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Flu shot?  

post #1 of 15
10/4/08 at 6:30pm
Thread Starter 
I have an appointment to get this year's flu vaccine on the 18th. I'm due on the 24th. Anyone know about potential benefits/risks to my Peanut? I meant to ask my midwife this week and will ask when I go in on Weds, but thought I'd ask here in the meantime.

I have asthma and a predisposition to bronchitis. I didn't get the shot last year and got sick more than I ever have before (4 cases of bronchitis, 1 of pneumonia). Previous years I've gotten it and been much healthier in general, so I'm inclined toward getting it this year.
post #2 of 15
10/4/08 at 7:10pm
It is relatively new that flu shots are encouraged for pregnant women, and previously were a contraindication for receiving the shot.

The flu shot is pretty useless, and from a public health perspective, can't claim the victories you would think.

It sounds like, as a former asthmatic with bronchitis tendencies myself, that your immune system could use a big boost.

I suggest browsing the health and healing boards on MDC to help think of things you are needing and things you should eliminate in your diet.

A few years ago I never would have believed "You are what you eat" like I do now.

Wishing you a wonderful birth!
post #3 of 15
10/4/08 at 8:06pm
I understand that getting the flu can cause problems in a fetus. I don't know the details of that, though. Also, if you have asthma and are more likely to get respiratory illnesses, then the risks of the flu shot may not compare to the risks of your getting sick and the medication you may need to take.

The standard flu shot is one of the few that still contains Thimerisol, a mercury derivative. There is a form of it that does not, but it is harder to get so some doctors don't carry it. If you choose to get the shot, I'd insist on your doctor getting the kind w/o Thimerisol. Another problem w/ the flu shot is that the CDC plays a guessing game each year and puts the strains of flu they think are most likely to be prevalent in the shot each year. So, it's possible that they'll be wrong and you'll be exposed to a strain not in the shot, making the vaccine useless.
post #4 of 15
10/5/08 at 9:54am
Can you maybe postpone the flu shot until after you've had the baby? I understand your reasons for wanting the shot, but I think waiting 2 weeks or so until you've had your little peanut might be conservative.
post #5 of 15
10/5/08 at 5:04pm
Flu vaccines still contain mercury. There are some that are supposed to be "mercury-free" but they still contain "trace" amounts. I'd never let any mercury near a fetus.

Here are a couple of links I have saved. I'd also recommend posting on the vaccination board:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...65&postcount=8

http://www.jpands.org/vol11no2/ayoub.pdf
post #6 of 15
11/14/08 at 10:08pm
Moving to the vaccination forum
post #7 of 15
11/14/08 at 10:37pm
aren't babies who are exposed prenatally to an immune response to the flu virus via either the wild virus or the vax more likely to develop schizophrenia?
post #8 of 15
11/14/08 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xmasbaby7 View Post

The flu shot is pretty useless, and from a public health perspective, can't claim the victories you would think.

It sounds like, as a former asthmatic with bronchitis tendencies myself, that your immune system could use a big boost.
I agree wholeheartedly with this.
post #9 of 15
11/14/08 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by redshoemomma View Post
I have asthma and a predisposition to bronchitis. I didn't get the shot last year and got sick more than I ever have before (4 cases of bronchitis, 1 of pneumonia). Previous years I've gotten it and been much healthier in general, so I'm inclined toward getting it this year.
The shot will only protect against the flu. And only the strains included. It has absolutely NO effect on whether you catch bronchitis or pneumonia. It has no immune boosting effects outside of (possibly) helping to prevent the flu. That's not how vaccines are designed.

No way I'd get ANY vaccine while pregnant.

-Angela
post #10 of 15
11/15/08 at 12:01am
I have been looking into this one as well. I was shocked to read this statement from the package insert :

"Fluarix (Thimerosal free):

Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with FLUARIX. It is not known whether FLUARIX can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. FLUARIX should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. The ACIP has issued recommendations regarding the use of the influenza virus vaccine in pregnant women. "

Yikes!!!
post #11 of 15
11/15/08 at 12:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by redshoemomma View Post
I have an appointment to get this year's flu vaccine on the 18th. I'm due on the 24th. Anyone know about potential benefits/risks to my Peanut? I meant to ask my midwife this week and will ask when I go in on Weds, but thought I'd ask here in the meantime.

I have asthma and a predisposition to bronchitis. I didn't get the shot last year and got sick more than I ever have before (4 cases of bronchitis, 1 of pneumonia). Previous years I've gotten it and been much healthier in general, so I'm inclined toward getting it this year.
Sorry, NOBODY knows the potential risks to your Peanut. Because they've never tested it. I think it is a CRIME that the cdc recommends this for everyone, especially pregnant and nursing mothers when the manufacturer's insert clearly states this:

Sanofi-Pasteur's Fluzone
8.1 Pregnancy
PregnancyCategory C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Fluzone vaccine. It is also not known whether Fluzone vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Fluzone vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

8.2 Nursing Mothers
It is not known whether Fluzone vaccine is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when
Fluzone vaccine is administered to a nursing woman.

http://www.vaccineshoppe.com/image.c...uct_pdf&pi=flu

Novartis Fluvirin is the same.

I would not touch this with a ten-foot pole.
post #12 of 15
11/15/08 at 7:26pm
risks- side effects of a flu shot look and feel an awful lot like the flu itself, flu shots have never been officially tested on pregnant women

benefits- the hospital gets paid by your insurance company for the flu shot, no benefits to you
post #13 of 15
11/15/08 at 9:09pm
Get your vitamin D tested instead.

On the epidemiology of influenza
Virol J. 2008 Feb 25;5:29.
http://www.virologyj.com/content/5/1/29

Quote:
Recent discoveries indicate vitamin D upregulates the endogenous antibiotics of innate immunity and suggest that the incongruities explored by Hope-Simpson may be secondary to the epidemiology of vitamin D deficiency...

We hypothesize that two factors explain the nine conundrums: vitamin D's seasonal and population effects on innate immunity, and the presence of a subpopulation of "good infectors." If true, our revision of Edgar Hope-Simpson's theory has profound implications for the prevention of influenza.
Or load up with high vitamin cod liver oil, discussing here:

Everyone taking your D? NO vitamin D is being made in northern latitudes right now.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=995493
post #14 of 15
11/16/08 at 4:07pm
From Jane's post - very interesting!

*
post #15 of 15
11/17/08 at 12:07pm
I was quoting the part of the study where they talk about how many people, given direct exposure, don't even get the wild-type virus.
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