H1N1, get vaccinated or not? Get my kids vaccinated or not? This decision, in light of the 13 year old boy that died in Etobicoke, the pros and cons flying around on Twitter and the feeling in my mum gut, is a tough one and scary either way. I feel like I'm in a horrible sci-fi film where half the population will get wiped out in the end, but the question is which half?
The kids and I don't usually get the flu shot, we don't get sick a lot either which made me think that we wouldn't get the H1N1. I do vaccinate my kids for the usual things but just not the flu shot. My decision was also based on talking to our pediatrician and that I read somewhere that if you got the flu shot in the past you were actually twice as likely to get H1N1 so how do they know that H1N1 won't make you more susceptible to something else? BUT...then the more you read and the more the media hypes it the more I begin to doubt my mum gut and start to question my decision, maybe I should get the vaccine?
Honestly, I'm not sure what to do right now, I feel like taking off to the woods and home schooling! What are you planning to do? Anything you've read or been told that is tipping the scales for you one way or the other?
Here are some of the H1N1 links I've found today, I find the comments the most interesting part.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091026/swine_rollout_091027/20091027?hub=TorontoNewHome
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2009/10/27/ont-h1n1.html
http://www.loulousviews.blogspot.com/
Please add any links you've found, I will add more as I find them as well.
Please share how you found this information:
This is my personal opinion
Comments
This post helps me to know more about H1N1 Thanks for sharing this post with us.
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I'm glad to know and hear that I'm not the only one that is worried.
I too agree though, that if I don't do anything and she gets sick (or worse) I could never live with myself. On the other hand, vaccines scare me as to long term effects, and there is no long term evidence or research on this. It is good to know that the vaccine is for the specific strand that is circulating, and I suppose we have to have faith in Glaxo-Smith-Kline in that they know what they are doing as this is what they DO.
I think I am starting to lean towards getting vaccinated, especially for the little one. If anything happened to her, I wouldn't know what to do....
Lianne Phillipson-Webb
Founder of Sprout Right and Nutrition Consultant
www.sproutright.com
Here are my thoughts on the boy who died from H1N1 (which is incredibly sad and I feel terrible for his parents). When you get sick, your immune system is working overtime to kill off the bacteria or virus. That's why you are supposed to rest - no extra stress on your system while it's super busy. He went and played in a hockey game or tournament which took energy to do, and energy away from what his immune system was trying to deal with. It was overwhelmed and maybe couldn't keep up with the virus. It's scary for sure, but try to take the fear out of your decision and look at the facts. No amount of mercury is good for anyone, ESPECIALLY a pregnant women or baby. That should be a no brainer as it's a neurotoxin to the nervous system and brain which is developing in the early days and years. There is a lot of concern with the adjuvant as well causing auto immune situations which should also be looked at.
Keep your kids healthy, stay away from the sugar, especially this weekend - trade their loot for some toys or something as the ingestion of sugar stops the immune system from being productive. Take vitamin C every day, vitamin D in higher doses, essential fatty acids (EFA's) like cod liver oil and remember that garlic is incredibly anti viral and anti bacterial. Add it to everything that you can.
If something hits, manage the symptoms with confidence. Buy the book Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child which gives you loads of situations of fever, flu, cold, cough and anything else that you can think of.
Check out Sprout Right's Facebook page for more in H1N1 as I keep updating it with info as I get it.
Thanks for the info. I will check out that book. We're home with it and managing. Lot's of teas and good foods and yes garlic. I even ate a raw clove! I need to start with Vitamin D though. Do you know how much they recommend? Do they recommend Vit D for infants too?
I had heard that the boy didn't play int he tournament cause he wasn't feeling well but then I also heard he did. I think that is really scaring parents right now.
This was another comment that was posted.
Okay. I've been sifting through the H1N1 vaccine info as I was also
on the fence about whether or not to immunize my kids. Now, I'm just
on the fence as to whether or not to wait for the unadjuvanted
formulation to become available for them. Both Kaitlyn and Emily are
under three and the clinical experience with the adjuvant is very
limited. The product monograph doesn't even have any data
supporting the adjuvants' use in children under 3...they are just
extrapolating that it should be okay because there is very limited
data using the adjuvant in 3-9 year olds (and even that is with the
H5N1 vaccine, not the H1N1 but it really shouldn't matter because we
are just talking adjuvant here). So, yeah, I don't really want my
kids to be guinea pigs but I also don't want something horrific to
happen either. I don't think I could live with myself if I did not
vaccinate them and I don't want to wait too long for this
unadjuvanted vaccine to become available. The vaccine will take about
a month and possibly 2 shots to have full immunity...that's a long
time to wait even after the shot. Also, the unadjuvanted vaccine
contains more of the killed virus and thus more thiomersal (contains
50% ethylmercury, a neurotoxin) and that will increase exposure.
Ugg..it is such a confusing choice to make and I have a strong
pharmaceutical background (I'm a pharmacist) so I can understand why
so many people don't know what to do. One thing to keep in mind
though is that we never know 100% what a drug will do when it is used
in the general population. There will always be unknown side effects
and unpredictable reactions in widespread use like this. However, we
do know that H1N1 is serious and can be deadly. It's always about
the risk-benefit and in this case, I feel that getting the flu could
be more risky than the vaccine.
> http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/ccom/flu/h1n1/public/pregnant.aspx
This was a blurb from one of my mommy chat groups. The mom is a pharmacist so here is some of her info. on it.
The adjuvant in this particular H1N1 vaccine we are getting in Canada
>>>> is called AS03 (it contains vitamin E, polysorbate and squalene which
>>>> is shark oil). It's supposed to not only increase your immune
>>>> response to the vaccine but less of the killed H1N1 virus is actually
>>>> in the vaccine so in a pandemic situation you can use only 1/4 of the
>>>> dose and thus the vaccine can be given to more people. Thiomersal is a
>>>> preservative that is used in multidose vials so that more volume of the
>>>> vaccine in less packaging can be distributed. It makes sense in a
>>>> pandemic situation. There are never 100% guarantees that you will be
>>>> immune to H1N1 if you get vaccinated but from my research, apparently
>>>> the virus has yet to mutate and if it does, it's thought the adjuvanted
>>>> vaccine will give you more protection over the unadjuvanted one. But
>>>> yes, they do have the right strain (strand) so far.
>>>> Now, regarding Kirsten's question about mercury content in all these
>>>> vaccines. People are freaking out because thiomersal (aka in the USA
>>>> thimerosal) is 50% mercury, a well known neurotoxin. However, there are
>>>> two kinds of mercury (the kind in this vaccine is ethylmercury which is
>>>> less brain toxic and clears the body faster). Thiomersal has actually
>>>> been removed from all the standard pediatric vaccines so it's not a
>>>> concern for things like Pentacel, Prevnar, etc. that our babies are
>>>> getting at their regular checkups. As I was saying before, because the
>>>> adjuvanted vaccine gives a lower amount of killed H1N1 virus, there is
>>>> less thiomersal in it. However, even the unadjuvanted vaccine (the one
>>>> recommended for pregnant women) will have thiomersal in it. Because
>>>> there is no adjuvant, the dose is 4 times the amount and thus 4 times
>>>> the amount of thiomersal. It sounds scary but it works out to be about
>>>> as much as a tuna sandwich in terms of mercury content. I myself ate
>>>> tuna while pregnant so I personally am not going to get worked up about
>>>> the thiomersal content in this vaccine. (I probably wouldn't get
>>>> Prevnar, the chicken pox vaccine and this injection at the same
>>>> time..space it out a few days at least because the H1N1 vaccine is
>>>> going to hurt a bit as it is given in the muscle).
>>>>
>>>> As for waiting for the unadjuvanted formulation, it could be a few
>>>> weeks...that's a few weeks of potential exposure and Kaitlyn goes to a
>>>> day care, as we know a cesspool of diseases awaits her there. So, I'm
>>>> likely going on Tuesday, earlier if my family doctor's office offers it
>>>> to get us all vaccinated. I'm still not 100% on what to do. I wish
>>>> the government would get their act together and offer the unadjuvanted
>>>> vaccine earlier for pregnant women and kids but as we hear about more
>>>> and more deaths of health kids from swine flu...I get more worried
>>>> about its severity.
Thanks for all the good info Maureen and the other mamas.
I am still not sure if I will get the vaccine. I work with children and that's scary at times like this but I am still not convinced.
I will let you know what I decide....
Interesting Dad's take on the internet and H1N1 - http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/parenting_in_a_cyber_charged_world
Here is a link I found on figuring out if you have a cold or H1N1, http://ow.ly/wXN2
I just watched Toronto CityTV News and I didn't realize how fast the flu hit the 13 year old boy. Super scary...
Also scary is that they said babies under 6 months cannot be vaccinated and that they recommend that families with babies under 6 months get vaccinated to keep their baby safe from dying...ugh no guilt there. I'm leaning towards getting vaccinated...more research to go tonight.
That is crazy scary. You have to wonder why it killed him so fast. Was there any underlying unknown conditions? Why do some worsen so fast?
None they know of, he played in a hockey tourney on Saturday, felt worse on Sunday went a walk in clinic got sent home to take Tylenol and felt well enough to take a bath on Monday and then passed out after and died...is the quick version from the news.
I find it all very scary and hitting way to close to home. With 2 not always healthy kids at home that breathing can be a challenge on a good day it is hard to just do nothing. I think I am going to get it for them and myself but for them the one without the mercury in it, it just seems harder to find a place that will be able to do that. I still am not 100% all I know is I find myself thinking about it often and wondering everytime a student is away for a few days what is going on. I want to go into a cave with my kids and hide till it is all over.
I've heard that these aren't going to be ready for a bit yet. They are now telling pregnant women to get the regular adjavent one. Seems strange that they would make the non adjavent one if the regular one is just fine. My sister is week 19 and they say wait till over week 20 but there wouldn't be any of the non mercury ones for awhile.
I spoke with the doctors office today and they said that there would be ones for both kids nad prego women that did not have the adjavent in it. I know why would some have it and others not. Again what do you do? I hate putting vrazy things into their bodies. It is all alot. People tell you you have to go your kids are high risk and then you hear people are waiting 6 hours in line. I am not having my kids wait 6 hours with other people that may be sick and give them what we went to get vacinated against. I am thinking more and more that I will get it for them and ourselves. Wow crazy world we are in.
I've been on this rollercoaster the past while. We were told that we most likely have it. I know others that have it as well. For my husband and I it seems moderate but for my son it was relatively mild. I think tons of people already have it and most do ok with it. It sucks and you feel terrible but for most I think they will fight it, but it seems a small few don't. I have a feeling the media is playing it up, but it is soo scary when we hear stories like the 13 year healthy boy. You feel damned if you do and damned if you don't! I haven't received the flu vacinne in years and still got this and I never get sick! (after being in so many classrooms and sick all the time, i've built up a good immune!) It is a very contagious flu though and does come on quickly. Funny my mom the nurse wore a face mask and gloves to our house to do grocery drop offs and check on us.
From what I've read this vaccine is just like the normal flu vaccine except they know the strain to make it whereas the normal flu vaccine they kinda guess as to the next years strain based on last years flu. So far H1N1 hasn't mutated but most likely will by next year. I haven't gotten the regular flu shots for my son and feel very wary about doing so (although just hoping he know has some immunity). It seems most parents are confused on what to do and who to trust.
I have had such bad luck with taking the advice of medical professionals regarding my daughter. The last time we saw her doctor, it was her 18 month check up, and she was due for some boosters, that I passed on because she had woke up with a cough, and a slight fever. I was concerned because my daughter was acting differently than she usually does when she has a cold, and I raised these concerns with her doctor.
"Treat the fever, the rest will treat itself." Was the advice I was given.
Later that night, we ended up in the emergency room because she had spiked a fever of 104.1 while taking baby tylenol. At this point in time, she was also gasping, and making a growling noise.
This was in May, 2009. Everyone working at the hospital had masks on, and full body jump suits, and the triage nurse was even wearing a visor. All because of H1N1. It was the scariest, most uncomfortable place I had ever been.
We were registered, and she was given some baby advil, seeing as the tylenol didn't help, and still had a fever of more than 104. We waited 15 minutes and she started shivering, and I expressed my concerns to the nurse. I was told to wait it out. 5 minutes later my daughter had a seizure.
Luckilly, she's fine, recovered without a problem. The relevance of me sharing this store? Once she was stable they ran a series of tests, looking for various infections, and so on. Not one of these tests were for H1N1, even after I mentioned that my Uncle had just returned from Mexico, and one of the children in our apartment complex had been diagnosed, and all the other tests came back negative.
To this day, I don't know what was wrong with her.
Ever since she was born, I had been told not to medicate her, to let her get sick, and let it pass on it's own, to build her immune system. Now I'm being told that I should inject my child with this new miricle vaccine, not knowing what the consequences might be.
I too feel like I'm screwed no matter what choice I make. That half the population of the world is about to be wiped out, and I have no idea which half. I recently visited my parents in Toronto, and everywhere you turn it's flu this and vaccine that. I actually broke down in front of my mother crying, because I didn't know what to do.
However, when I'm more together, my stance is this. A handful of people have suffered the worse possible outcome once contracting this vitus. Several thousand people die from the seasonal flu each year, and we never hear about those cases. I think (hope) that the media has blown this all out of proportion, causing mass hysteria, which at times I succum to. I have never had the flu shot, my partner always has had the flu shot. We always both get sick, at the same time, and to the same severity, so my confidence in these shots is already less than desireable. Until I see some hard evidence that the pro's outweight the con's, my daughter and I will not be vaccinated.