So....
Who's getting the swine flu vaccine?
Are your children getting it too?
We are on opposite sides of the fence here and it may likely come to blows or much time spent in divorce court.
I apparently am living with the world's foremost expert in the subject and all truth comes only from him. Glory, Hallelujah.
I would love to hear someone else's view on this for a change.
9 comments:
Our 3 kids got the regular vaccine (well, the 2 boys got Flu mist). As far as I know right now there is no swine flu vaccine available in our area. My husband will probably get the flu shot at work for free. I have never gotten a flu shot and am scared to. It made my Dad VERY ill.
We're not sure yet, which is of no help to you, but I'm interested to see what everyone else is doing. Our middle child has respiratory issues and I keep hearing horror stories of the H1N1 turning into pneumonia and leading to all sorts of horrible medical conditions so I'm a bit freaked out about that. I don't think we even have access to it yet, so right now it's a moot point.
My son that has food allergies has never been able to get the flu vac. due to the other ingredients in it-
I am still on the fence-My sister is a Physician Assistant-when she does all her research, and gives me the pros and cons, then we will make the final decision for the family....
Good luck and tell us what you end up doing...when it is available.
My husband will most likely get the shot (at least regular flu & maybe H1N1), I will not get either.
That makes it really hard to decide what to do for our son. He has never had a flu shot (neither have I), and honestly I don't know anyone who was ever gotten the flu (respiratory variety, which this protects from). In the rush to put it out, the H1N1 vaccine scares me. A lot. I believe I'll put off getting any flu vaccines for my son as long as possible.
We even had the discussion last night about pregnant women getting the shot. They are strongly urging all pregnant women to get the H1N1 shot. But from things I've heard the shot could be risky. Husband's view- if I get pregnant, I should get the shot. My view- if I get pregnant, I will be even less likely to get the shot. I've heard that they lowered the "safe" levels for mercury allowed, just to push out this shot. Uh? Isn't too much mercury supposed to be BAD for pregnant women? And you're allowing more just so this shot can get out sooner? Seems really wrong to me.
Just my opinions...based on various information I'm hearing.
We are in canada, and so our vaccine is a little different than the one in the states. Also, we HAVE to get the swine flue vaccine then the regular vaccine, not in the reverse order.
I think that me & my kids will get it.... From what I've read, every year's flu shot is a variation onthe flu shot the year before. So it is almost the same vaccine, just 'tweaked' to fight this year's strains.
I have never gotten a flu shot, nor have my kids. We are not high risk and the flu is (in my opinion) a way to build your immunity up. I prefer that we catch H1N1 NOW so that we don't have to worry about it this winter. Many people will catch it and be FINE. Some will catch it and have complications that are minor. A few will catch it and have complications that are more severe. This is true about every strand of flu or sickness. Shoot, you can get pneumonia from a standard COLD.
I don't know, hon. My opinion is that the vaccine is too new which = too scary for me and my kids.
Our county is giving all of the 4th-12th graders the shot for free. I went ahead and gave my permission. I'm of the thinking that the side effects (hopefully) won't be as bad as the actual flu.
They are offering it through the school system for free. I'm unsure. I have very healthy kids, this is an untested vaccine--and in some cases attenuated vaccine, natural immunity is always better then acquired...... Also--it will take 6 weeks for it to be fully effective--so honestly, they could get it in the mean time. In fact, they are pretty likely to get it in the mean time if they are indeed going to get it.
Ahhhhh! I really hate these decisions. My gut instinct is no. But peer pressure is making me nutty.
Just catching up on your blog...
I am on both sides of the fence.
There are many good arguments for getting the vaccine. The vaccine IS a good vaccine. (Yes, I have professional experience/education specifically in influenza virology/immunology). Leslie is correct - it is NOT a "new" vaccine, nor is it "untested."
If my children were in a high-risk category (or directly exposed to family members in a high-risk category) or if I was pregnant, I would not hesitate to get the vaccination.
On the other side of the fence, Laura is correct that a natural infection seems to induce a longer-lasting immunity than obtained by vaccination. Personally, I have chosen not to vaccinate my children or myself for this reason. I recognize that some might feel this is irresponsible (I'm contributing to a lower "heard immunity" which puts susceptible people at greater risk). We've done the best we can to minimize the risk to others by keeping my sick kids out of school during the H1N1 outbreak in our community.
As it turned out, my family got hit before the vaccine was available. We would not vaccinate at this point because it would do little good and the vaccine supply is still limited in our area.
Good luck on making the decision that is right for your family!
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