Will you be vaccinated for Swine Flu?

[WeLoveLilo05]

Are you planning on being vaccinated for the Swine flu? Why/why not?

I dont want to cause a debate or a fight, I just want to hear others thoughts on this. I am doing my student teaching, I begin next week in a kindergarten classroom, I am so nervous I will catch this. I am worried I will bring it home to my DD and I also only have the school health insurance. Just concerned b/c the college doc is only in twice a week
Is that even legal? LoL.

I walk around with hand sanitizer and never put my hands in my mouth or by my nose or anything like that, but hey all I need is for someone to cough on me who has it.

I am worried that this vaccine hasn't really been tested, we don't know the long term effects and if the vaccine isn't coming out til mid Oct and it takes a while to build an immunity, will it even be effective?

So stressed out

 

[ORMom2Four]

No, I will not get the vaccine or have it given to my children.

BTW, I'm not anti vaccine at all. All of my kids are current on their vaccines.

 

[Scurvy]

No, I will not get the vaccine or have it given to my children.

BTW, I'm not anti vaccine at all. All of my kids are current on their vaccines.

Same here. I am very pro-vaccine most of the time. I'm nervous about this particular vaccine simply because I feel as though it was rushed through the testing process. We are taking all the precautions we can to avoid getting sick, but for me the possible risks of the vaccine outweigh the benefits.

 

[tayandjensmom]

No, my family will not be getting the vaccine. I too feel the government rushed it through the system with very little testing.

Dr Gupta had an excellent article on CNN earlier this week. Swine Flu is nothing more then another strain of the flu bug. People who have died from it , the majority had under lying health issues.

Lisa

 

[AmazingGrace]

My dh seems to think that theyr're going to make the swine flu vaccine mandatoru to attend school. What then? And has anyone else heard this?

 

[Scurvy]

My dh seems to think that theyr're going to make the swine flu vaccine mandatoru to attend school. What then? And has anyone else heard this?

I have not heard that, but I can certainly imagine something like that happening. If it was not possible to opt out, then I might join the ranks of the homeschoolers. A few years down the road, when there is more known about this vaccine, I might feel differently.

 

[budbeerlady]

We will NOT be doing the vaccine.

There is too little known, too short a time, too much the sky is falling!

 

[Free4Life11]

Yes, I plan to be vaccinated. Hopefully my employer will offer it to us for free this year.

 

[PatsMom]

I think of it like any other flu vaccine. And since I faithfully get a flu shot every year I will be getting the swine flu shot as well as soon as it becomes available. Right now I don't believe that swine flu is necessarily more dangerous than any other type of flu but it makes sense to me to protect myself against any infectious disease that I can.

 

[designermv]

I have ashtma and I'm pregnant, so I'm high risk if I do happen to get it. I also have a daughter in pre-school who loooooooooves to bring home germs to share with the family. Since I'll have a newborn in December, I'm going to consult with my maternal-fetal medicine doc. and if he advises me to get the vaccine, I will. I trust that he will be knowledgeable of any potential side-effects to the fetus. From what I understand, the composition of the vaccine is identical to that of any other annual flu-shot vaccine, only the dead virus is the swine flu virus instead of whatever flu is going around for that particular year.

My daughter will get the nasal spray vaccine for regular flu in a few weeks, and swine flu when it's available. I will be getting the non-thimerosol version of both vaccines in shot format, since those use the dead virus.

I selectively vaccinate and stagger childhood vaccines, but this is one virus I just don't want to mess with.

 

[Deb in IA]

Yes, I plan to be vaccinated. Hopefully my employer will offer it to us for free this year.

Me too.

Here's some recent recommendations:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5834a1.htm

Children aged <5 years or with certain chronic medical conditions are at increased risk for complications and death from influenza (1--3). Because of this increased risk, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has prioritized influenza prevention and treatment for children aged <5 years and for those with certain chronic medical and immunosuppressive conditions (4,5). CDC monitors child influenza deaths through its influenza-associated pediatric mortality reporting system. As of August 8, 2009, CDC had received reports of 477 deaths associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in the United States, including 36 deaths among children aged <18 years. To characterize these cases, CDC analyzed data from April to August 2009. The results of that analysis indicated that, of 36 children who died, seven (19%) were aged <5 years, and 24 (67%) had one or more of the high-risk medical conditions. Twenty-two (92%) of the 24 children with high-risk medical conditions had neurodevelopmental conditions. Among 23 children with culture or pathology results reported, laboratory-confirmed bacterial coinfections were identified in 10 (43%), including all six children who 1) were aged ≥5 years, 2) had no recognized high-risk condition, and 3) had culture or pathology results reported. Early diagnosis of influenza can enable prompt initiation of antiviral therapy for children who are at greater risk or severely ill. Clinicians also should be aware of the potential for severe bacterial coinfections among children diagnosed with influenza and treat accordingly. All children aged ≥6 months and caregivers of children aged <6 months should receive influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine when available (6).

 

[redrosesix]

Yes, I'll definitely get it and so will my DD -- she has asthma and we would never take any risks with her health. The H1N1 vaccine is no different than any other flu vaccine really -- they do make new flu vaccines every year, based on the strains that they are expecting to be spread.

 

[sbell111]

Are you planning on being vaccinated for the Swine flu? Why/why not?

Typically, I don't bother getting a flu vaccine, but my wife and I will get one this year. We are expecting a baby and don't need the extra risk that getting the flu would entail.

I am worried that this vaccine hasn't really been tested, we don't know the long term effects and if the vaccine isn't coming out til mid Oct and it takes a while to build an immunity, will it even be effective?

I know some of the people running the trials locally. This flu vaccine is being tested just as much or more than every other flu vaccine.

Regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine soon after it is administered, you are of course correct. However, that is more of a reason to get vaccinated as soon as possible than to not get vaccinated at all, isn't it?

 

[clutter]

Not sure, I'll have to check with ped. My dd supposedly had swine flu this summer, but they couldn't test her because they were out of the flu tests. Me, maybe if my employer has a clinic, which they do for the regular flu shot.

 

[sbell111]

I have not heard that, but I can certainly imagine something like that happening. If it was not possible to opt out, then I might join the ranks of the homeschoolers. A few years down the road, when there is more known about this vaccine, I might feel differently.

A few years down the road?

Every flu vaccine has to be brand new every year because it is tailored to that year's flu.

 

[Disney Ella]

I have asthma and I plan on getting it.

 

[Scurvy]

A few years down the road?

Every flu vaccine has to be brand new every year because it is tailored to that year's flu.

Of course, the strain of flu that is being vaccinated against changes each year while the bulk of the vaccine remains the same.

Regarding this particular vaccine: I have spoken with several healthcare professionals who have expressed concern over the safety of this vaccine. In part, that may be because unlike other flu vaccines this vaccine requires two doses. I am not a health care professional, and I don't claim to know any other differences between this vaccine and those that have come before it. However, I trust the professionals that I have consulted. They urge me to get the flu vaccine every year, and they get it themselves. They are concerned about this vaccine, and I trust that.

ETA - For my family it may be a bit of a moot point anyway. Swine flu has been in our county and our schools since last spring. In fact, we currently have the largest number of documented cases of swine flu of any county in our entire state. By the time we could get the vaccine, it's likely that we already will have been exposed to it, if in fact we haven't already been. As of last week, no place will even test for it any longer. We've all been sick recently; for all I know we could have already had it.

 

[Pennykay]

I will wait until I find out how the vaccine was made. Right now they are testing several vaccines and at least one contains an adjuvant. If the vaccine that ends up being approved for use contains and adjuvant, we will not be getting it.

 

[cinmell]

No, I will not get the vaccine or have it given to my children.

BTW, I'm not anti vaccine at all. All of my kids are current on their vaccines.

Same here. I am very pro-vaccine most of the time. I'm nervous about this particular vaccine simply because I feel as though it was rushed through the testing process. We are taking all the precautions we can to avoid getting sick, but for me the possible risks of the vaccine outweigh the benefits.

Same here. I don't plan on any of us getting the vaccine.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

No. I got the regular flu vaccination once and ended up getting sick from it. Oddly enough, I haven't had it since and haven't been sick in years (other than sick of work ). I wash my hands a lot, and keep my work areas clean since the majority of germs I come into contact with would be there. All the precautions that have been advised by the CDC are things I have been doing for all of my life, so I am not worried about it.