
Change in human social behavior in response to a flu vaccine - monort
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20816312
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schoen
This needs to be placebo-controlled in order to support their interpretation
that it's a result of the pathogen. A rival interpretation would be that
people who get the vaccine believe themselves to be safer than before, and
therefore are willing to engage in more social interactions because they feel
more comfortable in those settings.

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jenny_say_qua
Agreed, but I think it might be considered unethical to tell someone that they
are vaccinated against a virus that they are not.

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schoen
You could tell people "we want to know how people respond to flu shots, so
we're going to give you two shots, one on September 1 and one on October 1,
and either the first will be a saline solution and the second will be the flu
shot, or the first will be the flu shot and the second will be a saline
solution; either way, you'll be vaccinated against the seasonal flu by
October".

(You could also have a control group where you don't give any shots at all,
and don't claim to have given any.)

