Swine Flu how worried are you???
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4.5 after 3 votes
It's the second day of fall and the flu is already on every parent's mind. Should your kids get a flu shot? Or do they need to get a swine flu shot (aka H1N1)? Do they get one shot? Or four shots? Lord have mercy, can this get anymore confusing? Maybe we should all just lock ourselves in our houses and emerge in the spring. Sounds like a plan, but not a very practical one.
Momma's Little Helper
Momma's Little Helper
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Cromeenes on -
You're correct, they aren't normally testing for h1n1 anymore, however I've heard from several medical resources that seasonal flu doesn't typically start until later in the year or January, so they're under the assumption that just about everything right now is h1n1.
The #s are most likely skewed becuase many of us who have flu symptoms aren't even going or calling the Dr - so I'm sure the #s are quite higher. I just had it and found no reason to call the Dr.
My close friend just had her 4 yr olds vaccinated for h1n1 and her teenage step daughter. Unforutnatley her teenage step daughter came down with h1n1 about 4 days later. I guess it's not effective until about 8 days after vaccination - plus they still have to receive their 2nd dose, next month.
I've been reading alot more about the deaths and complications and it really sounds like most of these are from secondary infections/problems, like pneumonia.
Also, I found some articles that are saying that h1n1 may be contageous longer than normal seasonal flu. the nasal swabs done days after fever disappeared still showed virus in the system. The problem is that we have no way of knowing how much virus it could take to infect someone else.
My last day of fever was 5 days ago. My daughter just started with a low 100 - 101 fever last night. no other systems and she's acting fine. Don't know if she got it from me, even though I tried my best to keep her away - but she could have gotten it at school.
Just started both kids on D3 drops (the kind that are tasteless/odorless that you add to their drink). So we're still loading up on vitamins, and other homeopathic stuff.
Stay healthy & happy Halloween!
~ Michelle
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Permalink Reply by Amelia Dellos on -
thanks for the information! Ditto on the D3 my whole family takes it. I believe it is important to keep an open mind and keep abreast of all the info. happy halloween!
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Permalink Reply by Amelia Dellos on
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Here is an interesting article posted on the Huffington Post
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Permalink Reply by Barbara Siragusa on -
My older daughter just happens to be an internist and I still have 2 young boys at home. This question did come up, and her opinion was that if you outweigh the side effects of the flu shots versus the severity of the flu this year, she strongly recommends the shots. So, we are getting the shots.
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Permalink Reply by Val on -
I'm with Amelia, I blogged about how irresponsible our media is to that same effect.
If the shot was so HORRIBLE they would not have all our health and service workers take it. Because they would want those workers to be able to command some mass epidemic.
My hubby got his H1N1 vaccine finally at the beginning of the week. He and both the kids have been seriously exposed to it already I'm sure. It's been so rampant and yet so many parents have NOT gotten it from their kids.
I've been so mindful of washing hands and eating or drinking from plates and cups. I teach a seniors fitness class 3 times a week and I worry about passing anything to them as well.
This said, hubby usually gets the season flu shot because it's free and he has a schedule to do it. I think I will do it from now on but this year is so messed up for what is available and when.
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Permalink Reply by Val on
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Not sure why the two shot idea is floating around but it is totally bogus in the US (k trying to read, but looks like maybe you in Canada are talking about a double shot?). Hubby had his at the fire dept last week and the kids and I had it Monday night. Our nurse rocked and I have no pain in my shoulder at all. Since I have asthma I have to have a shot :( Kids got the nasal since they aren't thankfully high risk.
If you get the regular flu shot you should get the H1N1, if you don't then this isn't even a debate for you. You already don't believe in getting the flu shot. I do still need to get in for the flu shot but regular flu season is just starting.
Awesome, i tried to click on the mercola articles to see what OFFICIAL, PROVEN info they have against the vaccine and all I got was a pop up that I couldn't close so I couldn't read the article without subscribing. No thanks, that says it all right there.
Yes, I will listen to my doctors. MY DOCTORS. Oh and I'll listen to what is told to my husband who is a firefighter and EMT and works with all of the nurses and doctors. These are all people that don't want the flu and you don't want them to have it either because no emergency care will happen if they all get sick from the flu shot that they get first. lmao They get it first, so do you really think that the pharmaceutical companies want to poison the very people that help save people that need their medicines? Really?
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Permalink Reply by Julia Gray on -
Beware of them mercola site. He is angling to sell vitamins and his rhetoric suits his purposes. I have been vaccinated with no problems and it has been weeks. So many children here have had the vaccine without incident. There is a flu-like illness going around that IS NOT THE H1N1, so you need a swab or confirmation before you assume that you are now immune and not in need of the vaccine. My son is getting the flumist tonight. We'll see how it goes. If you are opposed to vaccines then don't vaccinate, however if you get the seasonal flu shot or mist for your children, not sure why you would avoid the H1N1 vaccine, but it is each person's business. I recommend reading the book "The Flu" About the 1918 Spanish pandemic. Great read, very informative although troubling. Personally I have landed in the hospital twice after a bout of the flu. Turned into pneumonia or a hyper immune response in the lungs (and the viral kind, not bacterial so nothing could be done) I for one do not want to experience that again so I always get the flu shot.
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Permalink Reply by Liz Jarvis on -
Hi,
I'm in the UK but I'm just recovering from a bout of swine flu. Before I contracted it I was thinking twice about whether to get my son the swine flu shot (he's asthmatic, and has had the regular flu shot). But having experienced it I would say - if you can get the shot for yourself/your kids, get it. I've written about my experience of having it here: http://www.kidstart.co.uk/livingwithkids/post/2009/11/03/Keep-takin.... I dread to think how it would affect a child, I'm a fully grown woman and it knocked me for six. Also I didn't realise that the tamiflu doesn't cure it, it just stops it getting worse. I'm now on antibiotics to clear up all the secondary infections as a result of contracting the swine flu.
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Permalink Reply by Ellen McCaleb on -
I second Sheryl Loch's comments. Know anyone who used to work for big pharma? Your kids are big business...make no mistake. Know this too, if your child is injured by the H1N1 vaccine, pharma and the government are exempt from any wrong doing. Since this vaccine was rushed to market, it is excluded from the Vaccine Injury Compensation act.
For more great scientific information, go to www.mercola.com Dr. Mercola is excellent about siting sources and doing great research for you.
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Permalink Reply by LoobaLee on -
I think I can add some new perspective to this chain -- we already had H1N1 at our house.
An outbreak started in our schools the first week of October. The following week, the live virus vaccine was available at the health department for kids under the age of 18 only (you can imagine how many families were lined up!). It was too late for us though, we already had it.
I think the timing of the vaccine availability coinciding with when the kids were already being exposed to the virus in school impacted its effectiveness. Virtually every child I know who had the vaccine came down with the virus -- full blown.
In my daughter's elementary school, about 60-70% of the kids proceeded to get the virus throughout the month of October. My daughter's classrooms had 30-50% absent 3 weeks in a row (during state testing, no less!).
All the hand-washing and disinfecting in the schools seemed to do little to help, since it can be caught by airborne germs. And, the symptoms and fever come on slowly. The first day isn't bad (scratchy throat, low grade fever), second day is much worse (high fever sets in). So, parents often sent their children to school not knowing they were coming down with the virus -- thereby spreading it around unknowingly. If you know the virus is going around, don't ignore first signs, like scratchy throat or headache.
Happily, ever single one of the sick children (about 250 in our school) are back and healthy. We have 12 elementary schools in our town, and all were eventually affected by the outbreak. As were the 3 middle schools and 2 high schools. So, 1,000's have probably had it by now. There have been no incidents of deaths, hospitalizations, or severe complications (or at least none we've heard about, and I think it would have made the news).
However, about 1/4 of the kids who had it in our school came down with secondary infections. Typically, they would get over the flu in 3-4 days. Then, feel well for 1-2 days. Then, a secondary issue would attack, such as pneumonia, ear infection, or bronchitis. One of my daughters had both pneumonia and a severe ear infection. She was out of school a total of 7 days. As parents, we finally learned that we should keep their kids home from school 1-2 days after the fever subsided.
To be prepared... you should stock up on your favorite flu medications in advance. Our stores and pharmacies were selling out. We used a combination of Tylenol & Motrin, plus homeopathic Occillococcinum (sp?) and Gelsemium. Flu symptoms lasted 3 days. Our symptoms included headache, high fever for about 36 hours, sore throat, and eventually stuffy nose & coughing.
About the Tamiflu... Early on, pharmacies were also running out of Tamiflu - and it was frequently unavailable for people who truly needed it, so I think it was initially over-prescribed. Based on talking with a lot of families, the Tamiflu seemed to kick the virus out within 2-3 days, vs. 3-4 days for those not on Tamiflu. Although I talked to some families who took Tamiflu, and it still took 3-4 days to get over the flu, and they still came down with secondary infections. So, my advice on Tamiflu is.... don't worry or panic if its unavailable. In fact, better to save it for children who are truly in need.
About going to the doctor... Out of fear, parents were rushing their kids to the doctor. Who couldn't do anything more than they could over the phone. The doctors eventually requested families stay home and isolated. They really didn't want to see the kids unless there were secondary complications (for which antibiotics could be prescribed). And, they didn't want healthy people exposed to the germs in the office.
About adults.... I only know of a few adults who came down with the virus during the outbreak. Interestingly, they were all under the age of 35 and most of them were teachers. Neither my husband or I came down with it after attending to sick children for a couple of weeks.
About preschoolers... We know of some infant and preschooler cases, but far less than those of school age children. The ones we know of have older siblings who picked it up at school. Families we know of who don't have older siblings have so far escaped the virus, but its hard to know if they will avoid it all together.
I hope this helps alleviate some anxiety. In our experience the virus behaved very similar to regular flu, but was very, very contagious and seemed to pose a higher risk of secondary infections.
If you have any specific questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them... please message me directly so I don't miss it -- thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Debbie Hipp on
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I've decided I'm not doing the Swine Flu. Mainly b/c I do feel like the information is unclear and I don't think getting the flu is as bad as originally thought.
Luckily, I'm a stay at home so I don't have to worry about taking off work if my kids do get the flu. If you do need sick childcare some of my neighbors are using babysitters from findthebestnanny.com.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Hawkins on -
I agree that it is a lot of BS. Any drug company is going to tell you - you need the shot. I got so horribly sick when I did get the flu shots that - I said'what is the point" . Vaccines are not the end all of the flu. People die from getting the shots and people die from getting the flu. A child dropped dead at our pediatricians office from a vaccine. I don't get them. We do fine. We boost our immune system and if we get the flu, take anti viral herbs and we seem to fair very well. Prevention is the answer in my opinion not warfare.. Using fear as a way to sell shots should be illegal. The facts are there if you only read the actual facts not something that has been tainted to sell drugs.
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