H1N1/Swine Flu vaccine

I'm taking my kiddos into the pediatrician for their flu shots in a week and will be talking to our pediatrician about the H1N1 vaccine. While mine are home with me most of the time, we do take classes and they are also around other toddlers. I'm conflicted on whether or not they should get it as I've heard H1N1 is no more dangerous than the regular flu...what are you going to do?

 

i dont want to start a debate here, which is probably why nobody has responded yet, but i'm a RN at a hospital and our employer is STRONGLY encouraging us to get the vaccine, and it's been run through the same tests as the regular flu vaccine (just not as long term) so i think i am going to have my girls get it. i think the benefits outweigh the risks, and i will also receive it myself.

 

My boys will not be getting it. When they had their regular flu shot 2 weeks ago I asked their pedi about getting the H1N1. She was against it saying that it had not yet been tested on kids in their age group.

 

My LOs go to nursery in the afternoons and are with 8 other kids. Im a little reticent myself due to there being very little/no testing on their age group. Our pedi told us to get it but I want to talk to him about it at their next appt this month. Mine haven´t even had the regular flu vaccination and the pedi didn´t recommend that!

 

My DH and I discussed it and we are going to opt out of it. Both children did receive the regular flu shot this year.

 

My girls will be getting the H1N1 flu shot. Currently in Ontario they are only providing regular flu shot for senior citizens. My doctor stronly recommended that the girls get the shot. One of my girls i prone is broncilitis with the slightest cold, so don't want her to get the flu.

 

My Pedi was the exact opposite. Usually, I have found him to be very conservative, erring on the side of under-medicating rather than over-medicating, which is what I like. He told me that according to H1N1's "summer" season, it's going to have a really tough fall/winter, and his prediction is "everyone is going to get the vaccine or the flu - you choose which you want". Of course, in the same breath, he told me I should do what I think is best for the kids. I'm not trying to start a debate - just repeating what he told me.

I was planning on all of us 2 and up getting the H1N1, but only getting the regular flu shot for my 6-mo-olds. Now, I'm leaning towards the babies getting the H1N1, too, but I'm not totally sure. It seems like potential complications from the vaccine are better than potential complications from the flu (at least for high-risk groups)...is there research out there to show otherwise?

 

My twins are going to get it, as am I (DH is on the fence). My DS has asthma, so if he gets H1N1, it could cause all kinds of problems for him.

 

We are not doing either for anyone in my family. We have talked to several physicians and done some extensive research and decided that it is not for us. I thouth that the askdrsears.com website had some good neutral info on it that the medical professionals don't always tell you about. I am a nurse myself and this is the first time I have learned about some of the important info and I find it interesting that there has never been four flu shots given to any individual ever and they are recommending it for children?? just not enough research done for my likeing. I think that one should do the research, talk to more than one dr about it and then make an informed decision based on your families needs. We are talking multivitamins, extra vitamin D & C and probiotics to help protect us more naturally. Best of luck in your decision.

 

Personally we have chosen to opt out of H1N1 but my LO's did get the regular flu vaccine.
When I talked to our pedi about it she said they arent pushing it and she isnt even giving it to her little boy (18 months).
I did some research as well and just found so much conflicting evidence and I dont know what to believe. For me its just too new, my kiddos are home with me, and as pp mentioned we are just going to practice good flu prevention-hand washing, vitamins, some probiotic yogurt, ect.

 

I still haven't decided. I think my only hesitation is that it's another needle and also they need the seasonal flu shot which they need 2 doses of since it's their first time getting it. We probably will get it. At first I was nervous about the lack of testing and how quickly the vaccine came out but them I was reminded that the seasonal flu vaccine is manufactured the very same way and on the same time frame and I have no problem getting it.

 

I agree with this statement, and this is why I'm getting the vaccines, and my children will be too. Along with my husband and stepdaughter.

 

I'm definitely getting it for myself since I'm pregnant. The mortality rate for pregnant women with swine flu is high--the highest of any group, and it appears that even otherwise healthy pregnant women with swine flu have high mortality. I work at a University, and swine flu is a big problem on college campuses.

I figure to protect myself, and the babies too, I will also get them vaccinated.

We'll see if i can convince DH to get it. He doesn't like to take care of his health at all, so it will be like pulling teeth.

 

This is the first time my husband and I are getting the flu shot. My sisters 3 children and her DH were so sick with the flu a couple of weeks ago that her youngest had to go to the hospital; my sister was fine probably because she was the only one that got the flu shot (she is a nurse and had access to an earlier dose). So that was a wake up call for me and my husband. We all got the regular flu shot this year.
However, I am still on the fence about the H1N1. Logically I shouldn't be as my Pedi said though it's four shots because typically the H1N1 would already be in our seasonal flu shot, but this year there was a delay. The seasonal flu shot usually contains/covers multiple strains. She also told me Kaiser just got finished testing the "younger" babies and the results are good, they were the last group to be tested for the H1N1 (but she didn't specify how young).

It's so hard to make these decisions sometimes when there are conflicting stories from all sides!

 

this is absolutely 100% true. this vaccine is manufactured using the same process as the standard type A flu vaccine which has decades of testing and use data behind it. it's an application of the same vaccine to a different strain, which frankly is how the flu vaccine is developed every year.

the boys will be doing both the type A and the H1N1 flu vaccines. i will be doing both as well, since i take the train to and from work and i feel that puts me at a greater exposure. DH has decided to only do it if a convenient opportunity presents itself.

 

not to double post, but i'd like to provide more clarification. i work for a large health media company that is staffed by doctors and we work hand-in-hand with the CDC on the dissemination of swine flu information. please just skim past this post if you're not intetested.

the H1N1 vaccine is a variation on the standard flu vaccine. i know the media has portrayed this as some fantastical new virus but it is still simply a variation on the influenza virus. other strains of influenza are A and B, which we routinely develop vaccines for each year. these strains are typically referred to universally as seasonal flu.

the important thing to understand is that there is no single flu vaccine. every year the CDC tracks the spread of the various strains of influenza and makes a prediction based on the population prevalence as to which specific strain will likely be most problematic each year. when that decision is made, a vaccine is developed with different proportions of the strains that will likely prove problematic. which means your flu shot might offer most protection against type A, as well as some protection against type B. what that means is the vaccine is "new" every year.

the base and process of the vaccine remains the same, and decades of data reporting success rate, side effects, and dosage information supports this process. thus the only real variable we're talking about is the virus itself.

because H1N1 is a new strain, the outstanding question was how much of a dosage it would require to provide enough protection against infection. a single dose was found to raise protective antibodies 76% in older children, 36% in children 3-9 and 25% in children 6 to 35 months. thus, a second dose is recommended for the latter two age groups.

when people say "it hasn't been tested enough" they misunderstand the point of testing. the testing is not just to prove the safety of the vaccine. if you accept the influenza A/B vaccine as safe, the H1N1 vaccine is just as safe. the question was effective dosage and testing was done in different groups, including children and pregnant women, to see what dosage would raise antibodies sufficiently to provide protection.

in short, the H1N1 vaccine dosage tested consistently with the seasonal flu shot, which speaks volumes about its similarity to the familiar A and B strains.

if you still have any residual concerns i'll add one detail: flu shots contain inactivated (dead) viruses. flumist, on the other hand, contains a weakened live virus. H1N1 will not be available as a mist, only as a shot. so your children will only receive the vaccine manufactured from the dead virus.

 

Wow, thank you for the informative post, piccologirl! I consider myself reasonably well-informed on health matters, but I really learned a lot from this. My boys will almost certainly be getting the vaccine when it becomes available in Michigan.

 

I wish it had been available a month ago!!
I work at a large University and the number of kids coming into our office is huge. According to the University health service the incidence of the regular flu is up over 900% from just 3 weeks ago and the incidence of what they consider H1N1 (since they don't have the means to test everyone this is based on symptoms alone) is up 700% since the start of the semester.
Since I am exposed to all of this crud everyday at work I will be getting the shot for myself and for my boys. It's too risky to me not too, especially knowing that we have had students in our office with it.

 

We have an appointment in 2 weeks so we'll see then... We don't really get around other people but if the doctor recommends it we will probably get it, as well as the regular flu shot.

 

The kids and I will all be getting the H1N1 vaccine this year. I'm an ob/gyn physician and have done a lot of research on the vaccine both for my patients and my family. As others have posted, this vaccine is just a minor variation of the seasonal flu vaccine which many of us get yearly without hesitation. Although most people with swine flu have a mild case, the mortality rate in children and pregnant women is MUCH higher than for seasonal flu. I don't want to take that risk with my kids.

 

First of all I want to be clear that the path that leads to a decision like this is personal and respected no matter what you decide to do.

We will not be getting the seasonal flu shot (never have) or H1N1 vaccination. I've worked in education for ten years (not currently, if I did I might consider getting the vaccinations because of the increased exposure) and have been absolutely startled by the rate of increase of autism spectrum disorders in our children. At the beginning of my career we would have, on average two students per school in our district diagnosed with an autism disorder. When I left one year ago, we had two-three per grade level in grades k-2 and one per grade level in grades 3 and 4. I just read a recent statistic that one in 100 children develop autism (the rate is actually higher for boys). This has sent me down a long path of researching the research so to speak. If the answers were all there plain as day, we would all know about it so please don't take this to mean that I know the answer lies in vaccinations (or over vaccination). The bottom line is that the autism epidemic is caused by some unidentified combination of environmental exposures (less than 1% is likely caused by genetic mutation). The single most compelling information I've acquired that has helped me in making this decision is that most people with autism have the following things in common: heavy metal toxicity (mostly mercury, aluminum as well as others.... primary exposure to these metals is through vaccines and possibly contaminated seafood), and vitamin D deficiency (turns out the vast majority of Americans are vit D deficient probably due to us all protecting ourselves from the sun which, btw.... weakens our immune system dramatically).

US children are scheduled to get 48 doses of 14 vaccines by the time they are six each containing heavy metals as well as many other dangerous chemicals like antifreeze. I'm not planning to add any additional vaccines for my daughters' bodies to deal with, especially when this flu is not much different than the normal flu... so we will practice flu prevention strategies galore... avoiding exposure whenever possible, lots of hand washing, vitamin C and D supplementation (and getting sunshine whenever possible) and I'm also considering probiotics.

Good luck to you in making your decision and hanging in there during flu season!

 

It is nice to know that there is someone else out there that feels the same way I do. I have just recently researched a lot of the same things as stated above and am to giving my children multivitamins, extra Vit C and D and probiotics to help boost and combat. I find it very interesting with the increase in Autism rates or even other neuroligical disorders that have increased and also the varying rates of these disorders with the numbers of immunizations given in different countries. Anyway thanks for your post

 

As for the regular flu shot, I already got mine (since Im pregnant) and the kids will be getting thiers soon. Dh doesnt want one. He got one last year and ended up with the flu anyway so he doesnt think there is a point despite my best arguments.

As for the H1N1- none of us will be getting that this year. A personal decision I dont care to discuss but wanted to answer your question

 

Thanks to Piccologirl for the informative post. I have a question, though. My county's Dept. of Health website says:

"As more vaccine becomes available, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health plans to provide free H1N1 flu nasal spray and injectable vaccine by appointment only to County residents who are in targeted priority groups."

This contradicts Piccologirl's post in that our county is supposedly getting the nasal spray variety of H1N1 vaccine. So now I'm wondering which info is most accurate. If there is a nasal spray variety, who is eligible for that? I know my little guys (12 months) are not eligible for the FluMist for the traditional seasonal flu vaccine.

 

Mine got the flu shots & our pediatrician is recommending the H1N1 vaccine because DS has asthma. However, our asthma doctor says he doesn't recommend the H1N1 shot because it's so new (even though I heard it's made exactly the same way as the regular flu shot). So I'm torn. DS's asthma really flares up when he gets sick & I worry what the H1N1 flu would do to him. And on the other hand, I am concerned about all the shots/vaccines he gets (he also gets allergy shots on top of everything else!). So we haven't decided yet.

 

I saw the pediatrician last week for Annabella's 4 month appointment. I asked him about the swine flu. He said if I thought the regular flu shot was fine, then I should think the swine flu shot was fine as well.

I keep thinking of the number of kids that are dying from the swine flu...and that scares me. Not to mention, my daughter is only 4 months old, and I need to protect her as well. But-there are none at the pedi's so I haven't totally decided yet.

 

We decided to get it. Both of them got the first dose today and I'm glad and relieved we decided too. Thank you all for your insight and opinions on the matter

 

my kids will not be getting it. Our school system is offering them for free so I really considered it but them my IL's decided to come for Thanksgiving and my FIL can not be around people who have had the swine flu vac. since it is a live strain and he has had a lung transplant and it could kill him if he is exposed to it.

 

Ditto for me. CDC does not always get their facts straight. And I for one will not be adding to the drug companies pocket books. Cases of H1N1 have not even been verified with testing since the end of July. This is gross to me. We will never know how prevalent this strain of virus is in the US because of this! If you've been told you have H1N1 I strongly urge you to confirm it with a test.

 

Also, H1N1 vaccine is suppose to come in the nasal mist as well.
Here is a link discussing the vaccine and it's ingredients-

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/2009/09/four-swine-flu-vaccines-approved-by-fda.asp

 

The reason they aren't testing is because 97% of the tests are coming back positive ... and the regular flu hasn't even started yet. If you have the flu, it's swine flu. People really need to get the facts straight.

 

If I can find it, we will all be getting the H1N1 vaccine. It's the same as the flu vaccine. I thought piccologirl's post was extremely informative. Thanks so much for providing all that info.

For me, a real, documented risk of death in children who contract the H1N1 virus beats an unsubstantiated, theorectical, undocumented risk of some unknown side effect from the vaccine. And although everyone has to decide for themselves, vaccination is a key effort in stopping the spread of the virus and ultimately saving lives.

 

There was a doctor on our local news broadcast talking about it today and he said it's NOT a live strain in the vaccine.

 

The shot contains the dead virus. I am going to assume Alison was talking about the FluMist form of the vaccine:

FluMist

 

The vaccine has been tested on children 3 and up but maybe just not in the states.