I'm nervous, mainly because we've already had it hit the family, a cousin who's usually in amazing health, who was in bed for weeks unable to move and barely able to breathe, he said it felt like he was dying.

I get hit really bad with regular flus, since I have asthma and poor lungs, so the thought of a flu that's strong enough to hit people without existing conditions as hard as it has been, terrifies me about what it could do to me or the kiddos.

I believe that a lot of the h1n1 scare is hype. I understand that when it first hit, it appeared to be a lot more deadly than regular seasonal flus, but that doesn't seem to be the case now that it's been around a while and they've had a chance to get more data. The main concerns are the fact that it is affecting a different population more severely than they are used to with seasonal flu. There is also the concern that it has the potential to mutate and become a lot more severe as our flu season gets going.

The vaccine itself makes me just as nervous as the thought of getting swine flu, though. There was a swine flu scare in 1976 where the US government had an emergency vaccination campaign. The flu turned out to not be anywhere near as bad as they had anticipated (killing only 1 person), but the vaccination killed 25 people and caused serious health problems in a lot more people. It's not that I don't believe that vaccinations can work and be done safely, but when we are relying on for profit companies to manufacture and ensure the safety of something there is always the potential for things to get overlooked or facts to be deliberately buried. In Canada, we have one company that we're relying on to produce all of the vaccinations. That company stands to make a ton of money if they can get their product to be given to all Canadians. My concern is that the government, in their haste to do something about the potential of this thing to be deadly, isn't going ask the right questions to ensure that this is safe.

Just this week they've come out with a study that indicates people who have gotten a flu shot in the past may be more likely to contract h1n1. There doesn't seem to be anyone who knows the reason for this. So, how does the h1n1 vax that they are going to be rolling out differ from the seasonal flu shot and how do we know that it isn't going to have the same componant that makes contracting the virus more likely? There's just too much that is not known.

My other concern is that swine variations of the flu go around every so often. One of the reasons young adults are particularly susceptible to this virus is because we don't have any immunity to this type of flu. We don't know how long immunity will last from this vaccine. In 30-40 years, will our children be better off having gotten the vaccine and potentially having no immunities to a similar strain of the flu, or will they be better off with those natural immunities?

For us, we don't have anyone in our family that is particularly high risk (aside from age) and the kids especially tend to not get hit very hard with whatever happens to be going around. I also have a deadly egg allergy that didn't become obvious until I was around 7 and am terrified to give the kids vaccines produced in eggs in case they've inherited that allergy from me. The kids and myself have never had a flu shot, and I have no idea how any of us would react to one. I certainly won't be getting vaccinated, and the only way our kids will is if my SO feels strongly enough about it to convince me that it would be the lesser of two evils.

Being pregnant, I'm a little scared of the flu, but more scared of the vaccine.

Its a lot of hype.

I was worried about this as well (to be honest, still am). I have made a few lifestyle changes to avoid getting it. I don't go into busy malls anymore, and avoid going into grocery stores, etc at busy tumes. I am constantly washing my hands as well. If a friend or family member is stick, I stay far away from them. Unfortunatly, other then that....what else can I realistically do?

The desicion to vax agaisnt it, is a personal one. I am vaxing, but I wont be pregnant when the shot does come out in Canada. I wont vax my infant for it, but my 4 year old and husband will be vaxed for it, to keep it out of the house. Could your husband/daughter get vaxed for it? Both probably do meet the priority standards, (daughter being school-aged, and husband having a respiratory condition). As a pregnant woman, you DO meet the priority list as well. Again, its such a personal desicion..and you have to weigh the possible risks of the vaccine against the possible risks of you, yourself contracting it.

If it gets to my area, I'm pulling my son out of school. I'd rather keep the possibility as far away as possible than use a potentially dangerous vaccine.

I've been pretty skeptical about this myself. I don't live in a very large city, but I do go out to public places very often (Hospital, to drop off my school modules, grocery store, wal-mart) and I have been really nervous about the flu. The H1N1 exists here, but as far as I know it hasn't effected anyone within immediate contact to me. But I started getting a sore throat a couple of days and and my head feels really stuffy. I've had to blow my nose a few dozen times a day. I'm praying it's just a cold, or a flu that doesn't have the H1N1 strain.

Like all of you are, I'm also really nervous about the vaccine. It hasn't been properly tested and I'm more afraid of a bad reaction to the vaccine, than fighting off a flu. In some places I've even heard it's mandatory to take the virus. In Canada I haven't heard anything similar. But I'm still on my toes. I should probably spend a little bit of time focusing on getting better before going out again.

Hopefully there can be some more information.

That sounds pretty good. It's good to hear that this might help us out in the future. If you have any information on that bill, could you post it? I'd just like to read up on it a bit.

I guess because I don't pay much attention to the media I haven't so much seen all the media hype I keep hearing about everywhere. LOL! But I am definitely seeing it in my school, they seem to be planning for and anticipating the worst. Which I'm ok with, I'd rather they be over prepared than under, and they have good prevention stuff going on.

I'm not worried they'll make vaxing mandatory. Legally they can't do it, and there's no way they could enforce something like that anyway, and I don't think they'd be stupid enough politically to try, it would be very unpopular. I mean they can say it's mandatory, but they have to have opt-out procedures.

I'm still weighing the pros and cons of the vaccine and I'm interested to see what side effects other countries are seeing in pregnant women, because they're going to have it months before we do.

I wish there was more information about it, too. The ingredient list has not been released for the four H1N1 vaxes that will be on the market in the US. (I don't know how it works in Canada. Sorry.) I do know that as it stands, there's rumors that there will be no adjunct. There's rumors that there will be if the vaccines fail to perform very well in trial. Still, it's something to watch, since other countries may not be using the exact same vax as the one available where you live, which might have different efficiency, toxicity, or possible side effects, depending on the other ingredients in the vax.

One thing I'd want before I'd be willing to vax (though with the information available, I'm gonna wait when it comes out) that I've heard no talk about: testing for immunity to H1N1 before they vax. I don't think we've had H1N1, but it was going around our playgroup, giving us a chance of exposure. I think the best situation for us would be if we had already developed immunity from H1N1 through a subclinical infection that we had last year. Particularly since this is such a controversial vaccine, I can't imagine why I would want to vax if I already have immunity.

BGW, ias adjunct the same thing as adjuvant? The chemical they use to boost the vaccine's power so that they can make it stretch further? As far as the information I read, they are planning to use an adjuvant in the Canadian vax, but have not come out and said which one. The Canadian H1N1 vaccine is being produced by one company, so there is likely to one be one type of vaccine and it's not likely to be something that's been used elsewhere.

Here's an article that talks about the use of adjuvant as well as other things. http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1750403

Kanna, I'm looking for that part of the bill. I found it the other day, but I'm having a hard time finding it again.

The word is adjuvant. I don't know why I was saying adjunct. Sorry.

From what I understand the Canadian gov't has also ordered some of the vaccines that do not contain the adjuvant for pregnant women, in case they are reluctant to take this different version we have here. I think?

I hadn't heard that, but that appears to be the case

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/17/h1n1-vaccine-babies.html

I just read this article about pregnant people and H1N1: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=agSkfeIV2ryg

What I found most interesting was that it sounded like they had a possible treatment to help make this flu less deadly for pregnant people. I much rather be treated with immunoglobulin after I find out that I have a severe case of what is generally a mild flu than vax for that flu and worry that this flu will resurface in a nastier form and the vax I took for the more mild form that's floating around now has worn off. Hopefully not all the eggs are being put in the vaccination basket. We'll see.

Treating with immunoglobulin is akin to getting a blood transfusion, though, isn't it? That's pretty risky in itself. But at least you would only need to do it IF you actually had a severe case of flu, rather than as a preventative measure.

I'm thinking about the vaccine. Not for the kiddos, but for myself.

I'm also wondering too, if I take it, since I'm still nursing, if it'll help pass on at least the antibodies created from the vaccine to Theo in the milk.

I'm torn on the vax, really. I'm leaning towards getting it, so I can just stop worrying about whether or not to get it. Hah!

I wish there was more info available. I wonder if they're going to put out the info from the vaccine trials, that would be really helpful.

The biggest issue I am having right with the whole thing is the lack of clarity on proper procedures from the health care industry. Some provinces are urging pregnant women to get their shot now, that the adjuvant is worth the risk, others are saying only if you are over 20 weeks, others say pregnant women should not get the vaccine until we get the unadjuvanted one. First you can get the H1N1 and seasonal vaccines without risk, then you can, now you can again. It appears that nobody really knows what they are doing, and that's scary as hell.

The other thing that concerns me is that the adjuvant (in the Canadian version) contains squalene, which up until now has not been approved for use in Canada. It's still not approved for use in the US. I'm wondering why top officials in Germany are being given a special adjuvant free vaccine purchased from the US rather than the GSK one that is being given to the general population (the same one we have available in Canada) http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091027/hl_time/08599193236600

There are also reports of 4 deaths in Sweden that are believed to be linked to the vaccination (again, Pandemrix, the one that we have here in Canada).

"I'm also wondering too, if I take it, since I'm still nursing, if it'll help pass on at least the antibodies created from the vaccine to Theo in the milk."

Having received the vaccine, I was curious about this too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1K74Tnrrok

Please watch this video. Not only am I certain I'm not getting the vaccine, but I might not vaccinate my third child at all, even though I vaccinated my first two. One of the scariest things about the H1N1 vaccine is that it's exempt from lawsuits, which means if someone becomes sick or dies from it, no one will be held responsible. Also, lab animals have had horrible reactions to the vaccine.

CanadianMamma, everything keeps changing because that is how science works, only this time every step is being widely reported in the media. I think when the media was saying getting the regular flu shot could increase your chances of getting H1N1 this was only a preliminary finding of one study, I'm not even sure if it proved causality (as I recall, they were saying people coming down with the virus were more likely to have gotten the flu shot last year - well couldn't this also be because they are at higher risk of infection? Ya know?). Anyways preliminary results from one study do not make fact, obvs. But, for a huge media issue like this, they make headlines, and they are reported as facts. It seems like there's a lot of conflicting information because they're still learning, and the media is reporting every little thing.
I had also heard elsewhere about these vaccine deaths in Sweden, but I can't confirm this through any reliable media source so until I can I'm chalking it up to more rumour. Personally I think news sources would be falling all over themselves to report something like this - imagine how many newspapers they would sell!

MamaButterfly, I watched like 2 seconds of that video, and saw that they were saying vaccines cause autism, and it lost all credibility in my eyes so I turned it off. There was one academic study a long time ago that said that thimerosal caused autism, and then every other academic study since then has refuted that - and, all of the original study's authors have withdrawn the study except one, the lead author, who is now under investigation for academic misconduct on something unrelated. I just don't buy that there's a link. And if there is, why is autism still on the rise when thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines?

I probably sound totally pro-vax here, but I'm not, I just find it so frustrating that I'm not able to find unbiased info on either side. And IMO, if the anti-vax movement is so credible, why are they spreading misinformation? And if they have studies, why don't they have them published in a peer-reviewed journal so there's no question as to their credibility? Ya know?

I think I've decided to get the vaccine. Personally I believe I'm at more risk from the virus than from the vaccine. I'm waiting for the adjuvant-free version for me just in case and because that is the WHO's recommendation, and DD will get the regular one once she's recovered from her cold.

The kids all have it now.. it really isnt that bad. Kids had fevers coughs.. Avi developed minor pneumonia and pink eye. Nova is in the hospital for dehydration, ear infection and to monitor his respiratory status since hes high risk. And Te is just fine despite an annoying cough.

No way, would i expose my kid to toxins to 'build' their immune system, especially something brand new!

This H1N1 thing is a giant pain in the ass!

My son came home from school with a mild fever (100.1), a dry cough, and was a little lathargic. I didn't treat it like the flu (becuase to me, that is NOT the flu), and he recovered within a day or two at home. I didn't bother to take him to the doctor, because I didn't want to expose him to whatever is floating around in the office, and what I was seeing, was a mild cold. However, in reading the paper and watchign the news, they report any kind of mild cough/fever could be the damn flu. My kid gets a cold like this every other week in the winter (he goes to school/daycare). How am I going to know its the real deal? I am almost full term pregnant (due date is friday!), so I am extra cautious...and *knocks wood* I didn't get this "cold" my son had.

As for the shot. I am on the fence. I really don't want an infant to get H1N1, and my son is school aged, so he will bring it home for sure. The shot IS a good preventative measure, however, I really really don't trust drug companies...and this shot is SO new, I don't know what to beleive about it.

This whole thing is soo frusterating!

I am a huge vaccination fan. I feel like not getting a vaccine when it is for a potentially fatal illness and is available is irresponsible. If you or your healthy children get sick it wouldn't necessarily be a big deal, but if you or your children get someone ill who is immuno-compromised and/or doesn't have access to health care they can die. You don't know what kind of illnesses people have that you pass in the grocery store or something and the tiny risk associated with the vax is much less than the risk for them.