Flu vaccination?? - Page 2

[pumpkinsmama]

I just want to throw in the reminder that mercury is not the only nuerotoxin in the flu vacc. Please research aluminum and aluminum salts, used as adjuvants before thinking shots are safe because they don't have mercury/thimerosal. (that is just my pet peeve ingredient, there are others that are dangerous as well)

[amnesiac]

Flu vaccine doesn't contain any aluminum or other adjuvant.

[e123vg]

my dd just turned 10m and it is getting close to flu season. just wondering if i should get her the flu shot. i must add, i will be having another baby in jan., i'm still nursing dd, she doesn't get babysat or goto daycare, we hardly ever go out of the house in the winter. but i would feel so horrible if dd or new babe ended up in the hospital with the flu. just looking for some opinions and advice.

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by e123vg

my dd just turned 10m and it is getting close to flu season. just wondering if i should get her the flu shot. i must add, i will be having another baby in jan., i'm still nursing dd, she doesn't get babysat or goto daycare, we hardly ever go out of the house in the winter. but i would feel so horrible if dd or new babe ended up in the hospital with the flu. just looking for some opinions and advice.

Well, why don't you talk to your parents. Ask them if any of the babies in your family or any of their friends' babies ever had to be hospitalized for the flu. Talk to your friends who have children that are 5 years or older, who were babies before the new recommendation to vaccinate all infants and young toddlers against the flu. Ask them if any of them had a child hospitalized for the flu. Then decide if you actually even know anyone whose child was hospitalized for the flu. If so, were they breastfed? Were they otherwise healthy or did they have underlying health conditions? If you're able to identify any children at all who were hospitalized for the flu, then determine whether their situation is anything like that of your own children. Base your decision on that, if that makes it easier for you.

[e123vg]

well personally i don't know anyone who has had a infant/child hospitalized. i know of one family that vaxs all their kids for the flu and i know a family that doesn't. none of the kids ever got the flu. family one bottle feeds, family two breastfeeds. when i went to dd doc appt and wic appt i told them i wasn't sure if i was going to do it or not and nobody gave me a reason to do it... so i don't think i will. she didn't get the flu last winter so i'm thinking she might not get it this winter, and i'm hoping my colostrum will help keep her healthy.

[Plummeting]

Right. That's because a child becoming deathly ill from the flu is a rarity. Most people will only have a real case of the flu a few times in their entire life. :

[Bad Mama Jama]

Thanks! I also needed to hear some commentary on it. Not so much for dd, but for myself as well...

[Mommy To Baby Roni]

Flu vaccine doesn't contain any aluminum or other adjuvant.

How would it work without aluminum?

[amnesiac]

Not all vaccines use adjuvant - flu, IPV, live vaccines, meningococcal, some hib, pneumovax.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by Mommy To Baby Roni

How would it work without aluminum?

Ask yourself that question again and see if you can answer it yourself.

[shmoo]

I get the flu vaccine each year. So does DH and my son received it last year when he was almost one and will receive it this year as well.

Yes -- it can be ineffective. Scientists have to predict each year what what flu strains to include in the vaccine. Sometimes they get it wrong.

For me and my family, this is a simple costs/risks analysis. The pediatric version has only trace amounts of mercury. My reading of the legitiamte, scientific research does not suggest in any way that any component in the vaccine is likely to be harmful to my son.

I am not saying it is 100% safe and effective -- nothing is, but I am willing to assume those risks for myself and my son for the benefit of possibly avoiding the flu.

The last time I had the flu, I was out of commission for two weeks. : I was a runner and my fitness level just dived. Two months later I was lucky to run 9 minute miles. It was awful. I don't want it again and I don't want my son to have it. Another thing we have to consider is our worklives and my son's daycare. A bout of the flu could land us at home not working for two or three weeks. I'd much rather use my time off in the summer when we can vacation together someplace sunny! :-)

Run of the mill colds - I have no problem with -- but influenza NO SIR! Give Me That Shot! Give It To The Hubby and Give It To The Boy!

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by shmoo

The pediatric version has only trace amounts of mercury.

Provided your doctor orders the SINGLE DOSE formulations. Otherwise, the multi-dose formulations will contain full strength thimerosal - and the majority of the pediatric influenza supply will be multi-dose.

If the vial says ".01% Thimerosal," it contains full strength thimerosal.

[shmoo]

Originally Posted by LongIsland

Provided your doctor orders the SINGLE DOSE formulations. Otherwise, the multi-dose formulations will contain full strength thimerosal - and the majority of the pediatric influenza supply will be multi-dose.

If the vial says ".01% Thimerosal," it contains full strength thimerosal.

Yeah -- my ped gets the trace version, although if it were a choice between no vax and the regular dose version -- I'd still likely choose the vaccine.

Me no likey flu.

[Dido]

Originally Posted by LongIsland

Provided your doctor orders the SINGLE DOSE formulations. Otherwise, the multi-dose formulations will contain full strength thimerosal - and the majority of the pediatric influenza supply will be multi-dose.

If the vial says ".01% Thimerosal," it contains full strength thimerosal.

Actually, the no-preservative pediatric dose from Fluzone does not have even trace amounts of thimerosal. It is manufactured without thimerosal - there is no point in the process where even trace amounts would enter.

Further, there is a large supply of Fluzone's thimerosal-free pediatric dose available this year.

[mamakay]

But it doesn't work most of the time.
That's why I'm not seeing why anyone would choose to do this vax.
Not only is the disease hardly ever fatal for kids, but the vaccine almost never works, too, if it ever does at all.

[shmoo]

Originally Posted by mamakay

But it doesn't work most of the time.
That's why I'm not seeing why anyone would choose to do this vax.
Not only is the disease hardly ever fatal for kids, but the vaccine almost never works, too, if it ever does at all.

According to the CDC the flu vaccine -- in years when they pic the right strains -- prevents influenza in about 70%-90% of healthy persons younger than age 65 years.

That's good enough for me! Shoot 'em up! :-)

[mamakay]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the incidence of influenza in Ontario, Canada has decreased following the introduction of the Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign (UIIC) in 2000. All laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in Ontario, from January 1990 to August 2005 were analyzed using multitaper time series analysis. We found that there has not been a decrease in the mean monthly influenza rate following the introduction of the UIIC (109.5 (S.D. 20) versus 160 (S.D. 50.3) p>0.1). Despite increased vaccine distribution and financial resources towards promotion, the incidence of influenza in Ontario has not decreased following the introduction of the UIIC.

So have we just had five years of "bad luck" with picking the right strains?

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by BrklynMama

Further, there is a large supply of Fluzone's thimerosal-free pediatric dose available this year.

When you look at the big picture and add up all the infants/children eligible to receive (and who will receive) the influenza vaccine this season, that "large supply" is not all that impressive.

More children (and pregnant women for that matter) will receive the multi-dose, full strength thimerosal-containing vaccine.

[Dido]

Originally Posted by LongIsland

When you look at the big picture and add up all the infants/children eligible to receive (and who will receive) the influenza vaccine this season, that "large supply" is not all that impressive.

More children (and pregnant women for that matter) will receive the multi-dose, full strength thimerosal-containing vaccine.

OK, well, let's post the numbers so that people can decide for themselves if it's fair to call the thim-free supply "large." There are 8-9 million completely thimerosal-free Fluzone doses, which is enough to cover all 6-23 month old babies.

For ages four and up, there's Fluvirin, which is supposedly "thimerosal-free" but unlike Fluzone, does have trace amounts left over from the manufacturing process. Ages 5 and up can get the entirely thimerosal-free FluMist (this one is the live vax, or LAIV). So the one age group for which there is not enough thimerosal-free vaccine (or even enough vaccine at all) is three year olds.

Obviously, everyone who wants a flu vax for their child should be sure they are getting the thimerosal-free version. From the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/thimerosal.htm):

Updated Sep 26, 2006
Is influenza vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a preservative available this flu season (2006-07)?
At the current time, sanofi pasteur is projecting that 8 million to 9 million doses of thimerosal-free vaccine in pre-filled syringes or vials will be produced for the 2006-07 influenza season. The majority of this vaccine will be in 0.25 mL syringes (indicated for ages 6-35 months) with the remainder in 0.5 mL vials or syringes (indicated for ages 36 months and older). In addition, GlaxoSmithKline’s influenza vaccine for adults 18 years of age and older is preservative-free vaccine and Novartis (formerly Chiron) has a preservative-free preparation for persons 4 years of age and older. Also, the nasal-spray influenza vaccine (sold commercially as FluMist®) does not contain any thimerosal and can be given to healthy people 5 to 49 years of age who are not pregnant.

Updated Sep 26, 2006
Will the supply of thimerosal-free and thimerosal-reduced influenza vaccine be adequate for the current and newly recommended pediatric priority groups (ages 6-59 months) during the 2006-07 season?
For the 2006-07 season, CDC projects that thimerosal-free vaccine supplies will be adequate for children ages 6-23 months. There is also likely to be sufficient preservative-free influenza vaccine for four year olds. Thimerosal-free vaccine doses licensed for three year olds, however, are limited in supply and CDC anticipates that there will be insufficient vaccine for this age group. Thimerosal-containing vaccine can also be used to vaccinate children if the product’s age indication is appropriate.

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by BrklynMama

OK, well, let's post the numbers so that people can decide for themselves if it's fair to call the thim-free supply "large." There are 8-9 million completely thimerosal-free Fluzone doses, which is enough to cover all 6-23 month old babies.

Actually, that number is now 6 million.