H1N1...to vaccinate your kids or not????

[EMom]

If what I bolded is true(I have no idea, but it appears that you've researched this) then if it were my dd and it were up to me and not her doctor, I would have her get 2 shots.

I read the CDC info (synopsis of trial data, I think) and while these percentages are not exact due to me pulling them from memory, the gist of it was something like:

In children 10 and over, one single shot gave 70-something% immunity. It might have been 76%.... Or maybe it was 70% to some upper number %. Whatever.....The lower end of protection was in the 70s.

For children UNDER 10 who only received a single shot, vaccine effectiveness plummeted to 30-something percent. That's HUGE. I can't remember the percentage increase in effectiveness once they upped it to a two shot series, but I think it was similar to the effectiveness seen in the trials of 10 y.o. and up who were given a single shot. In other words, over 70%.

That's why it makes a BIG difference to me that DD9/about to turn 10 gets the correct number of shots. A scrawny 57 pounder who always gets the 6 y.o. dose of everything else.....I'd rather her be 70+% protected than 30+% protected. The CDC said the effectiveness had nothing to do with weight, like most medicine dosages, however. It was more that as children get older, their immune system changes and a single shot provides more protection that it did when they were young.

My hunch is, we'll go with 2 shots or 2 mists.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Nope. No flu shots here and no H1N1 vaccines either. None of us will be getting it.

 

[james'mommy]

I've got the H1N1 right now. It really sucks. I would feel horrible if my son got sick and I could have prevented it. He gets the flu shot every year. If he doesn't manage to get the H1N1 from me he'll be getting the vaccine

 

[kilee]

I think it's a personal decision. The thing to remember is each state will determine which "groups" it will be given to. So it is not going to be readily available to just everyone who wants it.

At work, we are a designated disaster response site to handle a wide-spread outbreak of H1N1. We have had weekly conferences for the last several weeks w/ the state and CDC regarding H1N1.

Anyhow physicians will need to report each and every does they give back to the federal govt and they have to follow the dictated guidelines on who to give it to.

For my household 2 out of 3 of us qualify. I will have to get it, due to my job my employer has made it mandatory (they will be vaccinating us). My son also falls into an approved 1st round category. My husband does not. However, due to my job we were told our medical director is trying to get a waiver to be able to immunize all members of our employee's households.

I live in NY-- were they did mandate that employees of certain healthcare facilities receive the regular seasonal flu shot. We have until 11/30, otherwise we will lose our jobs. The only exception is if you have documented proof that you have a medical contradiction that prevents you from getting the immunization. I was supposed to get mine last week, but did not because I had a positive flu test that day. I was given a script for Tamiflu and sent home. I missed 5 days of work and returned. Ironic thing I thought I was just coming down w/ a bad cold because I had no fever, but my rapid flu test was positive.

 

[findmewdw]

My DD did get H1N1 Monday and we ended up having to cancel our WDW trip that we had planned. We were supposed to have flown down today! We're all very disappointed about the trip. She has been terribly sick with this. I've never seen her so sick in fact. Her fever still went up high last night. Now I have a fever too. I started the tamiflu today so I'm hoping that I got an early start on it.

It's scary because every day I hear that somebody else has died from it. My pediatrician is not recommending the vaccine at this time however. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my son doesn't get it too.

 

[JessicaR]

I think it's a personal decision. The thing to remember is each state will determine which "groups" it will be given to. So it is not going to be readily available to just everyone who wants it.

At work, we are a designated disaster response site to handle a wide-spread outbreak of H1N1. We have had weekly conferences for the last several weeks w/ the state and CDC regarding H1N1.

Anyhow physicians will need to report each and every does they give back to the federal govt and they have to follow the dictated guidelines on who to give it to.

For my household 2 out of 3 of us qualify. I will have to get it, due to my job my employer has made it mandatory (they will be vaccinating us). My son also falls into an approved 1st round category. My husband does not. However, due to my job we were told our medical director is trying to get a waiver to be able to immunize all members of our employee's households.

I live in NY-- were they did mandate that employees of certain healthcare facilities receive the regular seasonal flu shot. We have until 11/30, otherwise we will lose our jobs. The only exception is if you have documented proof that you have a medical contradiction that prevents you from getting the immunization. I was supposed to get mine last week, but did not because I had a positive flu test that day. I was given a script for Tamiflu and sent home. I missed 5 days of work and returned. Ironic thing I thought I was just coming down w/ a bad cold because I had no fever, but my rapid flu test was positive.

The New York State Department of Health mandated both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines for healthcare workers. They said last week that 15 states could run out of hospital beds, of course NY is included in that. The hospitals are already having occupancy issues around here. How about by you?

Did fever ever come while you were sick with the flu? Hope you are feeling better!

 

[JessicaR]

My DD did get H1N1 Monday and we ended up having to cancel our WDW trip that we had planned. We were supposed to have flown down today! We're all very disappointed about the trip. She has been terribly sick with this. I've never seen her so sick in fact. Her fever still went up high last night. Now I have a fever too. I started the tamiflu today so I'm hoping that I got an early start on it.

It's scary because every day I hear that somebody else has died from it. My pediatrician is not recommending the vaccine at this time however. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my son doesn't get it too.

Oh thats so terrible! I hope your daughter starts feeling better quickly. So sad to have to cancel a vacation. I hope you are able to reschedule it soon. Hope you are feeling better also and that your son avoids this.

 

[JessicaR]

My hunch is, we'll go with 2 shots or 2 mists.

Thats what I would do too.

 

[kilee]

I actually feel pretty good now. I felt run down all this week, pretty much my work day did me in. I came home and went right to bed each night. Like I said it was odd because I did not suspect flu, I never had a fever.

We received a confirmation of how may doses of H1N1 vaccine we'll be getting, but I know quite a few private practices (I work in a public non-hospital based clinic) that so far have been unable to get a confirmation they'll be able to receive the vaccine.. So, the vaccines are not mandated for all healthcare workers in NY, I know hospitals and Article 28's were mandated.

Cross my fingers, but we have not had a terrible outbreak of it again yet. We were hit hard back in late May and early June. Then it subsided over the summer and we have only had a trickle of flu cases here in there the last few weeks. Therefore, the hospitals are not reporting any overcrowding issues or bed shortages yet at this time.

In fact I read on here (so not sure of the accuracy) that some places have Tamiflu shortages. I had no problem walking in and getting that either last week.

 

[wic0721]

Every student in the school system where my daughter goes to school will be getting the H1N1 vaccine either next week or the following week, from what I read in the paper on friday. We have not been affected by H1N1 yet in my town, thank god, but I guess the schools want to be safe not sorry.

 

[maroo]

My DD did get H1N1 Monday and we ended up having to cancel our WDW trip that we had planned. We were supposed to have flown down today! We're all very disappointed about the trip. She has been terribly sick with this. I've never seen her so sick in fact. Her fever still went up high last night. Now I have a fever too. I started the tamiflu today so I'm hoping that I got an early start on it.

It's scary because every day I hear that somebody else has died from it. My pediatrician is not recommending the vaccine at this time however. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my son doesn't get it too.

I am so sorry you had to cancel your trip!

That is really crummy!

I hope you guys all feel much better soon!

 

[daisax]

I work in a Boston hospital and we've been told for the past month or so that we are required by the Massachusetts Board of Health to get the flu vaccine or sign a paper indicating that we refused it. There were constant reminders.

The other day they sent out an email saying that due to production difficulties creating both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine, there was not going to be enough vaccine shipped and therefore they were limiting it to people with direct patient care responsibilities.

So if you want either one, I'd get it early if you can. If a major metropolitan hospital can't get enough for its employees, your local primary care doc may not be able to get much either.

 

[TupperMom7]

What is it about the H1N1 virus that makes it deadly? I mean why can't people recover from it? Do they develop pneumonia or something?

 

[justhat]

What is it about the H1N1 virus that makes it deadly? I mean why can't people recover from it? Do they develop pneumonia or something?

Yes, that is exactly it.

 

[AustinTink]

What is it about the H1N1 virus that makes it deadly? I mean why can't people recover from it? Do they develop pneumonia or something?

My son has had pneumonia 3 times, was treated and recovered well. I'm wondering if these deaths are cases where they waited too long to get treatment? There have been more than 30 cases of H1N1 in my son's school and by all accounts it has been mild and the kids feel better by the third day.

 

[daisax]

I don't think delay has been an issue at all. The scary part is otherwise healthy (appearing) kids dying within 3-4 days of getting sick. Obviously at that point their parents decided they needed to go to the hospital, they got admitted, and usually died shortly thereafter. But there's no reason to believe the parents were dragging their feet about getting them care. They got sick, they got worse, they went to the hospital, and then they died... that fast.

I think the current theory is that if there's any bacterial infection in the body, this flu somehow triggers it out of control and overwhelms the respiratory system.

 

[justhat]

My son has had pneumonia 3 times, was treated and recovered well. I'm wondering if these deaths are cases where they waited too long to get treatment? There have been more than 30 cases of H1N1 in my son's school and by all accounts it has been mild and the kids feel better by the third day.

I haven't really looked into it, but I would think it's a different strain of pneumonia. I had it 4 times as a kid (I had asthma too) and recovered, but I was down for the count for days each time.