Question for DUer's: Will you take the H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine when it's available?

I'm hearing a lot of "chatter" about how the initial vaccine may be dangerous/unhealthy. I'd be interested in your opinions.

Didn't get the first one in the 70's and won't get this one.

but leaning toward yes.

I work in a hospital - its a "must".

I got the flu last year, and I don't want to go through that again if at all possible.

It hasn't been thoroughly tested and we don't know what side effects it may cause. As someone who has had terrible side effects from shots like this before, I don't want to risk it. Will continue an immune enhancing regimen instead.

shots by CDC, and also the annual one.

There is more, where are you hearing it is dangerous? Early testing has not revealed any problems SO FAR.

- that they don't want the shots?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1207270/A-nurses-refuse-swine-flu-jab.html

the studies in the states have not shown any more complications than the annual vaccine

A lot of this is unnecessary panic, imho.

It is a "new vaccine" and every time we have a new one we have these reactions.

I'm a nurse, and I have asthma and have almost died from post flu pneumonia before, so everything says I should take it and I guess I will but I won't lie, I'm nervous. My two year research into vaccines showed me that we don't know nearly enough about them to be so gung ho and yet, H1N1 has the potential to be another 1918 style pandemic so I'm thinking I'm risking less by taking the vaccines than not, but I've been thinking a lot about this. A lot.

so you tell me.

That said, all medications and all vaccines have some risk to them, so it is minimizing the risk

I know this, as a medic I had a very good pharmacology instructor tell us... you know every time you administer a poison, err, medication, you risk doing something to your patient that didn't want to. Why meds, though mostly safe when used as recommended, are mostly safe.

So I always have that in my mind.

As to 1918, so-far it is falling more the 1968 pattern, it sucked, but it wasn't that deadly.

And I hope it stays like that.

:-)

1968 levels would be doable. 1918, not so much.

that is what nightmares are made off. Not only the US medical system, no system can handle that many patients needing ICU.

Triage, I don't want to even think about it. Gosh I had to at one time.

Logistics for all kinds of messes, mostly quakes and other natural disasters, but we did the what if for pandemic...

From that peek into the window I know we cannot handle it, worst case, we cannot handle it. (Shh, don't tell anybody but several worst case scenarios we cannot handle)

It's easy to decide to take our chances on our own life.

It's an exceedingly more difficult question to answer as a parent with one's child in the mix.

:shrug:

FWIW, I'd pass on it for myself, would have to think hard about denying it to my child.

My thinking is the younger the child, the less likely I'd have them inoculated

Alex Witt was interviewing someone (I didn't catch the name) about this vaccine and it was stressed that the elderly were not being advised to get the H1N1 vaccine due to a natural immunity the elderly have against this particular strain of flu.

Did anyone else here this?

Also, there are reports that the vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that there have been other troubles related to swine flu vaccines: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html

That's why its recommended that the people to get the vaccine first are health care workers, children, pregnant women, and then young adults and middle aged adults.

From the article:
"It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html#ixzz0P39hgVTT"

Hmmm... there is already a risk of GBS with the regular flu shot however I wonder if they are inferring that there is a greater risk with the H1N1 vaccine.

They don't need to be vaccinated against it because they are already immune to it, having been exposed to it earlier in life.

The most at-risk for this flu are not those who are usually at risk with the flu; this flu is very dangerous to healthy people in the prime of life, rather than the very young, the very old, and those with chronic illnesses.

This flu is not associated with causing cytokine cascade. The people who have gotten seriously ill and those who have died consistently had compromised immune systems and underlying health issues.

The vaccine will be available to the following priority list of people most at risk, according to the gov:

· Pregnant women
· Health care workers and emergency medical responders
· People caring for infants under 6 months of age
· Children and young adults from 6 months to 24 years
· People aged 25 to 64 years with underlying medical conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes, etc.)

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/vacresearch.html#campaign

Obviously, I had outdated info.

but the reason they are lower in the priority list is that they may have some form of very partial immunity, or the vaccines are not as good at getting the body to respond and the supply is extremely limited.

. . . over 91 years of age to have been exposed
or have immunity!

The only person I know who might not need to be
vaccinated woulld be 92-year-old neighbor of mine.

Despite the fact that I'm well over 65, I don't want the
vaccination . . . though others my age might want it but
shall be sent to the back of the queue.

They are the only ones who have possible immunity.

Part of this strain contains a previous H1N1 strain that folks older than 60 have probably been exposed to before...so ironically healthy elderly folks are among the last to get this particular vaccine. It is of course recommended they get theior normal yearly shot as soon as they can.

health department, was unable to secure a supply of a
normal yearly flu vaccine -- but the local Kroger
supermarkets had shots to sell; when no vaccine
was available at your doctor's office until the flu
season was over . . . well, by then, you passed up
those "normal yearly shots" and, because you survived
without 'em, you now say, "No, thank you."

:shrug:

According to the local conservatives, all the vaccine has been purchased by the government and will be rationed.

Wonder where they go that?

I'm extra super duper safe.

tofu-flu. Or toflu as I like to call it.

:rofl: toflu

Count me in!

I might get 2 just to be safe!

I'll leave it for those who likely need it more.

I'm in good health, and there's a finite supply of the stuff.

And so far the Swine Flu doesn't seem much different than the others.

I'm not sure about children though.

safety of annual seasonal flu vaccines (except the anti-vaccine crowd, who I ignore), and this is just another variety.

It's not the 1970's. Medical progress DOES occur.

The people who don't get the vaccine will, of course, be screaming the loudest when they or their families are harmed by H1N1. But they won't give a damn about anyone they pass it ON to who is harmed. Just watch.

and I'm not in any priority group, so I don't expect to have the opportunity to take it. I'm not concerned. I never got the regular flu shot, but everybody around me did so I had protection via herd immunity.

If it gets bad, things will just shut down. I'm always prepared in the winter for a blizzard, so this will not be much different.

And I had a cousin who died after taking the first swine flu shots, decades ago.

This article explains why people born pre-1957 are perhaps less likely to get it:

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090520/swine-flu-less-severe-over-50s

so, no, I wont get it.

on a number of points.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713212231.htm

ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) — A new, highly detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that the pathogen is more virulent than previously thought.

Writing in a fast-tracked report published July 13, 2009 in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers led by UW-Madison virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka provides a detailed portrait of the pandemic virus and its pathogenic qualities....

....There are likely other similarities to the 1918 virus, says Kawaoka, as the study also showed that people born before 1918 harbor antibodies that protect against the new H1N1 virus....

...The new Nature report also assessed the immune response of different groups to the new virus. The most intriguing finding, according to Kawaoka, is that those people exposed to the 1918 virus, all of whom are now in advanced old age, have antibodies that neutralize the H1N1 virus. "The people who have high antibody titers are the people born before 1918," he notes.

don't know what to believe -- we'll just have to keep informed.

But I am grateful to all those who ARE willing to donate their bodies to Science.

as any other vaccine right now? The US has several centers, starting with Vanderbilt University Hospital.

Would that be testing WITH the various adjuvants or without them?

They have already admitted that "SOME of the vaccines" will be mercury-free. What about the rest?

They have already admitted that if they run low on vaccine, they will have to stretch supplies by adding adjuvants.

Which adjuvant will they use in YOUR shot? Squalene? Aluminum? Formaldehyde? Which, if any, will they use in their "tests"?

Sounds like a crap shoot to me - depending on which variation of the vaccine & which maker's vaccine is being doled out.

Sorry. You be the guinea pig.

the same rigorous testing flu vaccines do each year, don't you?

The only time I get the flu is when I get a vaccination...And, I'm SICK OF IT.

Flu vaccines are an 18th century concept that fills patients with god knows what.

There must be a better way than injecting ourselves with viruses.

Using vitamins would be a better way to build up your immune system.

But, the pharmaceutical industry can't own vitamins. So, they are always trying to shoot them down.

anti-vaccination is anti-common sense.

Bring out your dead

This is not very high.

According to death registration statistics in my city, the number of deaths principally caused by influenza each year from 2002 to 2006 ranged between 0 and 26 (0 in 2002, 7 in 2003, 19 in 2004, 26 in 2005 and 8 in 2006).

and corn. And tornadoes.

I mean really. If the only way you actually know you have it is by getting tested for it, how bad could it possibly be? People have been screeching 'doom and gloom' about the swine flu, but all of their apocalyptic fantasies have failed to play out. I'm just not worried about it.

since we have a child....

I always get the seasonal shot. Plus I'm planning on traveling to Mexico around the holidays.

I've talked to my docs about it. I'd never hesitate to try a new vaccine.

I already have a compromised immune system due to auto-immune disease. Too many drugs I have been on for treatment were later recalled or have class action lawsuits pending due to "complications". I believe my body has been test ground for enough medical disasters already.

I have lots of breathing issues. It depends on what my doctors recommend and my gut feeling. I don't know what I'm gonna do but I'm not real comfortable about what I'm hearing.

Sid

...

I had 2 flu shots and I'm pretty sure they were just a waste of money.

who has asthma.

has had Type I since she was six and her endo was adamant she not receive either that HPV or varicella vaccines as there were additional risks associated with those vaccines for immuno-compromised patients. She has not received her flu shot the past two years, but that was her choice after discussing it with her general practitioner...one of the disadvantages of them turning 18.

too if that is what is recommended.

I had the flu once and was hospitalized for it

I go back and forth to Mexico a lot. I travel by bus quite a bit and am around lots of people coming and going from lots of places.

NO NO NO

You do realize even if you get the Vaccine it doesn't guarantee you will not get swine flu

I just recently took the Whooping cough vaccine Pertussis vacine
because I may have come in contact with children with pertussis

After I got the vaccine and I was exposed to a child with pertussis
the head Doctor of Infection Control informed me the vaccination may not have covered me

I was placed on antibiotics for two weeks

the reason given is that the vaccines are not always effective

this is with well established Pertussis
So those who get the vaccine
just know you could still get Swine flu

on retreating to a small room and surround myself with huge pyres burning a myriad of herbs, spices, and incense. Maybe invest in one of those plague doctor beak masks.

Sounds like a plan, right?

In all seriousness, though, I wouldn't fall in the very young or very old age group that would warrant the shot. But who knows what will happen in a month or two?

I have a predisposition to getting pneumonia due to viral infections (due to my asthma). This fuckin' flu strain sounds like the kind of thing that will eventually get me....

The flu became pneumonia, I missed two full weeks of work, and I cracked at least one rib coughing. Can't remember when I felt so bad. I'm getting vaccinated against seasonal flu, swine flu, tri-colored beagle flu, whatever they're vaccinating against! Point me towards the needle!

So if it is available through my doctor, I will get the shot.

If you get pneumonia frequently (I did three years in a row) then the doctor can give you a preventative pneumonia shot that they normally give to just older folks and there is a booster for it something like every seven or ten years.

And this is a new one since my last pneumonia, so he would not think of it. Frankly, the last time I saw my doctor, he was treating me for an infection so it was not a good time for a vaccine even if we'd thought about it.

My old doctor mentioned it when he treated me for pneumonia but the later times he saw me before he retired, he was treating me for other stuff.

All those Astroturfers shouldn't get one... since they don't like/want government involvement in their health care :)

I'd rather home quarantine if it gets that bad.

never expect I will

At least not until I've seen what effects it may or may not have, and that will surely take at least a year for the news to come out. So I'll take my chances this first year, and then if all seems well, I'll probably get it next year. But lots and lots of new "wonder drugs" and treatments are rushed to market and later turn out to be dangerous, so as a rule I don't trust new-on-the-market pharmaceuticals.

One thing for certain- it's going to be a very interesting flu season in the Northern Hemisphere.

nt

I well remember the 1976 debacle. I think I'll take my chances.

And have never gotten the flu during those flu-seasons.

Frankly, I can't remember the last time I had the flu.

I'm not too keen on the whole vaccine thing either.

Folks should look into vaccines, its not always what they think it is.

Since it sounds like there may not be enough of the vaccine to go around I prefer those that are at high risk should get the shot first.

caught a mild case of the flu about 10 years ago. I don't like needles and avoid them whenever possible.

... and I'm on my company's "pandemic response plannning" team.

I'll probably be the only one who isn't sick one way or another, come January.

Based upon responses to this thread.

Probably 60% NO

Another 25% YES

Remaining 15% MAYBE

Also interesting that many who have seen many flu scares aren't moved to get this vaccine.

The problem is the industry that cries wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf! with great regularity to sell its products.

I can't remember the last time I've been sick, and I'm sure there are others who need it much more than I do.

In the unlikely event I choose to take it, I'm glad my company offers free flu shots to employees and their family members.