What do you folks feel about the Swine Flu vaccination?

[Classic Finn]

Here in Finland the Swine flu vaccinations are now available.

Im hesitant but Id like to know your feeling about it and if you will get the vaccination ?

I feel it hasnt been tested enough yet. Are we wrong if we get it or wrong if we dont?

Classic Finn

[Steve_Cox]

Here in Finland the Swine flu vaccinations are now available.

Im hesitant but Id like to know your feeling about it and if you will get the vaccination ?

I feel it hasnt been tested enough yet. Are we wrong if we get it or wrong if we dont?

Classic Finn

The H1N1 virus wants to kill you

The vaccination will make anti-bodies to prevent you from getting the virus

You might feel a some flu like symptoms after the vaccine

You might die if you get H1N1
What they needed was a vaccine against flu vaccine fear and media hype.

Sure I am going to get vaccinated, I'm an old guy and don't want the flu.

[rbeemer]

Heikki,

With your current medical condition you should be on the top of the list to get one. Part of the way this flu works is getting into the respiratory area - lungs and can cause Pneumonia.

My wife the scientist looked on the CDC website and found out that this virus is a composite of 4 viruses - asian, bird, swine and north american.
My wife has signed me up as well as her(respiratory problems) and my daughter (3 yrs old).

Just my opinion

[iplay10us2]

I will get the vaccination when it becomes available. I am in a high-risk category. My brother-in-law chairs the epidemiolgy dept. at the University of Kentucky, and he says it is extremely safe. The shot is the killed virus, and the nasal mist is a "live" virus, and is only for ages 2-50. Neither can give you the flu.

[doug hodder]

It's the governments program to micro chip us all...anarchy now!!!

[TerryLawson]

I should be getting mine this week!! But I do work in the medical field and am exposed to every sick person in a two county area

Terry

[planovet]

I had the swine flu a couple of weeks ago. Don't need to get the shot now

[Aaron Coffee]

I've been debating getting the vaccine. I lost my spleen in a car wreck and have to watch colds and flus, get the regular flu shot every year, and get pnumonia shot every other year or so. Guess I'll give my doc a call and see what he thinks.

[tk]

I had Guillain-Barre' Syndrome about ten years ago. GBS is an auto-immune disease that affects the central nervous system causing paralysis and death if the disease is not arrested. I was almost completely paralyzed, had to relearn to walk, took six months to get back to work full time, had years of fatigue from normal activities, etc. During the last swine flu go-around in the 70's there was an increased incidence of GBS among those who had the vaccine. As terrible as my experience was and acknowledging the risks of vaccines in general, I have this to say: I think anyone who has the vaccine available to them and does not get it unless by physician's advice is nothing short of an idiot. Don't mean to offend, just an informed opinion.

Best,
Tom

[caseydog]

The flu in general is dangerous to people in high-risk categories. It is not just the Swine flue that kills some of the elderly, young children, and people with medical conditions that put them at high risk. Any strain of flu has that potential.

I have not had a flu shot in several years, but I am not in a high-risk group. My sister is an RN, so she gets one every year. My parents are in their seventies, so they get them.

Talk to your doctor. That's the only good advice I can give.

CD

[vrodjason]

I had Guillain-Barre' Syndrome about ten years ago. GBS is an auto-immune disease that affects the central nervous system causing paralysis and death if the disease is not arrested. I was almost completely paralyzed, had to relearn to walk, took six months to get back to work full time, had years of fatigue from normal activities, etc. During the last swine flu go-around in the 70's there was an increased incidence of GBS among those who had the vaccine. As terrible as my experience was and acknowledging the risks of vaccines in general, I have this to say: I think anyone who has the vaccine available to them and does not get it unless by physician's advice is nothing short of an idiot. Don't mean to offend, just an informed opinion.

Best,
Tom

Did you hear about the girl who was in route to becoming an NFL cheerleader? She now has a really bad neurological condition where she has lost some motor skills and can only walk backwards. So..... with that being said the shot is now causing problems in this decade. She probably didn't think it would happen to her.
I asked my fiance (she is an RN) what she thought about it and she said "Do not get the shot if you are healthy and do not have any health conditions which cause the need for the vaccine. Consult your doctor!"
Just be smart- stay away from the sick, wash your hands often, use hand sanitizer, etc. and you will stay flu free! And if you do get the flu, any kind, stay home and don't spread it!!!!!
Jason
p.s. I'll play the idiot this time. Let you my results when the flu season is over!
p.s.s. tk- glad you have recovered and hope the young girl mentioned above does the same.

[WesGrimes]

I had the swine flu a couple of weeks ago. Don't need to get the shot now

Hazard of the job? I figured you would not see that many pigs in Plano.

[dreadcptflint]

It's still being debated in our house. My wife is nervous about it and I am all for the vaccinations. She works in the medical field, I clean builidings and we have a three year old. I figure is just another layer of defense against the crud.

[nevadatear]

the school nurse is talking here, but by no means the expert. For those who lived through the GBS time, it is a fear as that was a bad time, but it was still rare- 1 in 100,000. But how the vaccine was made then doesn't compare to the how the vaccine is made now. The current risk of GBS with any flu shot is now 1 in 1 million. The vaccine was indeed rushed back in the 70's and the vaccine now is made exactly the same way as the annual sesonal flu, the only difference is the strains of virus, just like how the seasonal flu is different each year because a different group of viruses are included each year. So it has actually been teasted for many years. The chemical make up of the vaccine is the same, which is where the problem came from with the previous swine flu. It was the manufacturing/vaccine makeup that was the problem, not the virus antibody part. Next year the h1n1 will be rolled into the seasonal flu, there will be no difference. The only reason it was not done that way this year as the seasonal flu was already in production when h1n1 came into being. Thats what my CDC and public health experts and contacts are sharing with us.

That being said--ask your healthcare provider for the best advice for you!

Good, basic easy to understand info about the vaccine, its safety, GBS and other stuff: http://www.nasn.org/portals/0/resources/2009_10_08_h1n1_faq.pdf

More info about GBS go here: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/gbs_qa.htm

More info about the safety of h1n1: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_safety_qa.htm

Oh, and here is the coolest video on how to protect others from getting sick "Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves?" http://www.coughsafe.com/media.html

Debbie, RN

[Nitetimes]

I don't do flu shots, haven't had one in at least 25 years. No sense in starting now.