I am so torn as to what to do about this vaccine. I've heard so many bad things about what its long term effects might be that I don't want to put it in my children. But then on the flip side, I'm afraid not to do it for their protection. Family doc is not recommending it because he himself and his family has had the flu and says its not any worse than any other and says its all a bunch of hype and things have been blown way out of proportion. It's making me freaking crazy!!!!
H1N1 vaccine
- Thread starter ckanuckel
- Start date
cendrine
Cathlete
I hear you, it's all over the place anywhere. What to do, and everyone has an opinion!
I, for one, am not going to get the vaccine for my kids or myself. Here's what I'm doing to keep from freaking out. I feed my whole family lots of fresh fruits and veggies every single day (they go down great in form of a green smoothie for breakfast) and then I got GSE grapefruitseed extract, it is antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal, you can take it preventatively a few drops in your water or you can use it diluted for rinses, or gargles if nose or throat are having an issue. dh tried it for his sinus infection, he rinsed twice with it and it was gone! We will be traveling for Christmas and I'm planning on giving the whole family preventative doses a few days prior to the flight, and then take it along in case we picked something up.(you just put it in your drink a few times a day if you feel you are down with something) I feel good about this and relieved not to have to go do the shot-thing.
Whole Foods sells the drops, Nutribiotics also sells nasal sprays on their website with the correct dilution already.
I hope this helps!
I, for one, am not going to get the vaccine for my kids or myself. Here's what I'm doing to keep from freaking out. I feed my whole family lots of fresh fruits and veggies every single day (they go down great in form of a green smoothie for breakfast) and then I got GSE grapefruitseed extract, it is antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal, you can take it preventatively a few drops in your water or you can use it diluted for rinses, or gargles if nose or throat are having an issue. dh tried it for his sinus infection, he rinsed twice with it and it was gone! We will be traveling for Christmas and I'm planning on giving the whole family preventative doses a few days prior to the flight, and then take it along in case we picked something up.(you just put it in your drink a few times a day if you feel you are down with something) I feel good about this and relieved not to have to go do the shot-thing.
Whole Foods sells the drops, Nutribiotics also sells nasal sprays on their website with the correct dilution already.
I hope this helps!
kathryn
Cathlete
I agree with this. Sounds like a smart doc to me!
Practice good hygiene (frequent hand washing, not sharing straws or other personal things people put in their mouths, keeping hands away from faces, wiping off doorknobs, phones, etc. with antibacterial wipes), keep immune systems strong (good diet, sufficient rest), and I think you'll be fine.
Check this out: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml
I skipped the seasonal flu vaccine this year and won't be getting the H1N1 shot.
I skipped the seasonal flu vaccine this year and won't be getting the H1N1 shot.
Stephanie0523
Cathlete
I got it for all three of my children. My oldest two (ages 7 and 4) got the mist and my 1 year old got the injection. I'll be going back in a month for dose #2. They are doing great. No side effects. I've had to take my 4 year old to the Emergency room twice in the past with high fevers (over 104), and that scared me enough to never want to ever do it again. I suppose either way it's a gamble. I just felt that the chances of experiencing side effects of the vaccine were way smaller than the chances of contracting a potentially dangerous case of H1N1. It's not the flu that I was concerned about. It's the potential for a nasty case of viral pneumonia that can piggy-back the swine flu (yes, pun intended) that I was most concerned about.
Whatever you decide will be the right decision for your family.
Whatever you decide will be the right decision for your family.
dorothyrd
Cathlete
I have had a flu like H1N1 before, and it did knock me down badly. It took a while to recover. That said, most people are recovering, it takes a couple of weeks, but yes, they will recover.
The people who are most dangerous from it are people who have other underlying problems. If your family has that, then the shot is probably safer than getting the flu.
The other thing to consider is can the kids afford to miss 2 weeks of school. At the elementary age, it is not as crucial, but once in middle, high school and college this is really, really tough.
So that is how you have to weigh this. Now if you decide to not get it, and the your family gets the flu, don't beat yourself up about it, just deal with it and know they now have the immunity.
I don't know if my high schooler had H1N1 or not, but last March during spring break she had something really, really terrible and I was a bit worried about her. H1N1 was not in the news then, but now I wonder if she already had it. It ruined her break, but at least she did not fall behind in school.
The people who are most dangerous from it are people who have other underlying problems. If your family has that, then the shot is probably safer than getting the flu.
The other thing to consider is can the kids afford to miss 2 weeks of school. At the elementary age, it is not as crucial, but once in middle, high school and college this is really, really tough.
So that is how you have to weigh this. Now if you decide to not get it, and the your family gets the flu, don't beat yourself up about it, just deal with it and know they now have the immunity.
I don't know if my high schooler had H1N1 or not, but last March during spring break she had something really, really terrible and I was a bit worried about her. H1N1 was not in the news then, but now I wonder if she already had it. It ruined her break, but at least she did not fall behind in school.
Liann
Cathlete
Steph - One of my nephew's little daycare buddies just died from pneumonia caused from H1N1. He recovered fine from the flu, but came down with the pneumonia right afterwards and his little body just couldn't take it. So sad.
spyrosmom
Cathlete
I've only had the flu 2x in my life. Once when I was about 5 or 6, and once when I was 20 or 21. Never had a flu shot, and don't intend to get one. It was going around work like wildfire a week or 2 ago. Several people were actually diagnosed w/ the H1N1. I managed (knock on wood) not to catch anything so far. So I'm just going with good eats, vitamins, exercise, sleep, and handwashing.
Nan
Nan
ElaineP
Cathlete
My 15yr old son is high risk and can not receive the vaccine. He is allergic to eggs. Everyone in my family is being vaccinated in attempt to protect him. Our pediatrcian is seeing many cases of H1N1 where the children are compromised by the flu that they are getting strep and penumonia at the same time. Not a risk I am willing to take.
With that said, I work in health care and saw a lecture from the CDC and the H1N1 vaccine is made exactly like the seasonal flu one except they put the inactive H1n1 in the mix. It is an inactive virus. The mist is not inactive!! When you get the mist you are receiving the live virus. Opt for the vaccine,it is safer.
With that said, I work in health care and saw a lecture from the CDC and the H1N1 vaccine is made exactly like the seasonal flu one except they put the inactive H1n1 in the mix. It is an inactive virus. The mist is not inactive!! When you get the mist you are receiving the live virus. Opt for the vaccine,it is safer.
upnorthchick
Cathlete
Last week an employee's wife, who has had 3 kidney transplants and some other health issues, was diagnosed with H1N1 on Monday, stopped breathing and fell into a coma Tuesday and never started breathing on her own. She passed away on Thursday. It's just very sad. It seems like it is hitting little kids and people with underlying health issues really hard.
It's just very sad. It seems like it is hitting little kids and people with underlying health issues really hard. 
hokypoky
Cathlete
My husband and kids will get the H1N1 shot ... my 10-yr old has type 1 diabetes and her pediatrician highly recommends it. I'm allergic to eggs and cannot. We think my daughter had the virus in September, but the test for it is so inaccurate. She had a fever, headache and chills, but really it was quite mild. Our concern is that secondary infection that can come afterwards. So scary! I hate not having a definitive answer and having to gamble on this vaccine.
morningstar
Cathlete
I am torn still about this. I've never had a flu shot. While I think that the issue with this particular flu is that it is killing (a few) people that don't normally die from the flu (like 12 year old hockey players that had no underlying illnesses), I do think that people are in general, more concerned than they need to be about it. That being said, I find that there is way too much hype and fear mongering against the vaccine. The fact that we have vaccines for so many of the diseases is one of the greatest boons to the human race ever.
My co-worker was just diagnosed with H1N1 and is being sent home for a week. Guess who has to do her work?
My co-worker was just diagnosed with H1N1 and is being sent home for a week. Guess who has to do her work?
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morningstar
Cathlete
The ONLY things proven to help prevent H1N1 at the moment are the vaccine and washing your hands.
Stebby
Cathlete
I'm a big believer in vaccines. I'm getting the H1N1 shot as soon as it's available to me (DH and DD also). In Canada we've had a very late rollout and right now, the shot is only being offered to high risk groups (pregnant women, kids 6 mos to 5 years, families of babies under 6 mos, asthmatics, immuno-compromised people). I hope I can get my shot by December. We've already had one person at work off with H1N1 a month ago - fortunately he stayed home and didn't spread it to anyone else.
Stephanie0523
Cathlete
Steph - One of my nephew's little daycare buddies just died from pneumonia caused from H1N1. He recovered fine from the flu, but came down with the pneumonia right afterwards and his little body just couldn't take it. So sad.
So sad. That's why I got my kids vaccinated. I did gamble with the mist, but they got the mist for their seasonal flu shot two years in a row and never had a problem. And I knew this vaccine was concocted the same way the seasonal flu shot is. Many of the ones who have died have not had underlying conditions, so I didn't want to take any chances whatsoever with my little ones...
Liann--How are you feeling? Have YOU gotten the vaccine?
ElaineP
Cathlete
originally posted by:hokypoky
The flu test they do at your doctors or the hospital lab, test for type A or B. H1N1 falls under type A. There is a small % that is not detected. The test they do at a State lab level is very accurate, it test for the DNA and RNA of the virus. Unfortunatley, not all specimens can be tested by the state. As this would be costly and time consuming. In the State where I work the only people who are being difinitlivly tested by PCR-RNA-DNA are people being admitted into the hospital, underlying circumstances and cluster groups. Every state is handling the testing differently.
The flu test they do at your doctors or the hospital lab, test for type A or B. H1N1 falls under type A. There is a small % that is not detected. The test they do at a State lab level is very accurate, it test for the DNA and RNA of the virus. Unfortunatley, not all specimens can be tested by the state. As this would be costly and time consuming. In the State where I work the only people who are being difinitlivly tested by PCR-RNA-DNA are people being admitted into the hospital, underlying circumstances and cluster groups. Every state is handling the testing differently.
dorothyrd
Cathlete
Where did you get the fact that many that have died did not have underlying conditions, because this is not at all what I have heard.
morningstar
Cathlete
There are people dying in Canada, some with underlying conditions, some without. Perfectly healthy people are dying from this, but not very many. A lot more people are dying from heart disease, car accidents, etc.