I just got my son vaccinated for H1N1 (swine) flu - Page 5

Notnim · 10-12-2009, 12:28 PM

JAM4 - Thanks for the link - Another PA resident here.

I am convinced the H1N1 has made its way thru our household, but my 13 yr old believes I am paranoid. Just very unusual for all 5 of us to have been sick with fever (albeit not very high for all of us), fatigue, etc over the course of 20 days.

Dr didn't want to see us unless any of us got worse.

Since I "think" we all had H1N1 I don't think we should get vacinated. I figuered we'll cross that bridge if the vacine becaomes available for us.

great lakes mom · 10-12-2009, 01:07 PM

Ballet mom, interesting questions, that I wish I could answer. Molliebatmit? She seems to know more of the details of immune response. I was addressing the more ardently anti vaccination lobby, as exemplified by members.

As H1N1 can be lethal for the young, just as standard flu can be for the old, I do think those populations need to be targeted appropriately. The data from Canada on H1N1 being less effective following standard flu immunization bears watching, though is not yet published or being taken into consideration in this country.

Notnim, is there only H1N1 in your community, or are other viruses making the rounds as well? I actually have the same question for myself, as I had mild flu like symptoms in August, though the medical line is that they are unconcerned about temps below 100 degrees F. Regardless, will get the H1N1 vaccine.

MagnoliaMom · 10-12-2009, 05:14 PM

I'll be getting the H1N1 vaccine also as soon as it's available here. I've already gotten the seasonal flu shot and supplies here in my part of the South are reportedly dwindling.

I must admit we were all a little nervous at work this morning when one of our coworkers called in sick after being diagnosed at a walk in clinic over the weekend - he's the second in our office over the last few weeks. Our boss is continually stating strongly that he expects anyone who gets sick to stay home to protect the rest of us.

As for all the anti vaccine posters, I'd be more concerned about the toxins you're breathing in from our wonderful air quality than vaccines.

abasket · 10-12-2009, 05:36 PM

I know this is getting a little off topic, but I WISH the schools would develop a plan so that students staying home to better themselves and to protect others from getting the flu would not be penalized from missing so many days and have to spend DAYS catching up when they return. In my younger D's school (K-8) they sent a letter home saying that more kids are getting sick because kids are coming back to school before they are ready - yet parents I think are freaking out (and kids) because the kids have to make up every stinkin workpaper, etc. they missed. There must be someway to consolidate and streamline the make-up work. Same for high school. The current conditions with these illnesses is out of the ordinary and I would like to see some better "working together" plan so that it doesn't feel like a penalty to stay home when you are sick and often still contagious.

My son has missed 2 days and will hopefully go back tomorrow - he will have been fever free for an appropriate length of time - will he feel all better? No. But 2 days off will have him set back in extra work/make-ups for a week.

MagnoliaMom · 10-12-2009, 06:17 PM

I share your concerns abasket. My daughter is a graduating senior in college with dual degrees working on research with kids with disabilities for her senior honors thesis. If she got the flu it would set her back signifcantly, not only with coursework but with her thesis. Then there's the danger she could transmit the virus to the kids she's working with if she was sick and didn't stay out long enough.

I actually heard a grad student on campus say that the person sitting next to them in class had been out with the flu but then was back for the next class because she said she couldn't afford to be out. Dangerous for her health and others. All the more reason I feel it's important to get the vaccine.

JustAMomOf4 · 10-12-2009, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balltemom

I disagree with every healthy person receiving a vaccine for what seems to be a mild illness, instead of saving the vaccine for populations that really need it. If I am exposed to the flu, won't I make antibodies to every antigen in that flu, instead of only the ones the vaccine makers have decided to include? Wouldn't this protect me MORE in the long run, 15 years down the road, whenh those minor antigens have reassorted into a new strain? I am still puzzled by the fact that flu vaccine must be given every year, when they have found that people exposed to those flu viruses 30 years ago still seem to have some immunity against it?!

Hopefully there is enough vaccine so everyone can be immunized. That is the ideal situation. Immunization programs are designed to protect the individual AND the general population. When people like "member" reject science and refuse vaccination they actually benefit from an immunization program. They enjoy "herd immunity" which is why they can sometimes claim they "never get sick".
You are exposed to the same antigens in the vaccine as if you got the flu. Getting the vaccine doesn't make you "less immune".
The deal with influenza is that it rapidly mutates into different strains. That is why a new vaccine is developed every year.
Getting the vaccine every single year protects you the most - as you are exposed to that strain each year. If left to nature you might or might not be exposed.

Kelowna · 10-12-2009, 08:25 PM

Off topic here - I think we have a swine flu case in our house right now. Kid with classic fly symptoms - very tired, muscle aches, fever, cough, headache. Just served her home made chicken soup, fresh lemons with sugar, tea with honey. Hope she gets better soon. H1N1 has been in area schools for a few weeks now. The vaccine is not available yet. Why would I vaccinate a child that most likely already had the flu?

molliebatmit · 10-12-2009, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BalletMom

I am still puzzled by the fact that flu vaccine must be given every year, when they have found that people exposed to those flu viruses 30 years ago still seem to have some immunity against it?!

It is, as JustAMomof4 says, just because the flu virus is so good at mutating. (Alas, we all do what we have to in order to survive... the flu virus does it really well!)

Vaccines can have lasting immunity as well -- I read a study a few weeks ago that suggested a significant number of people who were vaccinated against swine flu in '78 will be immune to this round of swine flu, no extra vaccination needed. But vaccines are often not as potent at stimulating the immune system as actually having a disease is, largely because having a disease causes other, more primitive, components of the immune system to go into high alert.

Quote:

Originally Posted by member

Id love to see one study that shows Thiomersal at the dosages that it is administered is considered safe. The FDA has certain guidelines and vaccines override those for kids. So please show me a study proving Thiomersal safe.

This is actually not one study, it is a review of twelve studies, and can be accessed for free here. They review epidemiologic studies (studies of the effect of vaccination on the health of children and infants) as well as pharmacokinetic studies (studies of the concentration of ethylmercury in the blood after vaccination in children and infants).

Quote:

The pharmacokinetic studies, although limited by small sample sizes and differences in timing of specimen collection, suggest that blood mercury levels postvaccination in human infants are not in the range of known toxicity, making neurologic damage from thimerosal in vaccines unlikely.

This is partly because the ethylmercury found in thimerosal is chemically different from the methylmercury with which most people are familiar -- thimerosal's ethylmercury is metabolized and excreted much more quickly than methylmercury, and so is not in the body as long.

Although most of the articles are written for scientists, it can be really useful to go to PubMed, the science article search engine, to find health information. Review articles are often particularly accessible for non-scientists, and you can look at those specifically by clicking the "review" tab at the top of the list of search results.

Cardinal Fang · 10-13-2009, 12:07 AM

My husband had the swine a few weeks ago. He was home from work for over a week: fever, weakness, nausea, diarrhea, coughing. This is a nasty, nasty flu. I *don't* want to get it. I'm getting the vax as soon as I can.

cutieflutie08 · 10-13-2009, 01:07 AM

personally, living in the "petri dish" of the dorms at school here, i have found the flu shot to be extremely helpful. kids get sick multiple times bc it goes like a boomerang thru the dorms, and it really throws you off to get sick not once, not twice, but three times just from SEASONAL flu. i was one of the only ones who got the shot last year and i credit it for sparing me from a good two rounds of illness.

so, to try and spare myself the agony of losing a good 24+ hours that i really can't afford to lose in the first place, i have wholeheartedly gotten the seasonal flu shot already and am on the lookout for h1n1.

p.s. i dont recall ever getting a flu shot before going to college...

great lakes mom · 10-13-2009, 07:17 AM

A local paper had interviews with students who have had H1N1 this fall. Not fun!

H1N1 flu victims relive the experience

Mollie, thanks for the immune system details and links.

molliebatmit · 10-13-2009, 08:06 AM

Any time! I'm in neuroscience, but I thought about joining an immunology lab for my PhD. I think this stuff is really cool.

Hunt · 10-13-2009, 09:33 AM

I would just like to add that refusing to get vaccinations--especially for serious communicable illnesses--is unpatriotic.

abasket · 10-13-2009, 09:44 AM

That article above with the student interviews describes the going-ons in my house the last week to a tee!!!! The fever, chills, sweats, cough, achiness, nausea - the whole ball of wax! One of the worst things about it is that it's not the usual 24-48 hours and you're better....seems to go on for DAYS....

Cardinal Fang · 10-13-2009, 12:30 PM

There are two things we call flu: "stomach flu," a short but unpleasant illness usually involving gastrointestinal symptoms; and "flu" or influenza, a disease that attacks suddenly with high fever, aches and other symptoms and usually lasts a week or more.

What cutieflutie is talking about above is what my mother calls a 24-hour bug, not influenza at all, and flu shots would, unfortunately, provide no protection against it. The flu shot is for influenza. Neither the seasonal flu shot nor the swine flu shot protects against stomach flu, but they do protect against influenza, which is generally nasty. For most college students, flu is not life-threatening, but it is hugely inconvenient to be sick in bed for a week or more.