Swine flu - question for those of you with children

[Pam]

Are you planning on vaccinating your children against the swine flu? Most of you probably think that is a no-brainer and are planning to. I received this link from my brother (who is very well read on health issues) and I found it to be disturbing. I am very glad that my own children are grown now and I don't have to make these kinds of decisions.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...e-Disease.aspx

[Karen]

That looks like the UK vaccine, which may be different than the US one ... I do not have children, but my doctor will likely recommend I get the vaccine, because of my asthma.

[Cataholic]

Nope. I will not be doing so.

[AdoreMyDogs]

The swine flu is not as bad as some folks have made it out to be. It would be more of a threat to me then it would be my children since I have asthma, however, my asthma is not life-threatening, it's just annoying. I give my children as few vaccines as possible, and I have even declined some of them. I will NOT be vaccinating my children for swine flu.

[Asiel]

My grandchildren are not going near that vaccine. And as for Guillan-Barre we have 2 relatives who came down with it after taking an ordinary flu shot. My doctor doesn't recommend the swine flu shot or any of the others for that matter so I won't be touching it .
They've proven that the chicken pox vaccine that kids got yrs ago is one of the major causes of m.s. , who knows what all these new shots will trigger in later yrs.

[Miss Z]

Vaccinations are supposed to take years of rigorous testing before they are deemed safe to be distributed. The swine flu vaccine is being rushed through all procedure just to satisfy the mass hysteria that a good chunk of the population will be wiped out by this new 'killer' disease.

More people die of regular winter flu every year than with this strain. The people who have unfortunately died with the disease, at least in the UK, ALL had other serious health complications.

According to a few medics I've heard from, the surface of the swine flu virus is barely any different from winter flu. There is a possibility it can mutate further, of course, but if that was the case then any vaccine administered now would be rendered useless anyway.

Good hygiene is the best way to avoid infection!

[sasvermont]

I haven't any reservations about the shot. Each of us has to do what they think is best. I have gotten the regular flu shot for the past few years and had no problems. I am willing to risk it. If you don't feel comfortable with it, then by all means, don't get it.

My Mom, who is in her late 80's will be getting the series of shots too.

There can be complications with any shots. I know someone how lost partial use of his arm, because the injection went a little too far to the right/left. There are risks with lots of things relating to medicine.

I am about ready to have major surgery in a month, and all I can think about is what could go wrong!

Oh, I have never had the flu..... so I am not sure why I feel so great about getting the shot! Let me go check on my reasoning!

[pomtzu]

My doctor will probably recommend that I get one because of my compromised immune system, but from what I've been reading about it, I think I'll pass on it and take my chances. I'll just get my regular seasonal flu shot and be done with it.

[Christmas_Hamster]

I don't have kids, which is good because most people look down on teen pregnancy. :P

Anyways I probably won't get the shot myself. My Dad had the swine flu as did a few of my classmates. Guess what! The strain that seems to have found it's way to Canada and most of the US isn't deadly because they are all still alive. Weird huh it was just like the regular flu. In fact most people who had the flu probably had the swine flu and didn't bother to check because they weren't dying. I'd prefer to see more testing done and more of that research released. But remember companies with hold some parts of their studies to make it look better.

[Catty1]

As of July 17, 2009:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/...-counting.html

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted 37,000 H1N1 cases so far in the United States, with 211 deaths.

Canada has reported more than 10,000 swine flu incidents, with 49 associated deaths.

By contrast, Britain suffered 21,000 deaths attributed to seasonal flu in the 1999-2000 winter alone.

Now, out of almost 30 million people, 49 deaths is not huge. I don't plan to get the shot, but will sure wash my hands a lot! Mom and I are taking small containers of sanitizer on our cruise...wouldn't be surprised if the ship had containers on board.

Judging from the above, it makes more sense to get the seasonal flu shot.

[luckies4me]

Nope. I will not be doing so.

Neither will I!

[Husky_mom]

More people die of regular winter flu every year than with this strain. The people who have unfortunately died with the disease, at least in the UK, ALL had other serious health complications.

Good hygiene is the best way to avoid infection!

Agreed...

many of the deceased here were people of poor hygiene and people who allowed it to escalate to the point of no return...

good hygiene and proper care of any disease should not end in life threat... so no .. no vaccine for us... although hubby got regular flu vaccinated when it all started.. but was his job policy...

[Pam]

Thanks for your input everyone. I am not planning to get it for myself since I have no underlying health concerns. The last time I got the regular flu shot was at my boss' suggestion since they were offering them for some ridiculously cheap price at the CVS across the street from my office and HE wanted us all protected. Other than that I never get the shot and only had the flu twice in all of my years and I am no spring chicken. haha!

My real concern is for people with children. *They* are saying that most cases are among children. Of course that scares me because I have two grandchildren. My one grandson is very prone to upper respiratory sorts of things but there is so much negative stuff being reported about this vaccine, regarding not enough time being tested, etc.. Thank God it will be my daughter's decision about what to do as my own kids are grown. I know that the medical profession will direct us in the safest way they know how, but it is the drug companies (makers of the vaccines of ALL types) who concern me. I am still not convinced that there isn't a link between all of the super-innoculating we do to our children these days and autism.

Again, thank you for replying. Christmas_Hamster your post cracked me up...
I don't have kids, which is good because most people look down on teen pregnancy. :P

[AdoreMyDogs]

At Vince's last doctor appointment which was August 26th, his pediatrician and I talked about swine flu. The conversation came up because I found out the very exam room I was in, 5 hours earlier, had 2 kids with the flu in it . I asked her if it was the "swine flu" and she said, "no, and actually it would have been better if it WERE the H1N1 strain, as it's less painful and shorter lived then the other flu bugs out there now. The H1N1 strain has life span is shorter and it goes away a lot quicker. My sister-in-law had swine flu and she's even a heavy smoker and she was all better in just 2 days. She said it was annoying as every time she laid down she started coughing. I've had the flu before in my lifetime and it lasted a lot longer then 2 days, so the swine flu is not as bad as some of the other flu strains out there. My babies' pediatrician (I just absolutely adore her, by the way) said that she never, ever suggests flu vaccines for anyone. She and I both are in agreement when it comes to over vaccinating our kids.

[wolfsoul]

Honestly I don't want to vaccinate my baby for anything (hubby does, so we're compromising and delaying vaccines and choosing which ones to do and which to leave out).

The way I look at it, the regular flu kills 500,000 people per year (with 3-5 MILLION severe cases where people are hospitilized). The swine flu has killed 3,800 people this year. Yes, there IS a chance it could mutate into something worse -- but there is a chance that the regular seasonal flu could turn into something worse too! If we look back in history, there was an H1NI flu that killed 1 billion people -- that was a mutation of our regular flu. Then the Asian flu, and the Hong Kong flu, that killed millions. I think the people that are freaking out about a pandemic need to take a look at the bigger picture. Every virus has a possiblity of mutating and creating a pandemic. I wouldn't vaccinate myself for anything that has such limited testing. They only just started human testing last month and they plan to have it out this month. For all we know this vaccine itself could wipe out millions of people. Too scary for me.

I'll take my chances -- limit vaccinations, eat healthy, breastfeed my baby, keep away from anyone who is sick, practise proper hygiene (everyone remember to wipe down grocery cart handles! Ick!), and avoid certain places (I'm sorry but our hospital bathrooms are so disgusting I can only imagine what is hidden in the "clean" rooms -- once I have baby I'm outta there!).