Comments on: To Vaccinate for the Flu, or Not?

By: Tammy

Tammy — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:25:01 +0000

I am a nurse and after alot of thought decided to get both my children vaccinated due to their “respiratory” issues (a cold normally turns into having to give breathing treatments)
BUT before giving them anything I got the shot myself. I would never give them something so new without getting it myself. I have an AWESOME pediatrician and I run everything by him. We got it and so far so good.

I work in an OB/GYN office and we even vaccinated our pregnant patients with the preservative free vaccine.

By: Christie G

Christie G — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:18:38 +0000

I was in the… I am going to take my chances group (esp. since I lost my job & insurance at beginning of October) but I have heard about that decision from both of my parents. To their relief the local school district, which my son attends, offered the H1N1 at no charge for students. He was vaccinated today. I am still hearing it from my parents about my 16 month old and myself but…I haven’t decided. Maybe I will call the pedi this week. Adriana, sorry to hear about your friend. Your story (and others like it) is exactly why my parents are on my case, they say that just because I have not been sick in the past and the kids don’t have med complications we could get it and it could be devastating. Good luck with your decision.

By: Adriana

Adriana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:46:24 +0000

I was in actually in the very small group of nah we never get the flu. But I recently had 1 friend die from complications of the H1N1 and another friend who is still in the hospital with complications from H1N1, and her 18mos is also hospitalized. The one who died left behind her husband, 3 kids, and many many many friends. She never got the flu vaccine so she didn’t think she’d need the H1N1 vaccine either… and now she’s gone. And now I’m conflicted in this whole thing….

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:56:24 +0000

Claire commented “Headaches, fever, diarrhea, and nausea are the common issues, and all treatable with Tylenol, Advil, or Peptobismol”.

Pepto contains Salicylates, which can lead to the development of Reyes Syndrome. We have all heard about the danger of aspirin and kids, but this was the first time I had ever heard about Pepto.

http://www.reyessyndrome.org/pdfs/nonrxprintable.pdf

By: Imtiyaaz

Imtiyaaz — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:39:38 +0000

I am not vaccinating myself and my husband isn’t getting vaccinated either. My baby is too young for the flu shots, so of course she is not getting vaccinated. The H1N1 shot is too new, and they barely tested it before they started using it…we are being used as guinea pigs, IMHO. I refuse to get either shot because of doctors admitting themselves that the shots could actually make you sick. I’d rather take my normal precautions…good hygiene, an environment as germless as possible, and staying away from those we know are sick. If we get it, we get it. But we can protect ourselves without putting extra stuff into our bodies.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:00:02 +0000

I am a school nurse and in our district I can tell you that on average we are at less than 10% absenteeism per school…which is higher than normal for this time of year and the majority of the the reason for being gone is flu-like symptoms. We have yet to see any serious problems with kids at our district, but the fevers are harder to get down and time out of school for kids and parents can be up to 10 days.
I can honestly say that I have never got the flu vaccination myself until this year. My office is very small at the school I am at the most, and the last 2 years I have been sick…and after 10 years of doing this job and never ever being sick…I didn’t want to risk it. So, as a health care provider I did vaccinate myself and kids. My two sons have allergies that sometimes become respiratory, so that is what prompted me to vaccinate. I then can tell you after making that decision, my oldest son got sick on a Friday and was incredibly ill for 3 days and the 5th day was the scheduled H1N1 vaccination. We went ahead with them on that Tuesday and no one else got sick….coincidence? Who knows, but as of right now everyone is healthy and no missed school or work. It has really impacted some as far a missed work and school, depending on how many household members get effected. The question you should have is…are there any health conditions that could make you compromised and how long can you afford to be out of work or school?
Stay Healthy

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:17:34 +0000

we currently have the flu going in the house, so I guess my answer would not matter. however, I should note that since my kids would not have been fully vaccinated until the second round, about late Nov, it would have been a waste of time. I did not feel the need because although my kids may get the flu, no one in the family is at high risk of complications. Do I regret my choice – nah. They may be out of school and activities for the week, but they are not running symptoms that require a dr visit or trip to the hospital. Headaches, fever, diarrhea, and nausea are the common issues, and all treatable with Tylenol, Advil, or Peptobismol.

By: tammy

tammy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:11:29 +0000

we are not vaccinating. first there is not enough of either the reg or h1n1 in our area to get them and our family has never gotten the flu shots in the past. i am concerned that the shot is so new and i also feel that if they get it then the will build a resitance to it. I am however watching them very carefully and if i feel they are having severe symptoms i will get help asap. so far we have not seen the h1n1 in our home. but it is going through the school like fire.

stay well

By: DW

DW — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:25:12 +0000

I am in the “no way, no how” camp.
We have never gotten a shot for the flu. I see no reason yet to change that stance for us.

If we get sick that will suck. But life goes on.

By: Christie

Christie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:21:12 +0000

I’m in the “hell no” group. Like you, we have had the swine flu already, and it wasn’t that bad. We felt bad for a few days, ran a high fever, and then were fine. I’ve had sinus infections that were worse.

I wasn’t planning to have the vaccine even before we went “piggy” – I think we don’t know enough about it, there haven’t been any long term studies, and I prefer to pump my family full of chemicals from Diet Coke and high fructose corn syrup!

Christie