How many have had/are getting children the H1N1 vaccine? I am so on the fence about this. I feel guilty either way.
I'm so scared if I don't get it for them, they will get really sick. I also fear that they may have a reaction to the vaccine. Is this vaccine really safe?
We don't usually get yearly flu vaccines, but I have read such horror stories of what can happen if you get H1N1.
I only had my children vaccinated for flu when they were babies/toddlers.

No way am I getting it! However I have healthy kids with no underlying health issues. Im not a vaccine person. My neice had a reaction to childhood vaccines so now our family is very wary of them. I do know this is a personal decision though and you have to do whats best for you. Check out dr mercolas site as he talks about the H1N1 virus. HTH!

I am not getting it for myself or my dc.
We don't vaccinate after my dd had a vaccine related injury which almost caused her to die and did require a liver transplant. So I may be biased but after seeing your two year old almost die it really changes you and makes you question things you might never have questioned had that not happened. I get pretty upset when folks say vaccines are safe. Because there are millions of children and adults who are proof that they are far from safe. I am truly disturbed that they are trying to push this on pregnant woman not knowing what types of defects it can cause to their babies.

That being said though, I do think it's a personal choice.
I will add that I think the scare tactics being used to force this untested vaccine are horrible.
I would encourage anyone to read up on the swine flu here: http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx
The report by CBS there is really interesting.

I do not mean to be on a soap box and I apologize for doing so.
Best wishes to you,
Melissa

This post was edited on Nov 06, 2009 11:08 AM

I'm right there with ya. Not only because I have younger kids (which is who is being hit with this flu more than the older generation) but b/c I am pregnant (plus I have one child in public school...she's a high schooler though, I would be more concerned if I had an elementary schooler in public school).
I talked with my Dad and he said that we were vaccinated in the 70's for the swine flu that went around then....and he was hesitant about us getting it then for the same reasons we have now, the only reason he made us get it was b/c there was an illness going around in Philly that at the time they thought was the swine flu (many people died from it). Ended up being legionairres (sp?) disease. My Dad has also been questioning his therapists and Drs.(he goes for physical therapy and other Dr. appt. each week), and he is getting mixed responses from them as well. One PT has a pregnant wife and 2 children (one is in public school-K) and he says they will not be getting it...also, the hospitals are not forcing their workers to get it. So that's telling me that it may not be as dangerous as the governement is making it sound. If you watch the newsreport below, I agree with what they say....they think the government is really just trying to cover their bases and be prepared.

Here is a news report about the vaccine from CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5237185n

They also say it is a personal decision, but they do sound like they don't think it being given out by the school nurses is a good idea. I kind of agree too....in our area we just had an article in the newspaper saying that our local school had to throw out about 6,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine b/c they didn't store it properly. So, I'm not confident about getting it from them should we decide to get it.
I really wish we could get a blood test done to see if we either a) have already had it or b) have an immunity from it b/c of the 70's vaccine. I went in for an OB visit and the Dr. was talking to me about my bloodwork and one thing he rambled off about was that I had an immunity to measles....so my thinking is can they tell me if I am immune to swine flu?

Anyway, I'm on the fence about it too.....it's such a hard decision to make, sometimes I really hate being a parent.

Beth

Thanks for your responses. I most likely will not vaccinate for this, since we do not usually do flu vaccines. We are not in any high risk groups. I agree, as a parent, it is such a difficult decision to make for your children. I have been leaning mostly toward not getting them, but with all the hype I can't get rid of that little voice that keeps saying "what if..."

Such a hard decision. I was so on the fence too. All three of my boys got it this week. It was pretty bad!! The aches, cough and fever were yucky!! However, they did get over it in two days and are back to normal with a cough still! However, I would feel terrible if they had gotten worse - luckily I couldn't have gotten them vaccinated anyway, but am so glad that it wasn't worse.

I am going more and more natural and trying not to do much 'medical'...so still not sure what I will/would do!!

We were all vaccinated just this week.

My husband, me, and the baby got the shot.

My 3 other kids got the mist.


No problems. :)


I'm very glad we did it...due to some very personal reasons.

For us, I was not concerned about the immediate result post vaccine. It took 6 weeks for my dd to have full liver failure from her vaccine injury.
With this H1N1, I'm more thinking years down the line, what will they find this has caused since it's not been tested before being given to human subjects.
I of course pray that nothing negative comes of it for anyone.

Best wishes to all and good health of course!

This post was edited on Nov 06, 2009 09:38 PM