We asked our doc at my son’s 3 year well check. We’ve decided (and he agreed) it’s a no go for our family. Mostly because we’re 90% sure my husband and son had a mild case earlier in the summer, but also because I’m…well, wary. We’re being extra cautious (purell everywhere we’re out, etc…) and go from there.

Already got our flu shots. Last year, my husband and I missed a combined one week of work taking care of our ridiculously sick son when he had the flu. I will do anything to prevent a repeat this year.

This issue is so huge. I live in WA too and understand their reasoning for the thimerisol inclusion, but do NOT in any way agree with it. My kids are 7 and 5 and will get the regular flu shot (last year was the 1st year they had ever had a flu shot) but not H1N1. I’ll get a flu shot and my husband never gets one.

I think, for the most part, health care workers don’t get flu shots as much is because they are continuously making antibodies to every germ they come across every day in their jobs and develop some pretty good immunity after a few years. If I was around sick people on a regular basis, I wouldn’t get the flu shot either.

Michelle – The one case in the U.S. was related to mitochondrial disease, not autism. They have similar symptoms, but one is definitely genetic; the ruling in that case was that the vaccine MIGHT have aggravated the “underlying mitochondrial disorder, which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism spectrum disorder.” In other words, the child had an existing condition–a mitochondrial disorder that affected her mentally. She got a vaccine, it caused a fever, the fever aggravated her mitochondrial disorder.

That’s the one and only case–among hundreds brought–that has resulted in any hint of any connection between vaccines and autism-like disorders.

I think we are going to get the H1N1, but I’m not 100% yet. We already got our regular flu vaccine a couple of weeks ago, knowing that it didn’t contain thimerosol.

I think whether or not our pediatrician’s office has the H1N1 vaccine with thimerosol will be the deciding factor.

Me: RN in an adult ICU. Will get both regular and H1N1 shot, despite the fact I’m 90% sure both baby and I are on the tail end of H1N1 as I type this.

Baby: 13 mos old. Daycare 3x/week. Will get regular flu shot. Due to above statement, will skip H1N1 vax for him.

Husband: Never gets flu shot. Never gets sick. Works at computer-geek office. Will let him decide what he wants to do.

MD who I really admire and trust at work: says to just skip the H1N1 vax cause it’s too little too late, but make sure to get the regular one.

I don’t have children so don’t have to make that decision. But because I’m compelled to throw my 2 bucks in the hat….:)

These two babies here, my niece and nephew, they just got over it. Caught it on a plane and the way they were tearing up Red Robin I would say they survived it just fine.
http://valria.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/just-in/

They were great, thoughtful children and shared with the parents, so everyone got to feel miserable all at the same time.

However I do have to make the decision for myself and I will be doing exactly what I always do and skip the flu vaccine, N1H1 and other.

YES to the regular autumn time flu shot.
NO to the H1N1. too much mercury for me! my brother is autistic. if autism is part genetic, part vaccine induced (I mean, no one can figure out why so many kids are autistic nowadays) then my child is too high risk for me to risk it. no thank you!

Debating the potential, statistically unlikely pitfalls of a vaccine is the luxury of a healthy family. Though I’m not a parent, I’m with Jonna in being very pro-vaccine and making educated choices. However, within that, I believe it’s unwise to get hung up on hypothetical situations when the pros and cons of reality already give clear answers.

I don’t think I’ll be getting either vaccine as a healthy person not in a risk group, and it didn’t come up with my doctor last week. But I would still consider it since herd immunity is beneficial to society as a whole. And because airplanes are giant germ tubes and I have to fly regularly for work.

But if I were in any type of risk group or close to anyone in a risk group? I would be the first person at my doctor’s door.

I have been wanting to post about this for a few weeks, but was scared that I’d come across all crazy and paranoid. I am not getting the vaccine and neither are my kids. After doing some research on it, I am scaaaaared to death of that vaccine. It contains squalene, which causes all kinds of scary stuff.

Mercola.com has a video up right now (under the Flu Vaccine Exposed link) that you might want to watch. I don’t know how reliable the information is, but it’s enough for me. My family is staying far away from that vaccine as well as the regular flu vaccine.

Mercola.com is a notoriously anti-vax site that has had a LOT of information on it debunked. I’m not saying people don’t subscribe to those theories, but know that you’re getting your information from a very biased source.

Disclaimer: I work for one of the companies providing vaccine in the US. I will be getting the nasal spray H1N1 vaccine next week.

I just wanted to say that all of the standard safety measures have been followed while producing and testing the H1N1 vaccine as are done for the yearly seasonal flu vaccine.

Things have been rushed but that just means our workload has increased for the last few months; not that we are skipping any steps.

I think what you’re already doing (asking the pediatrician and mulling it over) are the sensible things to do. Maybe do some reading on the CDC and WHO webpages if you need more info. Good luck with your decision.

I have a 14 month old daughter and am 13 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. My OB has recommended against getting the H1N1 vaccine for me and I probably won’t get it for my daughter either.

My daughter is home with me, so she’s not exposed to that many other children except when we do playgroup.

My OB showed me the literature that comes with the regular flu vaccine and it says that it has not been fully tested on pregnant women and they are unsure if there will be fetal harm caused by it (either in the womb, or later issues). The H1N1 vaccine has the same literature attached to it. I understand that the H1N1 vaccine is similar to the regular flu vaccine, but I personally don’t feel that either one is “safe” for pregnant women. It’s a hard decision for me because I have to weigh the risk that the vaccines could harm my baby or I could get the flu and that could harm me or the baby.

I’m opting to not get the vaccine after discussing it with my OB and multiple other medical doctors. My daughter’s pediatrician said she was not getting either flu shot for her daughter because it is 2 shots for regular flu and 2 for H1N1 if they’re under a certain age. She thought that could just be too much stress on a little body.

Sundry: I totally understand that. I should note that right before I posted I saw the note about Mercola, who among other things is anti-: pasteurization, SPF, soy and fluoride, and is widely debunked, which made me rephrase the first sentence.

Re: Autism and Vaccines

There are SO MANY OTHER THINGS more prevalent in society now than they were 80 years ago. Processed foods, pollution, media/tv dependance, lack of outdoor time, chemicals in drinking water, various plastics, other manufactured materials, synthetic cloth, pesticides….

Thiomersal has been in vaccines since the 1930’s. The drastic increase in autism diagnosis began in 1996. That’s a pretty big time gap, there.

Ah-ha! you say. There could be just as many cases in the 1930’s, but no one knew what it was! It could be the vaccine! Yes, but there could have been just as many cases in the 1800’s, the 1700’s, before thiomersal was introduced, who knows?

The compound has been largely removed since 1999, yet the number of diagnosed cases is still rising. And even before the link was alleged, autism tended to manifest itself around the age children were receiving their vaccinations.

It just seems everyone is stuck on this one, simple-sounding cure – no more vaccines! – when it seems that a huge number of likely factors go completely ignored. And in the meantime, scary diseases like smallpox, scarlet fever and measles are bouncing back.

Nic: That set me off, too. In fact, a LOT of the information I’m reading about the swine flu vax has been linked back to Mercola. And yet the dude is sort of off his rocker a little, and is a total extremist. Yet that little tidbit is never offered when people present him as a valid source of information.

Again, if that’s your philosophy, that’s cool. Just don’t present it as though it’s not exactly what it is, which is a VERY biased, VERY natural approach to medicine.

Both my kids were vaccinated on schedule, even though I had some reservations about it. However, they’ve never had the flu shot. They’ve also never had the flu. (They are 5 & 6 years old). I haven’t had the flu shot or the flu since I was 12 (I’m . . .much older than that now). I know we won’t get the regular flu shot this year but I’m waffling a little bit on the H1N1, though I think we’ll probably skip it. I think. I don’t know, it’s such a crap shoot. Our neighbors get the flu shot every year and they also have gotten the flu for the past 2 years running so I have that glaring reason NOT to do it rattling around in my head. Probably I’ll just waffle until they run out of it and then my decision will be made for me.

I don’t have children, but I do have an opinion. I’ve got little to nothing against vaccines. Yes, they have side effects, some of them nasty, but they are rare. I do not believe that vaccines are the cause of autism. However, I also believe in letting children build a good immune system. When I was young, bringing your own wipes and disinfecting a table at a restaurant never happened. Hand sanitizer wasn’t seen everywhere or in the hand of every parent I see at my job.

I say get the vaccine and also let children run around with their infectious friends and play in the dirt.

My son is allergic to egg and can’t get the flu shot. Not sure if the same holds true of the H1N1 shot but my doc is finding out. He’s already at 3rd percentile for body weight so if he can get the shot I’m going to give it to him: he just doesn’t have the energy reserves to deal well with illness.

I’m a doctor (primary care for adults) and will be getting both the regular and H1N1 flu vaccines. H1N1 laid waste to my hospital and ED last spring. In my own practice I had several young, otherwise healthy patients with severe, in some cases life-threatening cases of H1N1, and our pediatricians were working 14-hour days, 7 days a week. In addition a bunch of our medical residents came down with it, causing a severe staffing shortage and compromising the care of our patients without flu. Everyone I know who had it (even mild cases) said they felt horrible. I would prefer not to repeat any of those experiences.

I’m not rah-rah for the vaccine, everyone should get it, put it in the water, but I think that people with identifiable risk factors like day care, asthma, etc, should consider it pretty strongly.

Others before me have pointed out some of the issues: the fact that the H1N1 vaccine is made the same way as the regular flu vaccine (which, yes, is re-configured every year). The use of thimerosol, which has never been demonstrated to be harmful, but which I, frankly, would prefer not to have in my vaccines. And the usual amount of paranoia, as if the novel viruses that come our way from industrial farming and easy air travel aren’t scary enough by themselves.

just a reminder: nasal mists won’t contain thimerosal. they plan on distributing that to healthy people ages 2-49. The multi-dose vial shots will have the thimerosal, because it keeps contaminants entering the bottle via needle puncture at bay. know your options!

I worried about this myself. I don’t have children, but I was very leery of the vaccine and after much research, decided that I wouldn’t get it when it became available. I ended up getting the H1N1 two weeks ago anyway, and it wasn’t all that bad. I’ve been sicker from the regular seasonal flu. So, crisis averted?

I’m so happy after reading all (ALL) of these comments to see so many people coming down in FAVOR of vaccination! that’s a big shift from what i’ve seen till now on blog postings with similar subjects.

re: the ruling that autism was linked to a vaccination, and the mention of a Paul Offit book, and my lawyer friends – lawyers ain’t scientists, either.

We’re hesitating on the H1N1 vaccine. I got a regular flu shot when I was pregnant 2 years ago and DH did not, and DH got one at work last year and I didn’t. We got our then-18-month-old twins the regular flu shot last winter. In all that time, none of us has gotten the flu, though in prior years DH and I had each gotten the shot once and coincidently came down with wicked flus. I know the shot didn’t cause it, but it’s just like coming down with a stomach bug right after eating a particular food — you can’t help but mentally associate it.

I read an article a few weeks ago from the UK that said the H1N1 vaccine manufacturers there had been given governmental immunity to any possible lawsuits from patients who receive the shot there. That may or may not be factual, but that sure sounds suspicious to me.

It’s the flu — the symptoms are the same as the regular flu, and it would suck if you got either kind of flu. The girls are in daycare but health-wise, none of us is high risk (asthmatic, etc.)

I’d say we’re still leaning away from shots this year, for either type of flu.

The vaccine scares me a little, but my kid has asthma, so the idea of her getting H1N1 scares me a lot more. So yes, getting the vaccine. No question.

Ooooooooooooh nooooooooo not a vaccination discussion! I am skipping ALL the comments—ALL!

What I’m doing about it right now is procrastinating even though I got a little postcard from the pediatrician saying It’s Time. I’m hoping that if I put it off long enough, the answer will come to me in a vision, or else we will all get the flu this year and it won’t make me regret anything.

I’m coming from a different place than most comments so far… I had been planning on vaccinating both my kids for H1N1, and have now had it taken out of my hands as BOTH KIDS ALREADY HAVE IT. We’re in lockdown at home and I’m watching my 3 year old and 8 month old deal with an illness that their small systems are not equipped to handle. I would vaccinate them, absolutely.

Ok this actually relates to Jeremy Piven. I love him as Ari on Entourage, but saw him on Dave, and yes, insufferable Dbag is quite a propos. I think Hugh Laurie sort of has the same problem – plays really cool character but is sort of le suck IRL. What is up with THAT? I mean, they’re ACTORS. Why can’t they just act cool in real life?

Hope you get the swine flu stuff figured out.

I have an 8 week old and our pedi told us to get both flu and swine flu shots. I’ve never had a flu shot. I’ll probably get one, but I’m nervous about H1N1 flu shot an breastmilk. I’m also not doing daycare, just a sitter two times per week…and I’m still terrified. We’re his “first line of defense” but it scares the crap out of me…we’ll see if I’m swayed once I read your bajillion commenters.

I’m 36 weeks pregnant and I’ll be getting both flu shots-already had the regular shot-for both me and my two year old. Like others have mentioned, the H1N1 shot may seem like it has been developed quickly but since the regular flu vaccine is developed every year, I don’t think it is all that different.

Although it might be preferable to have a vaccine without thimersol if at possible, there has been no link discovered between this adjuvant and autism. This supposed link has been studied to death, buried, resurrected, and then studied 1000 more times. There is no link.

I’ve never once had the flu and I don’t want to start now. Now that I have a kid, and another on the way, I take my health much more seriously than I used to and for me that means flu vaccinations.

Like you, Jen, I have no intention of getting the H1N1 flu shot. I’ve never had a flu shot and – crossing fingers, knocking on wood – have not had a flu or a cold for years. I can’t recall the last time I had the flu.

I met someone who has had H1N1 flu and said it was no different from any other flu experience (for her). Not pleasant by any means, but it didn’t damage her. From what I’ve read, how it affects people depends on the strength of their health and immune systems. Like every other flu, H1N1 will kill some people (the elderly, the already sick, those whose immune systems are weak or severely compromised) and leave other people barely affected.

Have to add, I’ve met several people who get flu shots and get the flu anyway, mainly because most flu vaccines can’t keep up with the viruses and/or their mutations.

There may come a time with viruses I change my mind on this but for now, I’m not interested in getting flu shots. (If Ebola ever shows up, I’ll be first in line though!)

I have a healthy 13yo and he’s never had a flu vaccine and neither have I. He’s had the normal 3-4 day cold about once a year-18 months, recovers quickly and is never totally weakened by it, i.e. he’s sick – but still okay enough to play on the computer, his instrument, etc. Maybe you should get a second opinion – I think you’re instinct is important and I would be worried to if my son’s pediatrician were so pushy about this very new drug.

long time reader, new poster. the New York Times had a great article about this today
/www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/health/policy/28vaccine.html?_r=1

People who are leary of the flu shot might want to read it as part of their decision making process.

I’m not getting either shot because I’m too scared of needles.

I am so with you on this. What to do? I’ve totally been putting off any thought on the matter until my son’s next check up which is about 3 weeks away.

I’ve heard multiple stories about people who go to work, school, etc while they are sick. I think we’d all be better off if sick people would freaking STAY HOME than if we all got the vaccine. Sheesh.

PS – Pardon my few grammatical errors, I wrote that with one eye on Dancing With the Stars. ;)

Since we are all relatively healthy people- 2 year old included- we’re going to skip the H1N1 for all the reasons you listed. My daughter got the regular flu shot last week, and I’m going to get one for myself soon (thinking of gettin’ ourselves all knocked up in the coming months, so I want to be protected against at least the regular flu, just in case) I asked about the H1N1 last week at the pediatrician, and they said they’re not even sure who in PA is going to even get the vaccine, so we’re supposed to call in a few weeks to find out. I don’t think I’m going to call.

No thank you for either one.

For those who do choose to vaccinate- ask for the package insert before any shot. It will list everything you want to know.

Just thinking about this topic makes me feel sick… b/c I’m worried about my family getting the flu and about the potential side effects of the vaccine. I work at a well-known US Pharmacy corporate mktg office & hear about the flu vaccine program ALL DAY EVERY DAY, which challenges my husband’s & my decision to skip both flu vaccinations for ourselves & our 2 year old son. I read through all of these comments b/c I’m interested in what the “community” is feeling on the subject. I completely understand the concern about the potentially hokey “naturalists” out there. But I can also tell you that some of those natural approaches have worked well for us in the past. On the brink of my son needing ear tube surgery for a 5-month long double ear infection that none of the antibiotics would clear, we tried the natural approach, including homeopathic remedies & diet changes…. viola! The ear infection finally cleared & no surgery was needed.
My son is in daycare & gets sick often during cold/flu season. But we’re sticking to our gut feeling of skipping the shots – instead we’re going to pray for the best & try using some of the natural approaches to boosting our immune system (Vit D, C, Probiotics, Fish Oil) and fighting off infection if/when it hits us (echinacea, homeopathic, zinc, neti pot). Good luck to us all!

Me: 30 weeks pregnant-should I get the Swine flu vaccination?

Ob/Gyn: We’re not recommending the H1N1 vax shot for ANY of our pregnant patients, 1970’s issues, scary! scary! scary!, don’t be a guinea pig, and here, sign this form that says I told you not to get it.

Primary Care Doc: Get the shot! Get the shot! Come in as soon as we have it and don’t forget to bring your ridiculously large co-pay.

So, yeah. For the most part, I am pro-vaccination, and WILL be vaccinating this little girl once she gets here. And yet.

I know I will wrestle with the majority of decisions I make for her, so whether or not to receive this vaccination is just the first in a very long line of sleepless nights. Sorry I can’t be more help, good luck with your decision.

And, Lindsay? “Why can’t they just act cool in real life?” Ha!! My thoughts exactly!

OMG, sorry as I perk up out of my hole. There is such a thing called Gulf War Syndrome? Holy Jacobs Ladder I never saw anything about that in the news.

I just saw this article on NPR, which makes the question an even harder one–what if the regular flu shot (which I was definitely planning on for both my pregnant self and my 20-month-old son) makes us both MORE susceptible to H1N1? Yikes!

-By Kristian Foden-Vencil
Preliminary findings of a Canadian study suggest that people who get the regular flu vaccine are twice as likely to contract the H1N1 Swine Flu.

The study still needs to be peer reviewed, but it’s prompting health experts in Canada to suspend flu shots for people who aren’t senior citizens.

Here in Oregon, Christine Decker-Stone of the Public Health Division, says they’re not making any changes.

Christine Decker-Stone: “We are in touch with the Centers for Disease Control and will be taking our lead from their advice. We are looking into it. But we are continuing to advice people to get their seasonal flu shot.”

Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia have suspended seasonal flu shots for people younger than 65. New Brunswick will continue vaccinating younger people.

The flu season in the U.S. is now well underway. 26 states, including Oregon, are reporting widespread infections.

A friend who is an ER nurse and on the LA H1N1 Task Force had convinced me that the whole family should get the vaccination and then another sent me then another friend forwarded this to me from her pediatrician:

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=0016xDS-I4m8wzdniZnu7ssg_jXizdJ2UGuSkeL424Qh7qcKyEDjdD6Z_ejNYbNNuQkzeandkWrFpcNl4ZxDRz7FT8QpImjiHAo9c13asjLvtK1gKredJgQTLZeM_WouHHQfJ-geK17cB0%3D

Conflicted.

I just went to my doctor last week for flu-like symptoms. She said it was likely that I had H1N1 but they aren’t testing everyone for it these days. She did advise me not to return to work until next week (this was last Thu, and I had already missed Wed).

I asked her about the H1N1 vaccine, and she said that whether or not I have it now, she wouldn’t jump to recommend it at this point. I was pretty gung-ho, but she did cite problems with previous untested vaccines.

So I would say that as long as you have good access to immediate care if you should need it, maybe it’s better to sait it out? (Especially since H1N1 seems to be less severe in many cases than the seasonal flu.)

Now, this is all not a responsible medical opinion, and has nothing to do with young kids. Maybe I would call a few friends’ doctors offices to get 2nd and 3rd opinions?

Sundry:
I live in Minneapolis, and we have already had a large outbreak of “swine flu” My 4 y/o actually just got over it about a week ago, same symptoms as flu, but only with added cough, now I asked if I should still get him the flu shot (since he has asthma) and of course they say yes, but he has gotten 2 every year since the year he was born, and has gotten the flu almost every year anyway..
So I would say “go with the mom instinct gut”
me personally,I would say, their kids if they don’t have low immunity for any other reason the kids should be able to fight it off easily, my kid sure did, I just had to keep him home for a week because of recommendations..

I work as a chaplain in a children’s hospital. When it becomes available, I absolutely plan to get the vaccine – I do not want to be a vector for disease!

Following up on Beth’s post:

British Columbia is suspending its annual seasonal flu shot program amidst emerging concerns the vaccination could make people more susceptible to catching H1N1.
http://tinyurl.com/ybg93wo

The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was looking into an unpublished Canadian study indicating that a seasonal flu shot could increase the risk of catching the H1N1 virus.
http://tinyurl.com/yaj96qp

Ontario won’t force health care workers to get H1N1 flu shot http://tinyurl.com/y9rznqo

Dang, I just read all 128 comments and then hit refresh before commenting and had another 20 or so comments to read.

This is a tough topic to tackle (say that five times fast). Traditionally in my home country we do not receive yearly flu shots, but rather rely on naturally building your own immune systems. So even if my son’s pediatrician raises an eyebrow at me, we have opted not to get him the regular flu shots and therefore will also not get the h1n1 either.

Did anyone else see the common thread in these comments that people with asthma get the flu shots. I know that it makes sense for them to get it seeing as they are vulnerable to begin with but just now reading the comment it kind of struck me as if you get the flu shot you will get asthma. I think I’m getting cross eyed from all this reading. There’s a lot of info to digest.

Anyway Linda, whatever you decide, don’t feel bad about it, and I hope everyone will have a healthy winter.