H1N1 Vaccine at school

We got the permission form yesterday for the H1N1 vaccine at school. I have searched the internet for information and of course it runs from perfectly safe to don't risk it remember what happened in the 70's.

Has anyone gotten this vaccine yet? Any reactions?

 

I think it is too late! 276 absent from Briar Woods yesterday...many with H1N1.

 

2 of my kids go to BWHS and they said everyone is sick with kids coughing and hacking all over the place.

 

Parents- Don't panic. Unless you have a child in school (or someone else in your house) that is susceptible to complications from the flu, there is no need to do anything drastic.

It's flu season, the vaccines are safe, only difference is we have two strains to be concerned with this year. Follow your doctor's advice and have a great day!

 

Amen to that!

 

I can't argue with your message (don't panic) but the news that about half of adults hospitalized because of H1N1 had no underlying risk factor and were generally healthy is of concern to me. It suggests that the population is lacking immunity to this strain and should consider vaccination more seriously than for the regular flu strains.

 

I'm not an expert at this, but my brother/mother are both doctors and dealing with it right now. They said that anyone claiming to have H1N1 really has no idea. There is no quick simple test for it (like the one they can do for the A or B variant of the common flu). It costs a lot to send a culture to a lab and you need to wait a long time to get a response to find out if you have H1N1, so they only test those who are at a serious risk (people how have the most serious symptoms or secondary issues that could make it life threatening) or those who have died.

Basically, there is no way to say if anyone from Briar Woods has the swine flu unless they have been given that special test above and beyond the basic flu. I'm willing to bet that the kids are just all saying they have H1N1 because its what they hear in the news.

I coach at Briar Woods, and about 30 of the 90 kids on my team are out sick with the flu right now. Seems to have hit the school really strong the last week. Most are recovering pretty quickly - usually within 2-3 days. Seems to just be the common flu hitting early this year.

 

also, today is what the kids traditionally refer to as Sr. Skip day. I'm sure that has something to do with the numbers of kids missing school.

 

Well this was yesterday. I know of several kids who have confirmed cases. This comes from their doctor.

 

There is a real time test. The Influenza A H1N1 (2009) Real Time RT-PCR is the first commercial test for detecting the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus to be granted emergency use authorization by the FDA during the pandemic flu emergency. It is also the first commercial laboratory test capable of qualitatively detecting the RNA of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

 

The media really hypes things up as well........

 

Great that they are young and healthy and recovering quickly. With 1/3 of the kids on one team out sick I would be concerned for H1 as well. I find it hard to believe that all of these kids did not get regular seasonal flu shots.

 

I've never had a flu shot either and I'm not going to. So far - I haven't got the flu. I exercise, eat lots of fruit and veges and walk every night - no matter what the weather - Ireally enjoy walking in the cold weather, it envigorates you and I think it's good to get outside quite often....I have a good immunity system though - I don't even get colds.

 

I got the regular flu shot, but haven't found out where to get the H1N1 shot. Does anyone know? My kids have never gotten the flu shot, but this year, with my son being in college, I made him get one. Now I need to make sure he gets the H1N1!

 

i just don't know WHAT to do. we've never been vaccinated, never had the flu. my sister and her son had H1N1 and were quarantined for a week- thank God they both recovered fully but it was scary since he's under 2 and she has athsma.

i am more afraid of side effects than the the flu itself, especially after seeing the report on that poor Ashburn girl who got the vaccine at the Reston Safeway and now has some horrible rare illness... even the hospital rep said she didn't know if the vaccine itself was bad, so is there a bad batch floating around out there, or was she just so so unlucky?

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/One-in-a-Million-Shot-64189142.html

think i'll take the chance and go without the shot. i dunno. but what do i do for my kid? risk side effects or flu? sigh. we'll all just eat more oranges.

 

No shots for me....I'll take my chances. Eat a grapefruit a day......and also Kiwi fruit has more vit c than oranges!

 

We'll let our kids get it. Partly because we want to keep them from catching it themselves but also to prevent them from possibly passing it on to people with compromised immune systems.

 

A new study the news reported today showed that kids ages 10 an under really need 2 H1N1 shots to achieve full immunity. So if Loudoun schools only provide 1 shot per student, it looks like that is not a full guarantee that they'll be 100% protected.

Also, I believe thimerosal (a preservative) is the mercury containing substance most people fear of as far as side effects go.... but it is needed to produce the vaccine in large quantities. A few out there are available thimerosal free. Not sure where to even begin looking for it though but worth the search for those struggling with the decision of whether or not to take it.

 

My oldest daughter, a student at BWHS went home from school early on Tuesday with flu like symptoms. Wednesday morning I took her to the doctor and learned that they are following CDC guidelines now:

Don't bother testing for which strain of flu, just assume it is and only treat with Tamiflu if there are underlying risk factors...which she has.

It would seem the H1N1 is so ubiquitous that we're all probably going to be exposed to it (and some of us will fight it off and never know it was here), yet mild enough that even if you get it you most likely won't get horribly, horribly ill.

The amusing thought crossed my mind that maybe we should have an H1N1 party for parents to bring their kids over and get their exposure the good old fashioned healthy way...like some parents do with chicken pox.