H1N1 vaccine

[Blanca78]

Have you all gotten it yet? I went into my school's student health services yesterday to ask about it and as soon as I said "I just found out I'm pregnant" the nurse was like "Oh, you're high risk you have to get one RIGHT AWAY," and kind of freaked me out because she just kept saying it. She made me feel kind of stupid that I hadn't signed up already and I had to explain that I'd only found out I was pregnant two days before! So I called a hotline where I entered my risk status into an automated system, and got an email saying they'd notify me when it was my turn--probably in 1-2 weeks.

I"m a little freaked because I teach and don't necessarily trust my students not to be sick around me.

[LittleBirdy]

I, personally, will not be getting it. An easier choice for me, I think, as I don't work an environment where I come into contact with a lot of people. There are about 25 people in my office and it's rare that clients visit us here. If I worked in retail/restaurant, teaching, healthcare, etc. I might have a harder time coming to that decision.

Don't let her freak you out, there is a lot of hype out there... just stay calm and collected and you'll be just fine FWIW, I know some IRL pregnant women who have had confirmed swine flu and both they and their babies came through it just fine.

[ScarletBegonias]

vaccines freak me out in general (we don't vax our kids), but the flu ones especially worry me, because there is no real testing done showing long-term (or even relatively short-term) side effects.

since you're a teacher, i *might* consider, but seeing as how you're around kids/people all day, i would think you have an immune system built up strong, just increase haelthy foods, decrease sugar (even natural sugar) and stay very hydrated with pure, unchlorinated, unflouridated water.

personally, i think everyone is being kind of alarmist about the whole thing, the cdc says that waaaaay more people die every year of the regular flu (30, 000 some odd), and most people who contract the swine flu will have relatively mild symptoms anyway.

i don't think it's necessary for most people, and my other personal opinion is that the vax companies are losing revenue because a lot of parents aren't vaxxing anymore, so they have to recover that money somehow, and what better way than to market flu vaccines (and now they're saying children need 2 shots!)

[Blanca78]

Yeah, I never get a regular flu shot and I also never get sick--I think I have the immune system of a champ. It's just that if by chance I did get it I would worry that something would happen--aren't a lot of early miscarriages due to infections that that mother might not even know she has? I'm teaching college (and am a grad student) and there are lots of people in and out all day, lots of fellow grads who get sick all the time because their kids are sick, so I'm just nervous.

[christinep1976]

I know vaccines can be a touchy subject for a lot of people. I am going to talk to my midwife about it next week. I am kind of not planning on getting H1N1, or the regular flu shot right now, but I may change my mind after talking to them. I work from home, and even though my husband is in a university enviornment, we're just planning to wash hands, etc often.

If I am advised to get the shots, I will definitely be looking for the ones which do not contain thimerosal, which according to the cdc are being offered, "because some women are concerned about thimerosal during pregnancy, vaccine companies are making preservative-free seasonal flu vaccine and 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine in single-dose syringes for pregnant women and small children" (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/vaccination/pregnant_qa.htm)

[busymama77]

DDC crashing - I got the seasonal and H1N1 shot for both DS and I. I don't think I would have done it otherwise for myself if I wasn't pregnant. Both times that I've been pregnant, I recieved the seasonal flu shot and never got sick. And when I haven't been pg, I didn't get the shot and was just fine. So who knows. I just like to have that added protection when I'm pg.

[mamakaikai]

I won't be getting this vaccine, neither will my toddler. We don't regularly vax anyways, but especially not a vax that has thimerosal in it. In pregnancy? Hell no! Also, this vaccine has not properly been researched, we don't know how effective it even is, or how the flu virus might change and further decrease the usefulness of the vaccine. The adjuvanted vaccines have not been tested in pregnant women...there are too many reasons why I won't be getting this vaccine.

Just before I found out I am pregnant, my whole family had a pretty nasty flu. We suspect that it was the H1N1, it is especially rampant in our area and all of our symptoms were consistent with this flu. Got sick, symptoms disappeared over night, were gone the full next day and then came back with a vengeance. But we all pulled through just fine. Nothing I could get vaccinated for. I still don't know if it was actually H1N1, but it was equivalent in symptoms and so not worth being vaccinated with a potentially very risky substance.

But, that's just my take on it.

[*KaiMom*]

I don't work and limit my contact will large groups of people so we wont be getting it. I feel relatively safe about my choice. If I worked and my kids went to daycare I would probably have to rethink it.

[Terrilein]

The vaccine being offered in Germany is under fire. It seems the company that produces it is using Europeans for test purposes. At the moment, there's a lot of conflict over it and apparently it can't be recommended for children or pregnant women because of the feared side effects. As it is, even for normal healthy people, I've read that it's not even certain if the vaccine is even worth it - the side effects are worse than the actual flu.
So we are NOT getting the vaccine.

[maranapanda]

My midwife recommended Grapefruit Seed Extract capsules. I think I'll do some research before I start a regime of those, but I would probably consider GSE before vax.

[mamakaikai]

I just had this sent to my inbox, thought I would share. It brings up some interesting points for sure, though like all other info, it would be wise to actually read the sources before making your informed decisions.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-Pandemic.aspx

[mamakah]

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Biologi.../UCM182401.pdf
Read page 8 under "pregnancy"
(I'm sorry I don't know how to quote from a website, if anyone wants to help me that would be great!)

[mamakaikai]

Originally Posted by mamakah

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Biologi.../UCM182401.pdf
Read page 8 under "pregnancy"
(I'm sorry I don't know how to quote from a website, if anyone wants to help me that would be great!)

"8.1 Pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
8.3 Nursing Mothers
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in nursing mothers. It is not known whether Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine is administered to a nursing woman.
8.4 Pediatric Use
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in children. Safety and effectiveness in the pediatric population have not been established."

This is the quote from the above mentioned website that I believe you are referring to.

[Lizzardbits]

We all were exposed or fell ill with what I believe was the "heiny" H1N1 flu. no vaxxing needed here. plus we don't vax anymore due to anaphylactic shock reactions to different vaxes to different members in my immediate family. THAT is scary $#!+ to go through!!!

[Blanca78]

Originally Posted by mamakaikai

"8.1 Pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
8.3 Nursing Mothers
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in nursing mothers. It is not known whether Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine is administered to a nursing woman.
8.4 Pediatric Use
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in children. Safety and effectiveness in the pediatric population have not been established."

This is the quote from the above mentioned website that I believe you are referring to.

Very helpful, thanks! Is this the world of pregnancy/being a mom? Trying to figure out the lesser of two evils? It's so funny, I wasn't scared of swine flu at all until I got pregnant. Now, I'm still not scared of it for myself, but if I were exposed to it, I would be scared of the possibility that the infection would harm the baby, even if I hardly knew I was sick. That's my fear, I think. But I also don't like the idea of an unneccessary/untested vaccine.

[welsh]

Last week, my Sister and I (both pg) discussed the H1N1 vaccine and both said we wouldn't be doing it. (Sis is much more mainstream than me and has fully vaccinated her DD.)
Now someone she knows IRL who is due the same time as her, has had a brain haemorrage as a complication of swine flu (allegedly) is in ICU and it is unknown if she or the babe will make it
Sis is pretty sure she's now going to get the vaccine. Her reasoning being that if she died, she'll leave her DD and DH behind. The closer she gets to 30 wks, the better chance her babe has of survival if something does awful happen. She's about 26 wks now.

I have to get on a plane to Germany tmw and I really wish I had a medical mask! I won't get the (untested!)vaccine. But I am worried.

[Surfacing]

Yes, it is so worrying and difficult to make a decision.

Over here Health Canada widely broadcasts the safety of the vaccine... but then will say things like the results of studies have not been released yet, or we don't have enough information to know that it's safe for pregnant women... but just trust us, it's safe for pregnant women!

My dh works as a receptionist at a university and comes into contact with tons of people daily. We all came down with the flu recently. Both kids had fevers of 103 and all the swine flu symptoms. We were advised to keep them at home unless they were in distress with respiration. Dh and I had all the symptoms except for the high fever. We had low fever or no fevers but all the other stuff (aches, pains, runny tummy, sore throat, coughing, sneezing, etc). I had a scary moment one day when the stuff in my chest (that just came on rapidly) blocked my airway completely, and coughing would not clear it. That really freaked me out. After about 5-10 seconds I could clear it away by coughing and the doctor gave me a puffer. So worrying, but I figure if we had the virus there's no sense in getting it now, is there?

Dh is really pushing for us to get the H1N1 vaccine and the seasonal flu vaccine. It comes from a place of fear, anxiety and panic.

I want to try to make a decision based on evidence of safety, effectiveness, etc. So hard to do when there's such conflicting info out there. I was reading Mercola too. Interesting stuff.

I will say that after 7 days of sore throat and chest infection, having tried all kinds of natural stuff at home, I finally went for antibiotics and a puffer. Sometimes when you need allopathic meds, you need allopathic meds.

You said it right on Blanca78, this is motherhood.

[bjorker]

We're not getting it either.

[Terrilein]

Originally Posted by welsh

I have to get on a plane to Germany tmw and I really wish I had a medical mask! I won't get the (untested!)vaccine. But I am worried.

Are you worried about getting the flu on the plane or the Germans???

[tcooper]

Originally Posted by Blanca78

Very helpful, thanks! Is this the world of pregnancy/being a mom? Trying to figure out the lesser of two evils? It's so funny, I wasn't scared of swine flu at all until I got pregnant. Now, I'm still not scared of it for myself, but if I were exposed to it, I would be scared of the possibility that the infection would harm the baby, even if I hardly knew I was sick. That's my fear, I think. But I also don't like the idea of an unneccessary/untested vaccine.

You hit the nail on the head with that statement. There are two sides to everything. It is our job to research and arm ourselves with as much knowledge as possible and then make the best decision - for US. It will be different for everyone.

I drive school bus and I take my 2 year old son with me. We are obviously exposed to illness. We will absolutely not be getting either of the flu vaccinations. We are still breastfeeding and we eat well. I am confident we will do fine.

Here is a good link about H1N1. It is being blown WAY up and really isn't as big as a concern as they are making it out to be. Practice good hygiene and you should be fine!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...nfections.aspx