H1N1 will you be giving the vaccine?

[darla09]

H1N1 is certainly making the news. Are you seeing very many cases of H1N1 in your area?

Will you be giving the vaccine in your hospital or clinics as soon as it is available?

As an ambulatory care nurse I am trying to determine my personal medical responsibility with this unkown vacccine.

I also wonder, will you personally take the H1N1 vaccine?

Thank you so much for the listening ear and response :wink2: Darla09

[tewdles, RN]

"I think the issue is, that there HASN'T been any study that links this vaccine to complications, because it's only been in existence for something like six months. You're right, the vaccine is said to be made exactly like the seasonal vaccine, however, we don't know what kind of reactions people could have to the actual antigen being in our bodies. Being a new virus we don't know WHAT it's capabilities are, or how our body will react to it, dead or alive. Another issue I see is quality control. Ever notice when you type too fast you get more typos? This vaccine has been pushed out to the public, and will be given in MASS numbers never seen before, in time frame of only months. Surely, with things moving that fast, there is the increased possibility for errors."

It takes approximately five to six months for the first supplies of approved vaccine to become available once a new strain of influenza virus with pandemic potential is identified and isolated. This from the WHO in August of this year. There is a good resource for production info @ https://allnurses.com/misc.php?do=bbcode#url http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090806/en/index.html

I honor your thoughtful approach to making this choice for yourself and your family. The H1N1 that we are facing today is, I believe, a genetic cousin to one that we identified a few years back...bird, human, pig hybrid...I think. Hopefully this translates into a bit of scientific knowledge of this antigen.

[pumpkinpatchquilter]

It takes approximately five to six months for the first supplies of approved vaccine to become available once a new strain of influenza virus with pandemic potential is identified and isolated. This from the WHO in August of this year. There is a good resource for production info @ https://allnurses.com/misc.php?do=bbcode#url http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090806/en/index.html

I honor your thoughtful approach to making this choice for yourself and your family. The H1N1 that we are facing today is, I believe, a genetic cousin to one that we identified a few years back...bird, human, pig hybrid...I think. Hopefully this translates into a bit of scientific knowledge of this antigen.

Exactly my point Tweedles. Thank you for your kind response. I have been to the WHO's website, and didn't they begin making the vaccine in something like, May of this year? My child's school has already sent home a letter saying that in about two weeks, towards the end of October, they will be offering the vaccine at clinics held all around the county. My point is that, they are still unclear as to whether thimerosal may cause autism, which according to the FDA's website was introduced as a preservative in vaccines in the 1930's. Even though they make thimerosal free vaccines now, there is nconclusive answer of yes or no, as to whether thimerosal actually does or does not cause autism. (I should add that the FDA website also states that recent studies do not seem to support the thimerosal/autism connection.) So if nearly 80 years after the first use of thimerosal, we are still unsure if it could be harming our children, how can we trust a vaccine that is less than a year old? Thimerosal isn't really what I'm getting at though. I'm just a little nervous at this stage in the game, with such a new vaccine. I have to be honest though, I'm leaning towards having my children vaccinated. But that doesn't mean that I'm completely confident in the safety of the vaccine either. It's kind of a situation where I feel like I need to choose the best of two relatively unknown outcomes.

Another concern for me is adjuvants, which one pharmaceutical company is using to stretch the vaccine farther. From what I understand, and maybe I'm wrong, is that the FDA has never approved a vaccine containing adjuvants before. I don't know if these are to be in the vaccines that will be available to my children in a few weeks or not. Still, much of this is new territory, for me and for the country, so yes, I have reservations.

I do appreciate your thoughts - and your respect for mine. :)

[tewdles, RN]

"Another concern for me is adjuvants, which one pharmaceutical company is using to stretch the vaccine farther. From what I understand, and maybe I'm wrong, is that the FDA has never approved a vaccine containing adjuvants before. I don't know if these are to be in the vaccines that will be available to my children in a few weeks or not. Still, much of this is new territory, for me and for the country, so yes, I have reservations. "

pumpkinpatchquilter, I believe that the US officials determined that we would not be utilizing adjuvants for the H1N1 vaccine production. Some in the international community are not happy about that as they feel that such actions result in adequate global supplies, particularly as it applies to poorer nations.

You are correct that adjuvants are not uncommon, and, of course, people question their safety, efficacy, etc. That sort of dialog is a good thing. That is part of the reason that this is a wonderful country...it has always appreciated the value of and need for meaningful dialog.

[kcksk]

Hi All,

I have gotten the H1N1 vaccine already and two of my three children have (they are considered high-risk due to asthma). My third child--home from college with the flu. Went to bed at night, woke up in the middle in agony. She is miserable. High fever off and on, ears, throat, even says her skin hurts. Hopefully it is long enough from when the others got their vaccine that they won't be down and out too.

That being said, my boys get the seasonal flu shot every year and because they are over 3-they were getting thimerosol every year. I trust my kids drs and they all recommend it (and take it themselves AND their children). If you look at the H1N1 as different than the seasonal flu, you may want to look again. The seasonal flu every year is a new strain. If we had the H1N1 strain figured early enough, it would have already been in the seasonal flu shot this year. From what I understand, it will be in future seasonal flu vaccines so there won't be the need for two different shots each year. Someone said it is like having the same house but different furniture inside. Developed the same way--just a different strain.

I work in a pedi office and have already seen a lot of kids with the flu. Some so sick they have left in ambulances. I respect everyone's opinions and what they choose to do with their children is their choice. I think we all need to stop watching tv( the media is ridiculous!), trust your drs. opinion, and do what you think is right.

Just my opinion.

[tewdles, RN]

Agree with kcksk that some in the media are ridiculous and some are both ridiculous AND irresponsible when it comes to H1N1.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I work in a hospital clinic (OB/GYN). This year, because of the mandate and the increased hype, our hospital has created a flu clinic for walk ins. I give both, Seasonal and H1N1 continously, due to working in GYN and doing overtime in our flu clinic. I have not seen people afflicted with swine flu, but I have seen the results of running out of vaccines and increased panic, because I had people come from very far to our facility since we are one of the few that is being properly supplied.

[sweetiepeas]

I too believe that the H1N1 is the same as a flu vaccine just a different strain of flu. I was just reading today the paper that is package with the H1N1 and they have been making them since 1980. I think the big deal is that is it being reported on by the media more than they report on the regular flu. Originally the H1N1 was not responding to antiviral medications which made it more dangerous than the regular flu. Now there are two antiviral medications that are proving to work.

I worked at a H1N1 flu clinic last night and most of the questions being asked were about the thermosal. Getting the shot w/ thermosal is no worse than eating a can of chunk light tuna in a week. For people who are afraid or worried about thermosal should look into the mercury amounts in the fish we eat everyday. Some are quite high.

I think the media needs to chill out. The regular flu kills about 36,000 peoplea year per the CDC.