’Tis the Flu Season

For the past 3 weeks, you could not escape the bombardment of reports about the flu vaccine shortage. The story broke in October with news that Chiron Corp was expected to have produced about 50 million doses (approximately half the US vaccine supply), but British regulators closed Chiron’s Liverpool facility because of bacterial contamination. According to the Associated Press, Aventis Pasteur, now the sole supplier of 55 million doses, will produce another 2.6 million doses. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing 1.5 million doses from Canadian supplier ID Biomedical.

But Aventis’ shots will not be available until January, and ID Biomedical’s records will not be available to the FDA until the end of November, which could mean its vaccine will be distributed by mid to late December. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending vaccination by October or November.

The vaccine shortage news stories now cover the long lines at clinics and drugstores across the country. People who had not received flu shots for many years are now considering whether or not to get one. The vaccine issue has even dominated the presidential campaigns, with Sen Kerry criticizing that the shortage is indicative of the leadership problems in health care and national security, and President Bush responding and reassuring. Also in recent news, the Texas state prosecutor has filed a lawsuit against flu shot distributors in California and Florida for selling vials to Texas hospitals for as much as $950 when the usual prices are $60 to $85.

When I first heard the news about the flu vaccine shortage, my initial thought was that chiropractors should use this to their advantage. What a serendipitous opportunity for the profession to educate the public about vaccines.

Gerald Anzalone, DC, of Peekskill, NY, had the same idea. He has written two articles for his local newspaper about natural flu remedies in lieu of vaccination. He says, “Given the hysteria that the current flu vaccine shortage has created nationwide, and the conflicting scientific data on the efficacy of the flu vaccine, my patients are reassured to know that one of the positive benefits of the chiropractic adjustment may be an enhancement of their natural immune response. Patients deserve to have access to this information, and I do not hesitate to refer them to sources such as The Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, a peer-reviewed chiropractic journal, or references from the textbook, Somatovisceral Aspects of Chiropractic [by Charles S. Masarsky, DC, and Marion Todres-Masarsky, DC].”

You can provide information about vaccination and chiropractic in your practices, on your Web sites, and in email newsletters. And contributing health articles as Anzalone did, can spread awareness about your practice and chiropractic.

A direct hit at the right time in the perfect spot, which I like to call the piñata effect, can bring a flood of new patients into your practices during this flu season. CP

Miwon Seo
mseo@medpubs.com