USA hitchers- will your child(ren) be having swine flu vaccine?

My daughter had her 2 year check today and we were offered the swine flu vaccine but hadn't discussed it with my H so said not today but may go back for it. I'm uncertain whether she should have it. All other immunisations she has I realise the importance of these, both for my children and for controlling risk to others who are unable to have the vaccines, but am unsure about this one as it is so new and has been developed relatively quickly I guess. And I'm not sure how widespread swine flu really is/ how serious it potentially is.

The Dr said she could be quite at risk as we are traveling a lot and it would help protect our baby (11 weeks old) who is too young to have it himself as less risk of bringing it in to the home. My daughter is not at day care but we do go to lots of different groups and see lots of different friends on a weekly basis.

So wwyd or what have you done? Any advice from medical types greatly received too. Thanks!

Can't speak for US Hitchers but I know some of the Bristol Hitched children are in the UK clinical trial for the swine flu vaccine that has just started here.

My son couldn't take part as he's already had swine flu but I'd have volunteered him otherwise.

It is a new vaccine but then so is every annual flu vaccine, it's not a completely unknown vaccine, IYSWIM?

Thanks zebra, don't know why I felt unsure of it, perhaps just because it seems more unknown. Anyway have spoken to H and we are going to go ahead with it. Hope your son wasn't too poorly x

again not a US hitcher but Eleanor is on the priority list for our hospital as soon as it's available because the consequences of her getting SF are too horrible to think about.  We're going to go with it.  She had the regular flu jab on saturday.

Thanks for replying Sparkling, hope she manages to get it soon and stays flu free in the meantime.

not in the US but if it was me erm probably not but then I might regret that.

I am lucky in that my two are healthy children on the whole and robust and therefore they would hopefully be able to fight off flu themselves and I think it does their immune system more good to do that than have a jab. However having said that it is obviously just my personal opinion and we have PROBABLY already had swine flu a month or so ago which made my husband and I ill but the girls weren't bad really and recovered quickly (but Charlotte and I had flu last year and I was pregnant with Louisa at the time so we could just have had the same flu strain we had last year in which case that isn't a good indicator)

You can only do what feels right to you. I don't personally see swine flu as the same as measles or any of the 'major' illnesses which my children are vaccinated against, it is flu and will be worse in some people than others.

If I was travelling a lot then I would consider it more carefully but as it is my kids aren't in preschool, don't go to groups really, we tend to see small groups of friends for play activities so their exposure is less.

I'm one of the Bristol hitchers Zebra mentioned - my two children who are almost 1 and 3 had the vaccine just over a week ago as part of the swine flu trial.  The trials mainly looking at comparing side effect and immune response to the two different versions of the vaccine available.  My two both had the Baxter vaccine and don't seem to have had any side effects from it.  They'll be getting the second dose in a couple of weeks.  I decided that the benefits of having the vaccine early (or at all not sure they'd be eligible for it otherwise) by being part of the trial were worth the small risks of side effects

Also not in the USA but we were asked to be in the trial and have not taken the offer up. The offer was for my eldest (2yr 7month) as the youngest is too young but we'll probably get an offer for her once she's 6 months. My reasonings are that I have two robust children and didn't see the need for this flu vaccine anymore than any other flu vaccine. If my girls were higher risk or if flu vaccines were always routine then I probably would have gone for it. As it was, I told Eleanor what it involved and she said no to the needles!

We were also asked to be in the trial for the 6-in-1 vaccine - there's an Oxford Vaccine Group so we're local for the trials.

We're not. I'm not a big believer in "unnecessary" vaccines (before anyone jumps down my throat, C has had DTAP, MMR and all the major ones, I delayed hep A and Hep B from 1 day and 1 year to 15 months and have declined chickenpox and all flu vaccines).

Despite living in a big urban area, I have not heard of anyone getting swine flu around here.

Thanks everyone.

Hi Bethany,

I'm in the US (in Iowa so it's resolutely called H1N1 here - too many pigs to get offended ).  Amelia will be getting the swine flu shot when it becomes available and I will too if I'm offered it (she's 14 months).  I'm impressed it's available at your pediatrician's office I think we'll be queuing somewhere when it comes in. She had her seasonal flu shot (split into two) at her 12 month check in August and then 30 days later.  I've had the seasonal flu shot every year since I was at Uni.

I was like you.  I'm very pro vaccine for similar reasons - a big proponent of herd immunity but I don't think the flu ones work the same way.  The biggest thing that reassured me was that the swine flu shot has been developed the same way that the seasonal flu shot is every year (different strains are required in the shot each year) so while the strain is different for H1N1, the procedure for developing the vaccine is similar.  Locally, flu is already starting to be so prevalent that some schools are closing due to sheer numbers of kids and teachers staying home.  They are saying that most of the flu they are seeing is H1N1 rather than seasonal.   

I hope this helps you a bit. It's a tough decision.

Kate

Thanks Kate, I've got her an appointment to have it this afternoon. Not sure how/why we were offered it but I've decided to accept! H and I have decided we want it too, to protect our 12 week old who is too young to have it himself mostly, but not sure when it'll become available to us.

Sounds good Bethany.  Good to get it while it's available to you easily.

I'm really in a panic about this.

I don't do all the vaccines they suggest in the USA.  I pretty much do what the UK does.  My instinct has always been to refuse flu shots for myself and S.

This year our doctor seemed fine with the decision of refusing flu shots for S - she goes to a childminder (5 kids) 3 days a week and then mingles a bit with other children - nothing much.  The doctor didn't even mention the H1N1 vaccine.

But every time I turn on the radio or listen to local Moms this is all I hear about.  How we're all doomed to get it and die, just like the plague...  I read a little bit which said that 80% (? some high figure like that) of the people who get swine flu won't even know it's not just regular flu.  They will recover just fine.

But still.... isn't this just a media over reaction?  My H says this is media hype and not to worry.

S is 19 months, none of us are pregnant...

BG, tell me it will be okay!?!

Well we stood for an hour and a half in the rain yesterday to get the first half of A's.  I think next time (in 30 days) we'll be taking H or Grandma and they can sit in the car with Amelia while I queue as it'll be way too cold then.  She was fine (thank goodness for the Bugaboo) but I'm only just warming up 24 hours later.

Stelly, it really is tough to draw the line between the media hype and when to be concerned.  One thing that got me is that if they do get it the litttlies are more likely to get really sick from it. . . but as I said in an earlier post, I tend to be much more pro-vaccination than you or Bostongirl.  It's really going around here at the moment, several people in our Moms group have it but thankfully I kept her away from activities this week as she had a streaming nose.  Apparantly all flu in Iowa at the moment is H1N1.

Kate