At least once each day I hear about either an unfortunate child or adult death from the swine flu or media coverage discussing the deaths. Following that information, of course, is the recommendation that we all get our children vaccinated to prevent them from getting and spreading H1N1.
Coming from a parent who's son is on an alternative vaccine schedule, it probably sounds strange to hear that I'm on the fence about this vaccine. But both of my kids get their annual flu vaccine (thimerosal-free, of course). If I trust that vaccine, why should this one be any different?
Reports (from who? from where? I'm not sure - just "media reports" I've heard lately) declare this vaccine to be as safe as any other flu vaccine. The flu vaccine is, as MSNBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman commented recently, "A condo." She said we should think of the H1N1 vaccine as the same condo but with different furniture (where the furniture is the strain of flu this vaccine is supposed to help prevent). Sounds good, right? Makes me want to trust that the manufacturer just took out their old "flu shot" recipe and dropped in a new ingredient; pork, if you will.
But then I read that popular TV doc, Dr. Oz's wife and children won't be getting the vaccine:
Perhaps that article was a bit misleading, though. According to another site that interviewed Dr. Oz:
"I don't want to make a commitment on that until we see the final data," Dr. Oz told News 4 WOAI.
Which means he is withholding judgment rather than deciding not to get his family vaccinated at all. In fact our own pediatrician, a many who is completely gung-ho about vaccines in general and only tolerates my alternative vaccine schedule for my son, said nearly the same thing: he plans to review the research and, if it shows what he thinks it will show, he'll get his young child vaccinated too.
The jury I'm on is still out. I'd like to read more, learn more and just have a better gut feeling about injecting my children with this vaccine. Both of their cousins have had what was suspected to be the swine flu and it was a mild illness that ran its course in about 3 days. Of course there is no way to know how my own children will react to H1N1 should they contract it so that is a bit of a fear factor and something that pushes me to consider this vaccine.
So tell me, will your child receive the H1N1 vaccine?
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[photo credit: SXC]
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