem too enthusiastic about getting themselves or their children vaccinated. In fact, the CDC estimated that, from August 2009 to May 2010, just 123.3 million Americans were vaccinated for swine flu. Since the US population was around 300 million at the time, that rounds to just around 40% of Americans receiving vaccinations—not the greatest rate.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/is-the-h1n1-swine-flu-vaccine-safe#2
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage_0910estimates.htm
I found it very interesting that the modern day anti-vax movement can be linked to a specific historic event.The mentioning of the "Flat Earth" theory reminded me of another conspiracy rooted in modern American history, that the Apollo moon landing was faked. I did some research and found out that a shocking 5% of American believe that the moon landing was faked despite there being solid evidence to prove it occurred. I think that both of these cases of skepticism can be linked back to the Vietnam war where the American people lost confidence in their government because of how secretive the government was being, and how later it was exposed that the government did some very undemocratic things, like intervene in a Vietnamese election out of fear of the Communist party being democratically elected. I think this caused many American people to be skeptical of their government and this same skepticism can be seen in these conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.space.com/apollo-11-moon-landing-hoax-believers.html
I found it interesting that the anti-vax movement is in part connected to the swine flu epidemic. I wanted to see if there were any other events linked with today's anti-vax movement. One link is vaccine overload. This is the belief that giving too many vaccines at once may cause harmful effects. Some believe that this causes autism or sudden death infant syndrome. However, there is lots of scientific evidence that disproves these theories. It is interesting to see how speculation or weak links can influence people to actually believe the theory.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_hesitancy#Anthrax_vaccines