H1N1 Vaccination

[Ruth]

Rob received his invitation to have the H1N1 vaccination! All the thinking about and debating about it and I still don't know what to do! In theory I am all for vaccinations BUT this is just such a new and untried and untested one that I just have reservations.

I have just booked him in to have his annual flu shot done but they say it can be given at the same time as the H1N1 on Saturday.

Poor kid! He is not going to enjoy this one little bit!

[NJO]

We're being told this vaccine is prepared the same as the regular annual flu shot...but I understand the reservations. I am not sure if the Thimerosal is what bothers me so, I am afraid of any vaccine. But if you have no problem with the regular it should be okay for him. I would be torn , too.

[Dianne]

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/vi...hxiQADJXpRg5snq

Don't know if this link will work...this is the 60 minutes show shown recently on the h1n1 vaccine....worth watching.....
If you can't get it just google 60 Minutes.

I will get it when avail...a risk I am willing to take as I cannot get that sick if I get the flu...problem is it is taking so long to be avail with my health plan..
D

[Dianne]

Link works....

[NJO]

It has been very slow in coming to our group of high risk people...

[Ang]

Did anyone see the YouTube video of the Cheerleader who got this neurological disease (I believe it's Dystonia or Dystopia or something like that) from the flu shot? Just watching it terrifies me enough that I will likely never get the shot - even if it's a one in a million chance of getting it, I'm not taking the chance.

[Anne L]

I watched that 60 Minutes episode and the previous one about H1N1 complications. I thought it was very informative.

One thing they point out is that the flu vaccine is like wearing a seat belt. We wear it even though there is only a tiny risk we will be in a serious accident. With the flu vaccine, we take it even though there is only a tiny chance we will get seriously ill. But then is there any risk too wearing a seat belt? I guess it could trap us in a car or hurt us in a collision.

They also point out that the vaccine is made using the exact same practices as the regular flu vaccine. They inject a bit of the virus into an egg, let it incubate, kill the virus, and make the vaccine.

I think it was in the previous 60 minutes about H1N1 where they talked about the mercury risk. I think they said there is a lot more mercury in a can of tuna than in the thimerosol in a single vaccine.

They said they are finding that a large percentage of parents are not allowing their kids to get the vaccine. I keep thinking back to the statement by one of the medical experts. The interviewer asked them what will happen if a large percentage of the population does not get the vaccine. He said "More people will die." That was chilling.

And then, they showed that poor teenager in Arkansas. A healthy football player almost disabled by complications. He looks like a shadow of his former self. And they say he will have several months of physical therapy to get back to his regualr life. The flu virus damaged his lung lining. Then, after he was recovering from the flu, an opportunistic bacteria took hold and attacked his lungs. He was VERY sick.

The main fear is the Guillain-Barré syndrome that developed in about 500 people after a nationwide swine flu vaccine in 1976. They never figured out if the vaccine actually caused the GBS but the connection is logical. But they claim that in all the flu vaccines since then, they have seen no GBS.

I think the science makes sense... take some dead virus and avoid getting ill. I think we with AD and other disorders have a higher risk than most people. But then most of us have kooky immune systems. So it comes down to a personal choice.

I'm confused about getting the vaccine because I was exposed to the virus when my son had the flu last week. I am taking Tamiflu and have had no flu symptoms. My husband is not taking Tamiflu and did not get the flu! So we are confused. If my doc says I can get the vaccine, I probably will.

Anne

[lzmom]

We all plan to get the h1n1 vaccination. We have all had the seasonal flu vaccine at this point. Zac started with a cold and cough over the weekend, the school nurse said h1n1 is all over the schools in our town, 10 of zac's 30 classmates were out yesterday for one reason or another, he went to the nurse at noon wanting to go home so naturally i picked him up. we have increased his HC since saturday. We finally got a call from Zac's pedi's office last night, they have h1n1 and both kids will get the shot wednesday at 3:30 - they say it takes 2 weeks for you to be immune, let's hope that's ok. Zac has had NO FEVER so i'm hoping he's just got a cold and no flu. I want to keep him home from school all week, but time will tell. I actually would like to put a bubble around him but that doesn't seem very reasonable now does it? i hate this and it's only November. I had myself so worked up yesterday about this whole thing, i need to calm down.

[Joan]

My hubby and I will get the H1N1 shot when it becomes available here to us. I don't like getting sick! We had the regular flu shot. I see where the shingles shot is available at a local drug store. If I have had shingles, do I need it? I would like my hubby to have it!

I bought flowers to plant today... it is sooo nice out there!

Happy Day, all y'all..


JOAN

[NJO]

Well, as someone who has had neurological complications from both the flu and pneumonia vaccines, I am afraid of how severe my reaction would be if I took the shot. I don't know why I reacted like I did, whether it has something to do with Thimerosal or not. I used to take the shot and I was okay then I wasn't. I am not allergic to eggs...but I fear a full blown case of GBS. What I had was a neuropathy that burned like fire over a large part of my body and I was on neurontin for a long time. I took the vaccine in 1976. If you are the one who gets GBS, will it have been worth it? Just telling us there is a slight risk is find if you aren't the one who gets the adverse reaction. It's a risk each person must weigh and decide for themselves.

[Ang]

I'm more afraid of the Government's fear mongering than the flu. The H1N1 is around my town and my daughter had the flu last week and luckily I have nothing (so far)....I've never had a shot so don't think I ever will.....what happened to building up our immune system naturally? Is that unheard of now? I'm so torn - the news has everyone so scared - it's just heart wrenching. NJO thank God you did not have a fatal reaction - some people obviously react poorly to the drug - if I've never had it I don't know what my reaction will be so am not willing to take the risk. My daughter who is only 14 works for a seniors home part time and she has not had the shot - I really don't want her to get it - it seems unnatural to put the crap that's in the shot into our bodies - I just don't know!!!! P.S. I believe rinsing your nose/mouth every night with salt water will help and it's all natural so that's a good thing!!!

[Dav]

I meant to discuss the shot with my endo yesterday but completely forgot. That is what happens when you don't take a list of questions with you.

I am still pretty sure that my annual shot was the reason for my first crisis. I mean you can't tell me that it was just a co-incidence that the nausea came on a few hours after the shot and stayed for about 5 weeks before I really went down hill and ended up in hospital. Doctors won't agree with me though.

[Ruth]

Dav, I took a list of questions to the endo last week and I never got a chance to ask him anything! He was not up for answering questions! So, I didn't get to ask him about the vaccine for Rob!

All I know is that following his pneumonias setting his asthma off we were not given the option on the annual flu shot last year, We were told he had to have it.

It is sooooo difficult! I really want him to be safe!

[Joan]

Jo, I fully understand your not taking the immunization shots. If I were you, I would just lie low during flu season and order groceries delivered. Is there such a service where you live? If not, there should be!



JOAN

[Maureen]

I am confused about the H1N1 shot too. I went to my GP on Friday and he said that I don't really need it in his opinion because I'm not pregnant or young. WHAT??? This is the dame guy that INSISTS I get the regular flu shot every year. Maybe I will call my endo and get her opinion. My Mom is elderly and goes to the hospital every Thursday for an IV infusion for her heart condition. I am scared to death that she will pick up something when she is there. She is in poor health. My son is a firefighter and when they go on an ambulance run he is often right there with the patient. He's the strong guy so they always want him to be the one to carry the gurney. What if he gets it? You know, every year the media scares the crap out of us with a new flu. A few years ago our crooked Govenor in Illinois (Blagoavich) did some illegal shenanegans with the states supply of vaccines. No one knows if they got a good shot or an expired one. In Chicago people are lining up by the hundreds at clinics to get the H1N1 shot. But I have to wait until they get to the suburbs. What to do...what to do. Jo, I don't blame you for not getting the shot what you went through sounds very scary.