Doctors debate H1N1 vaccine

As the Laguna Beach Unified School District gears up for the possibility of vaccinating students against H1N1, or so-called “swine flu,” concerns regarding the vaccine were raised at the Sept. 22 school district board meeting by parents and community members who fear it might be dangerous to children or cause more outbreaks.

The vaccine should be available to the public by mid-October, health officials said.

Supt. Robert Fraisse said the district has a task force working on the issue and will modify its H1N1 preparedness plan in accordance with advice from health-care officials.

“We’ve created a district task force which meets bi-weekly to address the issue in terms of emerging trends, review our absences daily to notify any early trends of the flu impacting our schools and have provided training and materials to our schools for [proper] cleaning and sanitation,” he said.

“If any school or multiple schools faced a significant outbreak of H1N1, our protocol for considering a school closure would be to consult with our health officials and determine through discussion at a special board of education meeting what our action should be in view of the facts.”

Constitutional issue raised

Among the community members who addressed the board were Gary Arthur of the Health in Balance Natural Healthcare Center in Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach high alumnus and parent Robert Potter and Leonard Horowitz, who presented pamphlets that list so-called “risks” and offered legal advice should the vaccine become mandatory for students, which he said would be a violation of 1st and 5th Amendment rights.

“I condemn the idea of this vaccination for all students and urge you to take the time to critically analyze the science before administering anything,” Horowitz said. “We need to stop the advancement of these vaccines.”

Arthur addressed the dangers of squalene and thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that has been used for decades in the U.S. in multi-dose vials of vaccines in order to ward off bacteria, and is being used in some forms of the H1N1 vaccine.

He also argued that “personal freedoms should be recognized” when it comes to deciding on whether or not to be vaccinated.