H1N1 virus – To vaccinate or not vaccinate: that is the question
With so much controversy over the H1N1 vaccine, how do you know if you and your kids should get it? Here are some online resources that offer valid information and tips on websites that you should avoid, so you can make an informed decision for you and your family.
Photo by El Alvi
I’ve heard a lot of rumours flying around in regards to the H1N1 vaccine. It’s safe. It’s dangerous. The vaccine contains formaldehyde and mercury. If less than 80% of the population receives the H1N1 vaccine, the virus will mutate rendering the vaccine useless. The swine flu kills healthy people. H1N1 doesn’t kill people who are healthy…I could go on, but I’m sure by now you’re nodding your head in recognition to these claims. So, how the heck do you know what’s fact and what is complete bollocks? If the prospect of my family getting the swine flu isn’t scary enough, now I get to lay awake at night wondering if I’m making the right choice of not having my family get vaccinated (that’s right, I said not), or if I should take the risk of my future grandchildren being born with 3 eyeballs because I had my son vaccinated without there being enough research done beforehand.
To help you get real information and sift through the massive amounts of hearsay, here are some online resources that are reliable, ones that you should probably avoid like the plague, and tips on what to look for to help determine if the information on a website can be trusted.
Helpful and Reliable Online Resources
Public Health Agency of Canada – Here you will find an abundance of information, including info for specific groups of people, such as pregnant women, First Nations, and people with chronic health conditions. This site offers you valuable facts about the H1N1 vaccine, including the benefits, risks and even a “myth busting” section. What does the Public Health Agency of Canada say about mercury being an ingredient in the vaccine? “Thimerosal is a form of mercury used in the H1N1 flu vaccine to stabilize it and maintain its quality during storage. Thimerosal is a different form of mercury than the mercury known to cause health problems. The amount in flu vaccines is much less than the daily limit recommended – for example a can of tuna fish has more mercury than the thimerosal in the H1N1 flu vaccine.” So, now I can cross that concern off my list.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – This website offers some PDF vaccine fact sheets, a Q&A section on the H1N1 vaccine, vaccination information for specific groups, and more. One rumour that’s been going around is that getting the seasonal flu shot can increase your chances of getting the H1N1 virus. CDC says otherwise, “CDC has reviewed data from studies done in the United States, and these studies along with a published study from Australia found that receipt of seasonal influenza vaccine neither increased nor decreased the risk of getting 2009 H1N1 influenza. In contrast, a small published study from Mexico found that seasonal vaccine provided some protection against 2009 H1N1. There has been recent media coverage about research conducted in Canada that suggests getting a season flu vaccination increases a person’s chances for becoming infected with the 2009 H1N1 flu virus. No other country has reported that seasonal vaccine has any positive or negative effect on the risk of getting 2009 H1N1 influenza. CDC is continuing to review the data as it becomes available.”
World Health Organization (WHO) – I find this website isn’t as user friendly as the first two I’ve listed, but the information is very reliable and helpful.
Unreliable Resources
You shouldn’t immediately trust information you find on personal websites, blogs or web forums. Before I get attacked by people who have such websites, I’m not saying all these resources contain false information, simply that people shouldn’t assume that the information on all such sites is correct. Put it this way – anyone can have a blog and call themselves a doctor, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. If you read up on H1N1 info from one of these places, simply visit a trusted resource – like the three mentioned above – and run a search within that site for what you’re interested in.
Additional Tips
Another thing to keep in mind is to check the date of the documents/articles you’re reading. Something that may have been a concern a few months ago could have been proven false since then, making the article you’re reading inaccurate. If there isn’t an obvious date at the beginning of the article, check the bottom of the webpage for a “last updated” date.
Look to see what the website’s domain name is to know if the information is coming from a government website, educational website, etc. Here’s a brief description of some common domain names:
.ca – Canadian websites
.com – Commercial website
.edu – Educational websites
.gov – Government website
.org – Organization website, often non-profit
My husband and I have decided not to get our family vaccinated. I believe that proper nutrition, exercise, sleep, and hand washing is an effective means to preventing the swine flu for most people who are not considered high risk.
What do you think? Will you and your family be getting vaccinated?
Betty is right on the money.
I have never had a Flu shot, I am 47 years old and have not had the flu since I was a child under 12.
There are Criminal charges pending against a Pharma somewhere I forget where for, are you all ready for this….Deliberately Putting some form of live dangerous flu into a vaccine in an effort to make people sick and fuel the fire.
I do not know at this time if it is legit.
But I do know “Pharm Can Not Be Trusted” all they care about is Money.
Chris.
Canada.
Wow…I’ve read every comment very carefully. Several things have become painfully obvious…
1. Both sides of this debate have very valid points.
2. I’m going to question and feel guilty about any decision I make(most especially for my children).
3. I’m as confused as ever.
4. I feel, although not inflicted with this disease, that it has already defeated me. As a mother of 3, I go to great lengths to ensure the safety of my children. We have an alarm on our home. They have a cell phone that they take to the park in case of an emergency. We don’t go anywhere without hand sanitizer. The list goes on… How do I protect them from a danger that we can’t even see?
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?? No matter what I decide, I may be putting my children at risk.
Unfortunately, as I am so totally confused and bewildered I’ll most likely do what most people do when they’re confused and bewildered… absolutely nothing.
Well, that’s not exactly true, I’ll pray that God will protect my family when I can’t(whether it’s from a disease or the vaccine for it.)
No matter what you decide, I suggest copious amounts of prayer(& apparently, hot liquids.)
I will not be vaccinating myself or my family. I also believe that a healthy immune system will aid in the prevention. I am not against vaccines-both my children were vaccinated for “the 3 M’s”. However, neither were given the Hep B at school, nor was my daughter given the Gardasil.
I have given my thirteen year old the choice and he has decided not to. If any of us get sick, we will stay out of the population until we are no longer contagious. My children are well versed in the methods to contain the spread of germs and the ways in which they can minimize the risk of catching the flu.
I am always leery when drugs and vaccines are fast tracked. I would prefer a longer trial and better information containing possible side effects etc. I truly know that the flu will harm more people than the vaccine, however, this is a short term outlook. There is no time for a study to determine long term effects (see polio vaccine).
To those who would suggest that we should pay for our own health care if we get ill;
Perhaps, standing in your own glass house where you obviously do not smoke, drink, use drugs, fertilizers, or cleaning products; where you do not speed and go to the gym everyday to remain healthy after eating your organically grown food in your junk food free home; Perhaps you should not have cast that stone at all.
I’ve read all of these comments for and against and still have nothing concrete to base my decision on. My children were not vaccinated as babies. My neice has autism and seemed to develop it shortly after her 18 month vaccinations. The pharmaceutical companies do lobby the politicians, they fund medical schools, they make sure that our doctors are brain washed with propoganda. I have personally spoken with more than three medical doctors who will not get their children vaccinated (for anything). Then there are the many many chiropractors who are educated in health services and will not vaccinate.
Vaccinations frighten me. The risk of not vaccinating frightens me but to rush out and inject a foreign substance into my and my children’s bodies because it might help is ridiculous. The establishment has admitted that there is no hard and fast evidence that the vaccines will prevent any illness and have even admitted that there are risks with vaccines for some people. What if I am one of those “some people”? Why then am I going to take the chance that 1 – the vaccine could kill my children or 2 – if they survive the vaccine they could then get the illness and die anyway. There are no guarantees, only risks, we each have to take our own educated guesses and not be made to feel guilty for making the choice that we make. The medical establishment is not infallible and will never admit that what they have been preaching for years might be wrong. Just look at the potential for law suits. Even if they knew that vaccines were harmful, how the *&^% could they admit it now? How could the government? Just food for thought.
Most folks are too young to have experienced the scourge of polio and iron lungs used to keep those infected alive. Polio has almost been eradicated through the use of vaccines. For you folks that think that you will dodge the H1N1 bullet because you are still alive and have avoided taking your medicine so far, well think again because you may be alive because the other 90% of the population has been vaccinated. In the case of H1N1 you may not be so lucky. And let’s just suppose you do survive a bout of H1N1 but pass the virus on to a loved one with a compromised immune system, hooray for you and too bad for them.
Your individual sense of self importance is unimportant to me, but think twice as someone else’s life is nothing to sneeze at.
Bill i would love to know how you prove that polio was eliminated by the vaccine when a personal friend of mine got polio FROM the vaccine. The green monkey virus that contaminated the polio vaccine was only one stop short of aids which we now have all over the world. Don’t trust vaccines or the governments that promote them when such huge amounts of money are involved.
I agree with much that you say – people have forgotten how bad it was for many many years before vaccinations and those not vaccinated have received the benefits from those that were. Less disease to be transmitted. With so many people choosing not to vaccinate recently are we surprised that many of these diseases are on the rise?
It is also important to note that we also have much better access to naturalpathic and homeopathic practices now than we had in years past. I think a cooperative approach between western medicine and natural medicine can be acheived. I work with both my western physician and naturopath to my greater benefit.
Well, I see a lot of talk about very strong immune systems from what I perceive as “somewhat” older people out there whom the media, their dark evil conspiracy theorists, have said that they are relatively unaffected compared to younger people with different immune system experiences and the very young who seem to be dying in Mexico, Canada and USA sometimes even when having no other health issues like the 9/10 year old in Eastern Ontario. That hits a little close to home for me to risk it when my children are around that age. All of you brave souls that think that this is simply another easy flu, you can roll the dice. Hey, maybe those kids didn’t wash their hands that day or didn’t eat their apples the last week but, as someone commented, we cannot rely on other to clean themselves in washrooms or sneeze into their sleeves so I, as a betting man, would vaccinate those under 45 because of that crazy media. All of you super helthy rogue, independent, frontier attitude cowboys/cowgirls may pass along enough of this one to make it all the worse. When healthy young people are starting to DIE, I start to pay attention. I will save my conspiracy thoeries for the bankers and central banks on the false illusion of our economy not having a recession and recovery around the corner rather than risk a life of a younger, healthier person with a different immunity make-up. I truly hope that we can respect some of the doctors here who took the time to get their 7 year degrees in these cases and listen instead of attacking as email is a very imperfect communication tool. We all have choice in this great country, we’re all in this together and we simply need to continue to take precautions for the greater good. If you feel a throat tickle and a touch of fever, work from home – don’t be a hero. No one needs you that much at work!
I find it pretty disrespectful for so many to be calling this a scheme by government/doctors/big drug companies, using fear tactics to scare people into thinking that this whole H1N1 thing is dangerous.
Wake up. People are dying, lots of people. A 10 year old, otherwise healthy, girl just died in Ottawa. This thing isn’t just a silly promotion of fear, it’s real and it’s a killer.
If you don’t want to get the vaccination, fine… but show a little respect for those who have died from this very real killer.
Come on Scott more people have died of the seasonal flu in both New Zealand and Australia – both of which are coming out of the flu season now. What’s to respect about companies making billions off fear mongering?
Different death population! H1N1 deaths are often in young otherwise healthy individual as well as those with underlying medical conditions. Regular seasonal flu takes the very young, very old and unhealthy. There are strong, healthy, teens in intensive care units at deaths door in all countries with H1N1. Most of us who get this will just be very ill – but the death population is very different because of the immune system response – especially strong immune systems. This is not a simple flu it is a combination of flu types and therefore complicates the immunes response – sometimes causing it to over respond which causes other compications – not your normal flu.
Come on Tom – We all know that people die from the seasonal flu every year. The main difference between the seasonal flu and H1N1 is that H1N1 is killing otherwise healthy people. The seasonal flu generally kills the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and the very young. I’m just happy that a vaccine has been developed as I know that a vaccine is ultimately the best protection against the spread of a pandemic.
Talk to someone who works at a hospital, and sees people infected with H1N1 coming in every day. Ask them how their past few days have been. I know someone who works at the hospital where that 10 year old girl died. Because she was a healthy young girl and there are long lines of kids like her waiting to be seen, the people at that hospital are very scared. That’s where my fear comes from, real stories of otherwise healthy people dying from this flu, not from what I’m being told from government and the big drug companies.
If you are too blind to see that, fine, keep beating your ‘fear mongering’ drum.
So Scott are you saying that just because its affecting healthy young people its that much worse. My son has cancer and is currenlty being treated, he has a compromised immune system. Does that mean he’s expendable? He had a pre-existing health condition so its OK for him to die like the seniors? What is wrong with you people. I appreciate that people are concerned that young healthy people are succumbing to this illness however, they are NOT any more important than my son.
Folks
I have worked in public health for 24 years…studied it, worked in service delivery and now teach it. The concerns expressed about vaccination and fear about the issues surrounding H1N1 are totally valid but I believe have emerged because us as health care providers have not taken the time to explain this Novel virus (actually what it is), why the fear, and why the rush.
People are skeptical (how do you spell that word?) which is totally understandable given the confusing mess of contradictory information that has been spooned out to the general public.
While I applaud all of your efforts to attempt to maintain your own health and the health of your family, I truly believe that this virus is now “out there” and circulating amongst the general population. Only last week I recommended 3 perfectly previously health young nursing students go to the ER for additional care due to a worsening of their influenza symptoms. Frankly, it scare the H%*!! out of me b/c in my career I have NEVER seen the concern, fear and anxiety in the system like we have now.
While we may believe we are invincible, we can learn from the past. The Spanish flu killed 50-100 million people at the end of WW1. A contributing factor was the fact that the press (and governments) did NOT want to tell people waiting for the return of their loved ones from war that after their son survived battle – he was killed by a bug. Only the Spanish press were brave enough and stubborn enough to “get the word out”. Despite that 50 – 100 million healthy, well nourished, breathing wholesome kind of air, folks died.
Every year in Canada 4000 people die of influenza A but they are old, often in nursing homes and people we don’t get bent out of shape with their deaths b/c they are elderly. 20,000 people are hospitalized… and this with a influenza strain we understand, watch, and tweek the vaccine every year.
Today, we are dealing with a complex virus… one that has NEVER been seen before (and trust me, public health folks love to study this stuff)…Viruses are smarter than humans… and this one has every expert in the field stumped & up at night thinking about the “what ifs”…No the public health people are not Perfect. No they can’t hand you a magic pill. No GlaxcoSmithCline are not our saviours but rather a pharmaceutical industry feeding off circumstance BUT all that put aside… just how many people do you think this flu will kill?
4,000 people die from an influenza bug we keep out of the general population… with a decent (not perfect) vaccine
Only God knows (and he isn’t sure) how many people will die when faced with an influenza virus NEVER seen before with no reliable vaccine or treatment. The vaccine will not prevent the influenza but it might give you enough immunity so that you do not end up on a ventilator. You might be able to get to your family doctor for anti-virals but if most Canadians have their usual experience (yes we can fit you in 3 weeks from Sunday) you will not get them soon enough to make a difference.
For once I pray I am wrong… but in the meantime, I am going to encourage anyone I know to get vaccinated, avoid crowds, stay home when you are sick but if you have fever/cough – get antivirals, eat well, take your cold fx, cover your cough, wash your hands like a dental hygienist and keep your fingers crossed.
Good luck…we watch and wait…
Excellent!!!
I am a 58 year old cabby who transports sick people daily to and from area hospitals and other pick up locations such as hotels, airports etc. People are always coughing, sneezing etc in the cab. We are, by profession in constant contact with virus’s and so are every passenger we pick up as the cab cannot be sterilized after every trip and we are always handling money back and forth. There is a risk being in a closed space such as a cab with a serious virus floating around. I think I will get the shot just to be safe, or safer hopefully.
I have been reading all these comments and everyone’s opinion on the the H1N1 flu and well until you get it all of you’s have no idea exactly how your body will react to the virus. As for myself well I’m just getting over it and it is horrible. I stayed home from work and my family as much as I could to protect them. They are all healthy and doing fine. I’m not going to make my kids get a flu shot or the rest of my family because I feel the vaccine has been “fast tracked” and not enough research has been done.
It is a sad day we live in where doctors forget the roots of their medicine. All they had back in the day was herbs and remedies to use and they did work. Not to say that they worked all the time but they did work alot of the time. I fully believe that some drugs do have a place and are definately needed but so are natural remedies. But thanks to big pharma pushing their drugs/vaccines, people seem to forget where they started from.
As a parent, you are torn between the medical profession and yourself wondering if you are doing right by vaccinating your child or not vaccinating. I grew up in an era (70′s) where you were told by the medical profession that vaccines are 100% effective/safe and you need them. If they are so effective then why do I no longer have antibodies to MMR? I babysat a girl in the 80′s whose mother was a nurse. She vaccinated her kids without question. This girl got the measles not once but twice (age 5&6). If the vaccines are so effective then why did she get the measles at all?
I started out vaccinating my children as I thought I was being a “good mother” by doing so. Both my kids as infants had adverse reactions to them so I stopped and haven’t looked back since. I know in my heart it was the right decision for my kids. I can only wonder and imagine what could have happened to them if I continued. What did happen to them was bad enough; high fevers, high pitched screaming for hours (which they did not do before), projectile vomiting, rash, vegetable like status for days and the list goes on. I had the same reactions to vaccines as an infant. Remember: You can always choose vaccinate but you can never take it back once the damage is done. Just ask the countless parents of vaccine damaged children if they knew then what they know now would they have vaccinated? If vaccines were truly safe and effective I think far more people would choose to do it. But we know they aren’t safe so we don’t.
The only reason that drug compaines don’t like natural remedies is because they know that they do work and it is taking money away from them. They make more money off of you when you are sick than if you are healthy.
Doctors and us as a society, have been brainwashed by drug companies into thinking that vaccines are the only way to go for so long that people don’t know enough about them. I truly believe that there was a right intention in making vaccines to save lives but somewhere along the line they lost that passion and now it is all about making money. I believe that they (pharmaceutical companies) know their vaccines aren’t effective or safe but because they have been pushing them as effective and safe for so many years they don’t know how to, or want to come clean. Can you imagine the law suits against them and the government? They would go bankrupt! They know this and I think it’s one of the biggest reasons why no one in the industry is willing to admit they really don’t work and are not safe.
Why should we as a society believe anything that a drug company says about a product they sell? They are only looking out for number one and it isn’t you and me! There comes a point in time when we need to start asking questions and doing our own research into such things rather than just listen and believe them. I for one would like to know why they put such chemicals into their vaccines? Why do they grow them in an animal medium (chick embryos, monkey kidneys etc) where there is high potential for cross contamination? The list goes on.
At the time vaccines came about living conditions were already improving like sanitation, drinking water and nutrition. Everytime these get better the list of diseases gets smaller. It is a proven fact. Third world countries still have these horrible diseases, which vaccines claim to eradicate running rampant because of poor sanitation, drinking water and nutrition.
I would just like to say to those of you that do vaccinate why are you so afraid of and angry at the ones that don’t? If vaccines are so effective you have nothing to worry about. You’re not going to “catch” anything from the ones who choose not to. Is it possible there is doubt in your minds about the effectiveness of vaccines?
Homeopathy has evolved over the years and there are very effective remedies now than there were years ago. I wish that doctors, homeopaths and chiropractors could all work together. We would have the best health care system in the world if they did!
One word, Thalidomide.
Any time any sort of health related anything is rushed to market I can only ask, what did they miss?
There’s a great article on Wired on this whole debate: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/all/1
Some key excertps: Before smallpox was eradicated with a vaccine, it killed an estimated 500 million people. And just 60 years ago, polio paralyzed 16,000 Americans every year, while rubella caused birth defects and mental retardation in as many as 20,000 newborns. Measles infected 4 million children, killing 3,000 annually, and a bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae type b caused Hib meningitis in more than 15,000 children, leaving many with permanent brain damage. Infant mortality and abbreviated life spans — now regarded as a third world problem — were a first world reality.
Still, despite peer-reviewed evidence, many parents ignore the math and agonize about whether to vaccinate. Why? For starters, the human brain has a natural tendency to pattern-match — to ignore the old dictum “correlation does not imply causation” and stubbornly persist in associating proximate phenomena. If two things coexist, the brain often tells us, they must be related. Some parents of autistic children noticed that their child’s condition began to appear shortly after a vaccination. The conclusion: “The vaccine must have caused the autism.” Sounds reasonable, even though, as many scientists have noted, it has long been known that autism and other neurological impairments often become evident at or around the age of 18 to 24 months, which just happens to be the same time children receive multiple vaccinations. Correlation, perhaps. But not causation, as studies have shown.
Really…. in that case, why does the Nat’l Autism Association have this on their website:
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/thimerosal.php
I think the link is quite clear, and supported by countless studies in Europe and Australia.
I had the ‘Hong Kong Flu’ in the early 70′s. I’m positive I only survived because I was young and healthy(18). With a fever of 105/106, nose bleeds and not being able to move, I was turned away from every hospital as they were ‘FULL’. Quite a few people died in Canada as a result of that flu, 3 in my area, one being a 7 year old boy. It’s the ONLY flu I’ve ever had in my life and after that eposode, I got my yearly flu vaccination for my entire family with NO side effects….ever..
Now, as grown adults, my children think exactly like the majority of you. They are NOT getting themselves OR their children vaccinated. Their children are constantly sick with colds they pick up at school. No sooner does one get over it, the next one brings it home.
I’ve already had my seasonal flu vaccine last week and I will be in the line-up on Oct. 27 for my H1N1 vaccination.
cont…
Information on the ‘Hong Kong Flu’ outbreak and the reason I would like to see all my family vaccinated for H1N1..
“The first identification of an H3N2 influenza strain occurred in Hong Kong on July 13 1968, in an outbreak of “Hong Kong Flu”. With outbreaks of the strain reoccurring in 1969, 1970, and 1972, the Hong Kong Flu killed an estimated 1,000,000 people worldwide, not overly severe as these things go (the Spanish Flu, by contrast, is estimated to have killed 50-100 million people worldwide). While the Hong Kong Flu was not as virulent as the Spanish Flu it did pose a major concern for scientists at the time as the H3N2 variant was found to be a mutated descendant of the H2N2 strain, something for which medical professionals were not prepared.”
So Many of you are quick to rip apart this vaccine. People are dying. I am shocked at the lady that thinks that we don’t have some of these horrible disease because we are clean and third world countries arn’t and that is why they still exist there.
People that are getting the flu are ending up in comas, ICU, Paralysis, staph infections, ect. Your risk of getting the above can happen from the shot or the flu itself. Some of the above comments and ‘educated’ opinions are bias and not so educated. I personaly don’t believe in Government and Pharm conspiracy when it comes to the flu shot.
To eaches own!
As long as you are vaccinated, those of us that have decided not to be will be protected, as you and the others have been vaccinated!
I have done alot of research and was an avid with the flu vaccine every year, however something that has been mass produced in as little as 6mths does not make me running to get the vaccine.
No offense, but that logic doesn’t make sense at all. It would only make sense if you were the only person in the world who wasn’t vaccinated and everyone else was. You are NOT protected if you aren’t vaccinated, period. It is possible for these diseases to return, in fact there was an outbreak of polio where I live just a few decades ago. Now that a hundred thousand paranoid moms decided they are smarter than scientists and doctors, they are endangering everyone. My child has SID. He’s also the smartest kid in his class and a joy. We wouldn’t trade his life for his dysfunction, which may or may not have been a side effect of his vaccinations. However, I had to wonder if they contributed, and for that reason, I treated my 2nd child’s vaccination schedule differently. I expressed my concerns with my doctor and she agreed to do a delayed and selective vaccination schedule, allowing the MMR and other combined vaccinations to be delayed until after he was 18 months old, so his brain could be just a little more developed. We also split up the vaccinations so he never got more than 1 at a time. He is now just over 2 and has caught up with the normal schedule and is perfectly healthy and fine. There are ways to be proactive and cautionary without being stubbornly ignorant. My whole family got the H1N1 vaccine today. They have a mercury free brand of the vaccine that they gave my boys just to be on the safe side. Be safe, be informed, but for God’s sake don’t be stupid.
I would also like to add that a very close friend’s aunt just died from swine flu. She was 56. I’m sure she’d gladly risk the side effects and get the vaccination if she could go back, as well as any parent who has lost their child to it.
Reading all this is making me mental!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I have been hearing is “get educated”, “learn the facts” then make an informed decision for you and your family. How the hell I am supposed to make an informed decision when everything I have read on the web has one of these damn blogs that I can’t help but read and that tell me to not believe anything I read. So I am left where I started!!! CONFUSED!!!!!!
I have two daughters ages 7 and 5. I love them more than life itself. I have read over and over how “unsafe” the H1N1 vaccine is and I think, what if it harmed one of my babies. Then I hear about a young “healthy” girl in Ontario, under the age of 11, who dies after being tested positive for H1N1. I try to follow all the rules at home, wash hands constantly, use anti-bacterial soaps and wipes. I’ve been avoiding playdates and coffee dates but I still send my kids to school. What about the schools???? My oldest daughter is one of the most affectionate little girls I have known. She loves hugging her friends when she sees them or holding their hands as they run off to the playground. I feel like the most horrible mother as I try to explain to her over and over that she has to stop. She is only seven and I don’t know how to get her and my five year old to understand the importance of all this without scaring them. My little one seems to always catch everything that is going around. When she was about 9 months old she was diagnosed with a mild case of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). She recovered quicky and was given a clean bill of health. I was not a smoker nor was anyone in our household. She has not had any problems with RVS since then nor any other respiratory problems. My husband was also hospitalized 4 times as a young child with bronchitis. These things worry me because H1N1 hits the respiratory system, and I wonder if my husband and my daughter’s respiratory systems have been somewhat compromised, maybe weaker somehow,(or hopefully stronger) because of these past viruses. (I am waiting to see my doctor this week)
How can we sit here and say that this is ONLY a big ploy by the pharmaceutical companies and the government to get more of the taxpayers money????? Seriously??? What if, this time the government said screw it, you guys are all on your own. If you die from H1N1, oh well, we had nothing to do with it. So then what? When people like…(won’t mention names) start losing “healty” loved ones because of H1N1, who will they blame? Their neighbor for passing the flu over to them who got it from their neighbors, who got it from their neighbors? Maybe if their neighbors were vaccinated they wouldn’t have passed it along at all? Oh wait, but their is no vaccination because the gov’t chose not to give us any options this time. They decided to not back up their countryman. Honestly!! Plain stupidity people! The parents in Ontario, who just lost their daughter to H1N1, are they blaming the government right now for taking their taxpaying dollars over this “sick joke” that the government is falling for? I bet they would pay ANYTHING to have their daughter back in their arms right now!!
I can’t believe people can say they would prefer to die. That is so twisted if you ask me. Death is NOT an acceptable option for anyone. I DO NOT want my children to die(or even Clive for that matter), WITH or WITHOUT this damn vaccine.
I really want to be able to vaccinate my children for H1N1 but from reading all the crap on the internet I am still left confused and quite honestly, scared. I have read that right now Alberta only has the adjuvanted vaccine and the unadjuvanted (no Squalene) will be availabe sometime in November. My neighbor is just getting over H1N1, she said it was like dying and she wasn’t even a severe case. Her oldest daughter also got it but not as bad. Her youngest daughter had not gotten it so she still sent her to school. Her daughter is in my daughter’s kindergarten class. She didn’t have any symptoms but who’s to say she isn’t carrying it and passing it along. H1N1 is supposedly more contagious than seasonal flu. So am I willing to wait until November for the safer vaccine when I know that the virus in in our schools right now? Ugggghhhh!! What the hell to do????
“What the hell to do????” is right! What are we to do? In order to educate ourselves we have to trust that the medical community is providing us with all of the information, good, bad or otherwise. Why shouldn’t we expect that the government with regulations, studies and guidelines)is there to protect us. Has this vaccine been so fast tracked that the studies aren’t there? Or are the negative studies not being published. What are the true risks? So much information and propaganda to digest!
This is really scary, not frightening – SCARY!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I for one cannot take the vaccine however, my husband works with the public and is at extreme risk (he also has underlying health issues) so he will be taking the shot along with the regular flu shot. My children however are like many others here and are unsure what to do for themselves and their own children, especially after my own near fatal reaction to the flu shot.
H1N1 is scaring the hell out of all of us and unfortunately no one has a clear answer.
I too don’t want to die, or have anyone else die from this from this.
I think that we should speak to our individual practioners and make informed choices from there.
Waiting for the safer vaccine seems to be a good choice.
Practice good hygiene, eat well, drink lots of fluids and stay home if you are the slightest bit ill!
Get the vaccination. The risks are extremely low. I had my whole family vaccinated and we are fine. Get the shots not nasal spray, they are safer, and get a mercury free brand if there’s one available in your area. As a parent who has an autism spectrum child, I promise you I wouldn’t trade his condition for his life. Vaccinations protect us from life threatening diseases. H1N1 killed someone I know. I wasn’t really worried about it until then. Now I get it. Its real and its here. If you don’t get vaccinated and then catch the virus, you’ll be wishing like hell you could go back and just get the vaccination.
I too, am confused as to what to do. I’ve read pros and cons about this flu shot and the more I read, the more confused I get.
I have to wonder how safe is this H1N1 flu shot that seems to have been put together quickly? Do scientists know what the long term effects are? I feel this medication has not been studied enough to convince me that it is indeed safe.
Our bodies are amazing and have been fighting off germs long before flu shots.
Still, what to do ??
I have followed with great interest the thoughts of my fellow Canadians.
I am RN and a wife with children and grandchildren. I work in a large acute care hospital and have witnessed much in my past 40+ years working in health care. I understand the fears around this Pandemic, yes it is Pandemic. I have never seen so many younger, healthy adults become so sick let alone those already at risk.
With this said, Yes I have received both vaccines this year and I stronger encourage my family, friends, neighbours and collegues to do the same.
Also, Take good care of yourself; eat well, exercise, get sleep and rest, and take your vitamins.
Take care.
In todays world we are bombarded with so much info that a lot of people have a hard time to make up their own opinions about what is the right decision to take.
Just a thought, when asking the question who stands to benefit from the vacination hysteria, one will always start from the right starting point.
Also, our socalled “leaders” in Ottawa, what do they stand to lose or gain by pushing this agenda?