5 reasons the H1N1 flu is actually good for us

While we’re talking about public demand, let’s consider its impact, because that's positive outcome No. 3: Public demand for vaccine is up this year — way up. Right now that means news reports of “shortages” as vaccine supply continues to roll out. But if we can sustain increased demand, we will achieve several important goals: We will protect more people through direct vaccination, we will protect more people by protecting those around them, we will keep more adults at work and more kids at school and we help ensure a better supply for the future.

Increased demand means increased supply. If the public accepts more vaccine, you can bet that the private sector will make it. For good or bad, that’s how our economic system works.  Dr. William Schaffner is president-elect of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.The law of supply and demand means manufacturers won’t make more product than they can sell — how can they justify spending on products to throw them away? It’s an American business standard; it works this way across all industries — cars, houses, clothes and yes, even vaccines.

Manufacturers responded quicklyBut for the record, here’s positive No. 4: While manufacturers are private enterprises that need to consider profits, they’ve shown great flexibility and willingness to alter their plans and work to achieve goals established by our public health leaders. Companies readied themselves to switch from seasonal to pandemic vaccine production in the late spring and then made the change virtually overnight when asked to do so.

Manufacturers started the H1N1 process in May and vaccine delivery began in October. We all wish we could have as much vaccine as we need on the shelves the moment we need it. But in the case of vaccines, it doesn’t work that way.

Vaccines start from live material — viruses and bacteria that cause us great harm. It takes time to grow these live materials and then to render them incapable of causing any harm themselves. As a result, vaccines are probably the most well-tested and safest medical intervention we have. And to date, they're the only intervention that has led to complete elimination of a disease from the planet. (It's smallpox, in case the ailment doesn’t immediately come to mind).

While I could go on for a while with the positives, here is my last one, positive No. 5: Flu awareness has increased. The Department of Education has asked schools to participate in vaccination programs for our children. This is a tough task for our overburdened schools, but all indications are that they’re doing everything they can to be part of the effort. And that’s good because this particular pandemic flu can hit kids hard. But we also need to remember that seasonal flu also hits kids hard. School-aged children have the highest infection rates and infants and toddlers are hospitalized at rates similar to the elderly because of influenza.