Medical experts say that a concerted media campaign is needed to urge parents to have their children take the swine flu vaccine after surveys have shown that approximately 80 percent of guardians are denying inoculation for their children. “Some people don't trust vaccinations even though the seasonal flu vaccine has been administered to maybe hundreds of millions of people over the years and with a very good safety record. Side effects are rare,” said Abdul Rahim Ruzi, Professor of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Fertility at King Abdulaziz University. “The H1N1 vaccine has been tested the same way as seasonal flu is tested and by the same companies.” Professor Ruzi warned that the disease was “spreading across the world and a more dangerous mutation of the virus has emerged in a limited form.” “We haven't focused on what statistics signify and instead been concentrating on exaggerating the side effects of vaccinations,” Ruzi said. “The facts show that 36,000 people die and 200,000 are admitted to hospital with seasonal flu in the US, but recent reports show that no less than 10,000 people died from and 50 million people were infected with the H1N1 virus in the US by the middle of 2009, and the flu season is not over yet,” he said. Ruzi added that around 80 percent of deaths from seasonal flu are in persons over the age of 60 who had previous histories of cardiac problems or strokes. “In the case of swine flu,” the professor said, “Most deaths have been in children and pregnant women or persons with chronic diseases.”“Children are vulnerable to the virus because they have not yet developed the natural immunity that healthy adults have built up over the years. Adults infected with swine flu mostly experience similar symptoms to seasonal flu,” Ruzi said. Dr. Nasr Eddin Al-Sharif, a pediatric consultant at Jeddah Health Affairs Department, said that the “H1N1 virus is far more dangerous than taking the vaccine.” “All indications show that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Dr. Al-Sharif said. “It is extremely important to take it as it is children who are the most vulnerable to the virus.”
