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BuMed warns of swine flu vaccine hoax message

A bogus report claiming that sailors aboard a ship died from the vaccine for the H1N1 virus has popped up on blogs and in e-mail inboxes in recent weeks.

“This is pure fantasy,” said Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a spokesman for the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

The report aims to incite opposition to the mandatory vaccine that all service members will receive in the coming months, Surrette said. It has been circulating online since September and provides few details about the “unnamed Navy vessel.”

“PLEASE pass this email along. The truth is that the swine flu epidemic will be created BY THE VACCINE. If we don’t take it, there will be no epidemic,” read one e-mail obtained by Navy Times.

The report’s source is cited as “The International Forecaster,” a Web site run by a retired stockbroker who frequently posts shrill reports of imminent global economic meltdowns alongside advertisements for investing in gold.

The Navy has reported no incidents of the H1N1 flu vaccine making anyone sick, Surette said.