Have you had a bad reaction to the H1N1 vaccine? If so what happened?

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Specializes in MS, OB, PEDI, VNA, TELEM.

:paw: Hospital is offering H1N1 vaccine today to employees, I am hesitant to take it due to the possible reaction.:paw:

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I have taken the H1N1 vaccine and the only side effect I had was a low grade temp for about 2 days after I got the injection. Other than that no problems at all.

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Specializes in Peds stepdown ICU.

My youngest daughter caught the actual virus from the live flu mist. She had to take tamiflu and 2 antibiotics. This is very rare and not so much of an issue with the injection.

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I had the H1N1 shot and I didn't have any reaction at all. I was surprised, usually with seasonal flu shots I have a sore arm and a low grade fever for a few days....but with the H1N1, nothing at all.

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Specializes in ICU, ED, PACU.
My youngest daughter caught the actual virus from the live flu mist. She had to take tamiflu and 2 antibiotics. This is very rare and not so much of an issue with the injection.

How can you know for sure? Coloration does not equal causation. Antibody confirmation to this vaccine can take anywhere from a week to almost a month. It is rash and disingenuous to say your daughter caught the virus from the flu mist, rather you might want to say your daughter contracted the virus shortly after receiving the vaccination.

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I have had an unusually sore arm at injection site. My vaccine was done 3 days ago. I was also very tired that night after getting it and slept 12 hours. I was talking to my other staff that worked that day and they said they were very tired that same night and arm is also very sore.

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Specializes in Vascular Surgery.

Had the flu mist. No reaction.

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I am administering both H1N1 and seasonal influenza injections to hospital employees. Many employees have stated that their arms were much more sore with the H1N1 injection than the seasonal injection. However, all of our seasonal injections came in unit dose syringes without the thimerosal preservative. Many of our H1N1 injections were from the multi-dose vial that contained the thimerosal, and the main side effect of thimerosal is increased soreness. So, whether or not your dose contained thimerosal could be a factor in the level of soreness.

I had the H1N1 mist and I had a very mild headache that probably lasted an hour at most. But I think it was psychological on my part, because I would forget about it, and something would remind me that I had the vaccine, and then I would suddenly notice my headache again lol.

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Specializes in telemetry.

I had the seasonal that came in single dose/unit syringes. No thimerosal. My arm was very sore, and my lymph nodes on the injection side were also very sore. Mild fever, and fatigue.

The H1N1 shot came out of a multi-use vile which had the preservative thimerosal. My arm was hardly sore and I had no other reactions.

H1N1 was much better than the seasonal for me......

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My youngest daughter caught the actual virus from the live flu mist. She had to take tamiflu and 2 antibiotics. This is very rare and not so much of an issue with the injection.

Hi pedinurse,

I am just curious. Was your daughter tested for the actual H1N1 strain? The reason I ask is because I did not know that antibiotics were effective treatment for the influenza virus. Thanks, and I hope she is feeling better!

I have not done my own research on this, and I may sound silly for even wondering this up. If the live attenuated H1N1 mist sheds, and somebody develops flu sx (which is not uncommon after receiving the vaccine, as the vaccine is doing it's job by activating your immune system) would the H1N1 strain possible show up when they are tested? For example, lets say that I received the mist and developed side effects. I go to my doctor for flu sx, but I do not tell him that I received the mist 2 days ago. He tests me for the H1N1 strain. Even if I have not actually caught H1N1, can it show up in the test, as the live attenuated virus sheds from the vaccine?

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Now that you mention it, we had an employee report swollen lymph nodes on their injection side as well, but she had a similar reaction in the past from a different vaccine (or something), but she had underlying medical conditions that she thought may have played a part.

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Specializes in ICU, ED, PACU.
Hi pedinurse,

I am just curious. Was your daughter tested for the actual H1N1 strain? The reason I ask is because I did not know that antibiotics were effective treatment for the influenza virus. Thanks, and I hope she is feeling better!

We are finding that H1N1 itself is not causing deaths, but rather opportunistic infections that follow. Antibiotics were likely given to prophylacticly treat for these opportunistic infections.

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