Talk:1976 swine flu outbreak

Unreliable Source
Seriously, Glenn Beck as a source? Ugh how about something *factual* and *reliable*


 * 1) ^ "What Can We Learn From the 1976 Flu Debacle?". Glenn Beck Fox News. April 27, 2009. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518266,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.

To be fair, it's Richard P. Wenzel who gave most of the information, and he seems like a reasonably reliable source. That said, most of what the Glenn Beck piece covers is also covered by the Emerging Infectious Diseases articles, so it could probably be swapped out for those if need be. I guess I support replacement since the journal articles aren't "rush transcripts", but are rather well-edited and well-reviewed. --Underpants 12:22, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

Influenza A (Swine Flu) Propaganda video - 1976  in Youtube. Lightwarrior2 (talk) 04:35, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Inaccurate statement
How exactly can you put footnotes next to something that clearly didn't come from the footnote source? It says "hundreds died" from the 1976 yet everything I've read including the two sources cited next to this statement say 25 people died, from a condition THOUGHT to be caused by the vaccine. Someone needs to learn to count. 65.214.103.203 (talk) 13:32, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Biased article
I think this page can fairly be said to be biased, but one glaring error is the issue of squalene in the vaccine - namely, squalene is a precursor in the synthesis of various sterols and some vitamins in the human body. It seems to have been hyped extensively in the spectre of flu vaccination, presumably in the absence of the knowledge on the part of the accusatorial parties that it is a natural entity and derived from shark oils, as well as having an unfamiliar/devious sounding name.

--Astrocreep96 (talk) 15:02, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The article is getting more and more organised, I suggest we ask for Peer Review. OpinionPerson (talk) 17:07, 28 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I reverted some hypobole-laden added sections that had been inserted into the beginning of the article. Given the current H1N1 flu situation in the United States of America and the controversy (unwarranted, in my opinion) around the vaccine, this page would be a good candidate for locking.
 * Cshbell (talk) 19:18, 28 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Please look into this statement: "Overall, about 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine." Hordes of vaccine naysayers and conspiracy theorists keep pointing me to this, but it has no apparent factual basis. Thanks to anyone with the time to look into it further. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.104.98.7 (talk) 02:22, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

swine flu vaccine.
i do not mean to be unpleasant,but,esp during a swine influenza pandemic,the most pathetic thing you could put on wikipaedia is that vaccines cause gullian barre syndrome.are you encouraging people not to get the h1n1 shot? right now the most important thing people should think is vaccines are safe!do you want a even worse h1n1 pandemic? give me a break. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.244.148.235 (talk) 19:39, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * The article isn't saying that vaccines CAUSE GBS, but that at that time THE vaccine given caused GBS in a significant number of people. Just because there is a pandemic does not mean that we should hide facts about the past, the article isn't saying that vaccines are bad at all, it is just documenting what happened in the 1976 swine flu outbreak. OpinionPerson (talk) 22:00, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

I am worried that,as we are currently in the midst of the 2009 flu pandemic,people will come to this page,read that gullian barre syndrome can be caused by an "immunopathological reaction to the vaccine" and skip getting the H1N1 flu shot.I have posted the dubious template up next to this information.Immunize (talk) 00:07, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

How far did the vaccination program proceed?
From the article: ''The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled. – – – In total, less than 33 percent of the population had been immunized by the end of 1976. The National Influenza Immunization Program was effectively halted on December 16.'' I'll happily grant that 24<33, but I think this calls for some clarification: how large a percentage of the population (or I'd prefer to see the absolute numbers) did get vaccinated under the Influenza Immunization Program of 1976 before it was cancelled? — OttoMäkelä (talk) 02:04, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

I was stationed at Ft Ben Harrison in In. at that time and received the Swine Flu shot in 1976 and got sick as a dog for three days. The next year 1977 was told to get in formation to go receive a second Swine Flu shot and I asked to skip it and I told my 1st Sgt. about getting sick in 76 in not such a polite way he told me too bad and get in line, which made me sick again. I am now disabled with a neurological disorder and no explanation why? I got the vaccine in 1976 & 77 and every since then been having problems with my legs and arms I know this is the long way to tell you that the military at least didn't stop the program until 1977!

Please contact me if you believe you are suffering from long term effects of the swine flu from 1976 or before. I am as well and I have a doctor interested in proving it but needs more case studies. Place Swine Flu in the header. ramup2@gmail.com

In Fiction?
Firstly, Vixen 03 (1978) by Clive Cussler makes reference in passing to the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak, saying that the 'truth' is locked away in files with a 100 yr plus release date.

Secondly, Inoculate! (1979) by one Neil Bayne. The novel opens with a lethal flu outbreak at an airforce base in Michigan which rapidly turns into a worldwide epidemic. Investigators then discover that a cabal in the US government created the disease and deliberately spread it in an attempt to create conditions that would allow them to take control of the worlds remaining resource stocks.

Recently I've discovered a further novel, The Nightmare Factor (1978) by Thomas N. Scortia & Frank M. Robinson, this one opens with a Legonella style outbreak, but makes frequent references to the '76 swine flu outbreak.

I'm planning to write these up properly and add an 'in fiction' section to the page. It might be worth looking at novels/films/tv shows dating from 1977 to (say) 1980 to see if there are any other fictional referencesGraham1973 (talk) 21:00, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Page seems long on conspiracy 'theory,' short on science. Needs expert rework.
Page seems long on conspiracy theory, short on science. Needs expert rework — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ocdncntx (talk • contribs) 18:35, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Dead link
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!


 * http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_108398.html
 * In 1976 swine flu outbreak on 2011-05-25 04:43:36, 410 Gone
 * In 1976 swine flu outbreak on 2011-06-06 21:44:00, 410 Gone

--JeffGBot (talk) 21:44, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Connection with 1976 Legonella Outbreak
The 1976 Legionella Outbreak took place only a few months after the Fort Dix outbreak, it might be worth mentioning this as this probably affected the decision to launch the vaccination program.Graham1973 (talk) 21:09, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Page Requires Cleanup
Removal of un-cited content. Check sources & explain findings clearly. Include progress made with flu vaccinations since that time. re-word to improve accuracy.

I'm open to other suggestions anyone else cares to make. Boneso (talk) 06:30, 17 January 2017 (UTC)


 * I look forward to whatever you chose to do. It might be worthwhile covering the cultural aspects. I listed three novels I had found which were clearly making use of the events surrounding this outbreak as plot points.Graham1973 (talk) 01:11, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20091023195458/http://www.iom.edu/en/Global/News%20Announcements/IOM-Pandemic-Influenza-Guide.aspx to http://www.iom.edu/en/Global/News%20Announcements/IOM-Pandemic-Influenza-Guide.aspx
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Page Rewrite
I'm going to do a rewrite of this page and am culling the dead and questionable links to start. If anyone has suggestions about sources, please let me know. LibraryLady623 (talk) 17:13, 23 September 2017 (UTC)LibraryLady623


 * Go for your life LibraryLady623. I planned to do the re-write but got sidetracked 8&#61;&#61;8 Boneso (talk) 04:08, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Do you mean "run for your life?" :) user:LibraryLady623

I just made my rewrite of this page live. I have updated citation and made the information more fact based. All suggestions welcome. — Preceding unsigned comment added by LibraryLady623 (talk • contribs) 18:38, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

Switch to the past tense
Since this event took place in 1976, it might be advisable to use the past tense in this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.90.86.223 (talk) 01:14, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

The First Paragraph is Ambiguous
It states it was found there may have been a link between the vaccines and GBS. Then says the immunization program was ended. This indicates the vaccination program was ended because of the link between the vaccines and GBS, but remains ambiguous. V ALENTINE S MITH | T ALK  22:22, 24 September 2021 (UTC)
 * The vaccination program ended for a variety of reasons, not solely because of Guillan-Barre. The text does not indicate GBS was the cause, and adding such a comment would be actively misleading. Tarl N. ( discuss ) 23:21, 24 September 2021 (UTC)