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medpundit |
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Monday, February 14, 2005The chickenpox vaccine has turned into its own little rainmaker. When it was first introduced, its worth was dubious, at best. The company brilliantly marketed it to infectious disease specialists (who were the one group of doctors likely to see only the worst cases of chickenpox) who in turn trumpeted its inherent goodness to the rest of the doctors in their communities. In conference after conference they used their position of expertise to sell the vaccine. At first, it was a hard sell. For ages doctors have told parents not to even bother bringing a child into the office with chickenpox. It wasn't dangerous and bringing the child in would only expose others to the virus. Then, suddenly, it was being presented as one of the greatest scourges of nature. Merck put out a slew of advertisements emphasizing the rare complications. Eventually, the physicians at the front line gave in to the urging of their specialist colleagues and began to offer the vaccine with more and more frequency. As more and more children received vaccines, it became harder for an unvaccinated child to contract a natural case of chickenpox. (Before the vaccine, virtually everyone acquired immunity by the time they reached adulthood.) Chickenpox in adulthood is much more serious than it is in childhood. It is extremely debilitating in the adult. In a pregnant woman, it can be life-threatening for both her and her child. Now we have a situation in which it's much more likely that an unvaccinated child will grow to adulthood without ever having had the disease, and thus be at higher risk of death and debility. The solution? Vaccinate them. A solution that wouldn't have been necessary if the vaccine had never been widely adopted. It's win-win for Merck. The product that makes its own market. posted by Sydney on 2/14/2005 07:53:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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