Thursday, October 22, 2009

Swine Flu

Well, I don't know a single mother who is not conflicted with this question; "If it becomes available to you, will you vaccinate your children against the Swine flu?" Even though every physician I've spoken to says you absolutely should, I just can't get over that fear of the unknown, with it being new. I'm so worried I'll regret my decision, either way I choose. One thing is for sure though, it is rampant. Just yesterday I found out three people I know have it, and one is a two year old who is not in any preschool or daycare. I'm starting to think that no matter how careful we are, there just won't be any avoiding being exposed.

So, what are your thoughts? Have you made a decision?

10 comments:

Lynsey said...

My son's doc really wants my family to get it. I am a middle school teacher, so I probably should. My son is not in daycare and we won't go to church during flu season...I will probably get it. I don't like that the makers of the vaccine have full immunity if something goes wrong. To me that is a red flag that it isn't safe.

Christina Olson said...

As a nurse I've done a lot of research into it. I was really sceptical at first since I'm pregnant, but I will be getting vaccinated along with the rest of my family:)

stacibee said...

Ugh...that's a toughy. I think we're saying YES to regular flu shots and NO to H1N1 vaccine. Hope it's the right decision.

Joni said...

I think I'm with Staci. Mostly because even though H1N1 clearly sucks, I don't know anybody who has been permanently adversely affected by getting it.

New vaccines do scare me a little.

Plus, I'm lazy. I don't want to have to drag all my kids to the doctor, AGAIN.

Of course, when we all get it I might be singing a different tune. *shrugs*

Jen L said...

We are not getting it, although we also don't do regular flu vaccines either. My big thing about H1N1 is that it's a new vaccine. We're fairly cautious about vaccines to begin with, but especially newer ones. The dr.'s think I had H1N1 last month (they stopped testing in Ithaca since it's so rampant... we've had deaths at the college) and honestly, it wasn't any worse than the regular flu. What made it bad was that I'm pregnant and no matter what flu strain it was it would have wiped me out. If we had a pre-existing condition that made us in the 'or death' category of complications, I'd think differently, but for the most part, we are all healthy. Although I'd also be considered in the category of thinking H1N1 is being made a bigger deal than it should. I know some people are really scared about it, and if you fall into that category, then I say the best thing to do is pray and go forward.

Luisa said...

I hardly ever comment but always look at the wisdom of your ladies :) i just want to say i vaccinated both my kiddos yesterday- one is 3 yrs old and the other was just 1 yesterday, for the swine flu virus and they are both doing great. It wasn’t really a question for me personally i think that there is a bigger chance of the child to get the actual disease than to suffer any side effects as a result of the vaccine. As with everything, there will probably be a small percentile of people that will suffer some bizarre side effects everyone’s organism is different and react to things differently so I will not rule out that chance, but overall these might be the same people that for some reason or another maybe a weak immune system or genetic disorder that will also have the more devastating consequences from the virus. I know this is a big controversy and certainly do not know it all, its just my two cents and my personal perspective. Hope it helps!
And thanks for putting out such timely topics and advice

Linz said...

I'm leaning towards getting it but frankly I'm sort of relieved that we can't yet because I haven't decided for sure. I have heard so many different sides to this. I think I read a blogger say that it doesn't prevent you from getting it, it prevents you from dying from it. Not sure if that is true or not. People have died from it, but they also die from just regular flu. I really don't know for sure. My OB really wants me to get it when they have it in their office. I'm almost 6 months pregnant.

Melanie said...

My family has already received both the seasonal and the H1N1 flu vaccine. My husband is a family physician and his thoughts are that the known benifts outweigh the unknown risk.

The Schacher Family said...

Concidering my whole family was just diagnosed with H1N1 this morning and we had to cancel our weekend trip to California I would get the vaccine. Let me tell you I feel pretty darn awful! If I could have in anyway avoided the pain and sickness I feel right now I would have. So I say get vaccinated.

Lynsey said...

My son's doc called personally to ask me to bring him in to get a dose of H1N1. I took him in so hopefully he won't get sick. Now, I need to get one. I can't afford to miss too much work. I need to save days so that I can get paid if/when I have a baby during the school year (we are trying for #2).