.................................

[minkydog]

I will absolutely get the vaccine. I never used to get a flu shot....until the year that my DH and I got the flu. It was not a mild flu. It was the sickest I have ever been in my life. We could not keep our fevers down, no matter how much ibuprofin we took. It went on for at least 10 days...I think it may have been even longer. Every joint ached horribly--not just the major ones, but things like the knuckles in my fingers. Towards the end, I did not have the strength to walk more than a few steps. If I needed to go further I had to crawl. It was horrifying, and took a serious toll on my overall health. I am not exaggerating. Complete recovery took well over a month. Not the fevers, but just rebuilding my strength.

I know you're not exaggerating. I had a flu like that a few years ago and I was the sickest I've ever been. The aches, the fever, coughing. I developed pneumonia and it took me almost 4 months to get my strength back.

Hmmm...maybe I need to rethink my decision on the H1N1 flu.

 

[Tinijocaro]

--------------
I do get the regular flu shot every year - since my doctors started insisting on it - and I do get quite sick for several days afterwords - but I'm guessing that "sick" is better than possibly being dead - right?

I have read that if they go into full-scale production of an H1N1 vaccine, they won't be making the regular seasonal flu. They can't do both. Have you heard of this?

 

[Robinrs]

I will absolutely get the vaccine. I never used to get a flu shot....until the year that my DH and I got the flu. It was not a mild flu. It was the sickest I have ever been in my life. We could not keep our fevers down, no matter how much ibuprofin we took. It went on for at least 10 days...I think it may have been even longer. Every joint ached horribly--not just the major ones, but things like the knuckles in my fingers. Towards the end, I did not have the strength to walk more than a few steps. If I needed to go further I had to crawl. It was horrifying, and took a serious toll on my overall health. I am not exaggerating. Complete recovery took well over a month. Not the fevers, but just rebuilding my strength.

I know every flu is different, but I am willing to take a chance on the vaccine to avoid the possibility of having to go through that again. I am grateful for the free flu shot that I receive from my company every year!

I went thru the same thing with the flu years ago. Not fun.

Call me crazy but I've never gotten a flu shot. My neighbor got GBS from a flue shot years ago and she's been on a walker and unable to use one leg since.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I have no idea what I will do. I've never had the flu. I've had really bad colds, but not the flu. The promise of a vaccine sounds good, but with a little digging, I fear that this vaccine is being rushed, and that they may encounter similar problems to the 1970's flu vaccine. Which is worse? I'm guessing the flu could be worse, but if this flu never turns deadly, then I'm risking a rushed vaccine with possible bad side effects.

Glaxo is talking about one of the selling points of their vaccine is an additive called an adjuvant. It boosts the immune system response so that less vaccine is needed, therefore they can make more vaccine. I have read about some bad things about the use of adjuvants and cytokine storms (an overloaded immune system that can kill)

I don't know, I hope I have the summer to look into this further.

 

[wall*e2008]

I get the flu shot each year and when this one is ready I am sure I will get it too.

 

[rie'smom]

Never got the flu shot and won't get this one either. I had a terribe case of the flu-alot like liams mom- but I still won't get the shot.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I will definitely get it. I have diabetes which can make the flu worse of me and I have had bronchitis in the past (misdiagnosed as asthma), plus whatever else it is that is causing issues at the moment but is most likely a chronic thing.

I am also a special ed teacher. Kids are the worst for carrying viruses. Do you know how they know the flu has hit your area? When kids start coming into the doctors' offices. I know that my kids in particular are not good with hygiene so that puts me at even greater risk.

After weighing everything, I'm going to hope they do not have the GB issues they had in the 70's and say the risk of the flu is worse than the risk of the shot.

 

[C.Ann]

I have read that if they go into full-scale production of an H1N1 vaccine, they won't be making the regular seasonal flu. They can't do both. Have you heard of this?

--------------------

No - I hadn't heard that.. Is it because they think the 1 vaccine will cover all types of flu - or they expect only H1N1 flu to be a big problem come fall/winter?

Whatever you learn, please share when you can.. Although I will likely "have" to get the vaccine per my doctors orders (and choose to be sick from the shot as opposed to dead from the complications I could encounter), I'm wondering if my DD's family could reject the idea (if they so choose) with me living in their house during the winter if I'm already protected by the vaccine.. I think my DD and DGD would willingly get it (if it seems safe enough), but my poor son-in-law is one of those people who passes out at the mere sight of a needle or will turn sheet white and nearly get sick to his stomach if anyone even mentions a needle.. I would hate for him to have to go through that if it wasn't necessary..

 

[teskak]

I think they are already in clinical trials for this strand of flu vaccine, the information they need now is the correct dosage needed to spark a sustained immune response.

A lot of this work has already been done in connection with the bird flu and preparing for when that one hit. For instance the Child Health Institute in WA (very prominent in Australia for research on all matters affecting children) was enrolling young children in thier testing program - the goal of the testing was to find out how much vaccine is needed to spark the necessary immune response and to sustain it for the necessary period.

Once that information was known, then in the event of the bird flu the health authorities would know the appropriate dosage for children. Similarly because it will be physically impossible to generate sufficient dosages for the whole population, research was going into how to 'stretch' the dosage with various other means to reach the maximum population.

 

[golfgal]

So you get a seasonal flu shot but won't get the H1N1? Aren't they developed/grown/tested/distributed in the same way? Maybe Dawn's Dh can shed some light on this.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

You both make valid points. People who have normal immune systems, normal lungs and heart, might feel like they could roll the dice understanding that they will probably not develop any really serious complications. People with chronic lung or heart disease, diabetes or any other illness which compromises their ability to fight infections have a much higher risk of serious complications and even DEATH. That population really needs to do all they can to prevent flu and pneumonia, including vaccines.

My 52yo DH has stage 4 lung disease. If he gets the flu or pneumonia he would have to go to intensive care and could easily die from it. There is no question about it--he will get whatever flu vaccines are available. I do not have chronic illness. I will likely not take the swine flu vaccine.

It is also recommended for anybody who is a care taker/lives with somebody in a high risk population. IT is possible to get it even after you hvae been vaccinated (although typically it won't be as bad if you do get it) so if I lived with somebody who was that high risk I would definitey at least consider getting it.

Golfgal: A lot of the issues people are having is how quickly this vaccine is being rushed. The same thing happened in the 70's and that vaccine had issues with Guillan-Barre, and to make matters worse the flu did not hit as hard as predicted so a lot of people ended up feeling burned by it.

For the US, what they typically do is look at Australia's flu season since their season is the opposite of ours. There is a complex process to determine which strain to develop. They look at what was prevalent here the year before and the likely mutations as well as what is prevalent in other parts of the world- Australia in particular. The flu vaccine normally has several strains in it: an "A" strain and several "B" strains. As a new one is made every year, it's not like each strain undergoes years of testing. And there was one year recently where they incorrectly predicted the A strain so it did not offer as much protection. That is always a risk, but it still offered protection.

I don't know exactly when they start developing the shot on a normal year, so I don't know how much quicker this time table is than normal. I'll ask my mom when I get home.

Despite the potential problems with the vaccine (both seasonal and the H1N1), I figure the risk of complications from that is less than the risk of getting the flu and the potential complications.

 

[golfgal]

It is also recommended for anybody who is a care taker/lives with somebody in a high risk population. IT is possible to get it even after you hvae been vaccinated (although typically it won't be as bad if you do get it) so if I lived with somebody who was that high risk I would definitey at least consider getting it.

Golfgal: A lot of the issues people are having is how quickly this vaccine is being rushed. The same thing happened in the 70's and that vaccine had issues with Guillan-Barre, and to make matters worse the flu did not hit as hard as predicted so a lot of people ended up feeling burned by it.

For the US, what they typically do is look at Australia's flu season since their season is the opposite of ours. There is a complex process to determine which strain to develop. They look at what was prevalent here the year before and the likely mutations as well as what is prevalent in other parts of the world- Australia in particular. The flu vaccine normally has several strains in it: an "A" strain and several "B" strains. As a new one is made every year, it's not like each strain undergoes years of testing. And there was one year recently where they incorrectly predicted the A strain so it did not offer as much protection. That is always a risk, but it still offered protection.

I don't know exactly when they start developing the shot on a normal year, so I don't know how much quicker this time table is than normal. I'll ask my mom when I get home.

Despite the potential problems with the vaccine (both seasonal and the H1N1), I figure the risk of complications from that is less than the risk of getting the flu and the potential complications.

No more rushed then the seasonal flu vaccine that comes out each year.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

No more rushed then the seasonal flu vaccine that comes out each year.

That's why I said I later in the post that I wasn't sure how rushed it is compared to normal- I plan to ask my mom who is a microbiologist and very knowledgeable about these things.

 

[minkydog]

It is also recommended for anybody who is a care taker/lives with somebody in a high risk population. IT is possible to get it even after you hvae been vaccinated (although typically it won't be as bad if you do get it) so if I lived with somebody who was that high risk I would definitey at least consider getting it.

You make a valid point. I will need to re-think my take on H1N1.

 

[donaldduck352]

I never got a flu shot,but had the flu before.In my eyes if you are careful enough about how much you wash your hands and how close you get to people it would add a degree of protection from getting the virus itself.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Nope. Not getting any vaccine, swine or normal flu. Never had any sort of flu vaccine ever, and not starting now. Don't believe these vaccines would make any difference in my health. If I get the flu, I would get it anyways. Though I haven't had the flu in 20 years (if I even had it back then).

I get plenty of other ailments (don't get me wrong ), just not the flu.

 

[magic mouse]

I won't get any vacine that has not been out for awhile............