dlish

i got the swine flu vaccine 2 weeks ago. its free in australia who is prone to swineflu or is a parent to newlyborns

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Baraka_Guru

You know, I don't normally get flu shots, but I'm thinking of getting one this year. (Well, two, apparently.)

I think this is one of those situations where you should go out of the way to take special precautions. It could get really nasty, and I'm willing to take what I can get to protect myself.

This isn't just any other year for the flu.

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—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
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robot_parade

The entire Robot clan will be getting both. My son has asthma, which is reason enough to get the seasonal one even if I were otherwise on the fence. One of the interesting things about H1N1 is how many 'otherwise healthy' people are dying from it, whereas the regular seasonal flu tends to kill of people with weaker immune systems - the old, infants, and people with compromised immune systems.

Allow me to plug this blog again.

Willravel

I'm getting vaccinated this year. H1N1 isn't something I can stave off by eating well, getting enough sleep and exercising. I don't have antibodies for the strain yet.

Grancey

As I said earlier, I've already had the yearly flu vaccine. I plan to get the H1N1 also when it becomes available. Last week, the college where we live gave H1N1 vaccines to college students and employees. They had doses left over which means some students are ignoring the danger. No word yet on when "regular" people will be able to receive vaccinations. Have any of you heard of an arrival date for the H1N1 vaccines where you live? I can't get any info.

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Baraka_Guru

According to the Ontario government, everyone has access to the N1H1 vaccine in November. The seasonal vaccine is currently being administered to anyone over 65 or anyone in a long-term care home.

Come December/January, the rest of us will get the seasonal vaccine.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

MSD

I'm just glad the anti-vax movement is losing momentum in the media. I'll be geting both shots ass soon as I'm over this bronchitis.

ASU2003

It might be losing momentum in the media, but I'm sure there are still plenty of people afraid of the possibility of long-term problems. And I think the medical researchers (and vested interests holding back any negative findings) are to blame. Even if it may or may not be true. I mean, what would have happened if they came out and said that mercury in vaccines cause certain illnesses? Could you imagine the scope of the lawsuits? There would be nobody who would want to have anything to do with vaccine production.

I'll be getting the H1N1 vaccine because I worry about getting it from other people in public. The issue is that I have a low risk of getting this compared to other groups. And the health industry isn't doing very well getting the vaccine out to those that are high risk in a orderly fashion in th big cities (lines start at 3am for high risk groups), and they run out.

And I have no faith in the American public at maintaining a true quarantine of any length. And the more people rely on tamiflu, the more chance that it will mutate into a new strain.

filtherton

To add to this, there have also been a few situations where cutting edge medical advice and safety assurances have proven to be either misinformed or premature, despite the fact that they were passed off as the god's honest truth. Hormone replacement therapy anyone?

I'm not taking a side on the vaccine subject, I just might have gotten a swine flu vaccine if I didn't accidentally just go ahead and get the swine flu. I'm just saying that there are sometimes good reasons to be suspicious of the correctness of status quo medical advice.

ZombieSquirrel

I didn't used to get a flu shot, but now since I have been diagnosed with a chronic illness, my doctor insists. He would just roll his eyes at my "new age, hippie, natural home remedies."

The H1N1 shot is free at my county health department (for which I used to work.) I will be going to the clinic to get stuck this week at their flu clinic. I called my former co-worker and she's saving a Scooby Doo band aid for me. It pays to know people!

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raptor9k

deleted

bagatelle

I have never taken seasonal flu vaccinations. I haven't had a bad case of flu in recent years. Swine flu shots aren't available here yet, and I was not planning on taking it.

yournamehere

Same thing happened to me - I caught the flu in February of '08 while I was recuperating from surgery. The 2007/2008 flu season was one of the "miss" years in the hit-or-miss seasonal flu vaccine. Usually, though, they hit it right.

The H1N1 vaccine is a slam-dunk, though - they identified the virus in April and know exactly what they're dealing with. If you get the H1N1 vaccine and still get the swine flu, it's only going to be because you already contracted it before your immune system could produce antibodies. There's no hit-or-miss where H1N1 is concerned.

I would get it in a heartbeat if it were available here. But right now the meager supplies are being reserved for healthcare workers, children, and pregnant women. As soon as it becomes available to adults, I'll go get one, if I haven't already caught the flu by then.

In the meantime, I have four bottles of Purell in my house and car, and use it whenever I think of it.

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FuglyStick

I can get one through the VA, but I haven't got one in quite some time.

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uncle phil

only once for me; never again...

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Grancey

Our local health department will be administering the H1N1 vaccinations next Saturday from 9 - 3. I'll be there.

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yournamehere

One other thought - for those who are worried about H1N1 and the lack of vaccines.

The worst cases (death or extended hospitalization) are due to a double whammy of the flu and bacterial pneumonia. The flu attacks the respiratory system and immune system so badly that, even after someone seems to be improving, they catch pneumonia and get much worse. Most of the deadly cases are due to this.

Even though there may be a shortage of flu vaccine, there is no shortage of pneumonia vaccine. If you go get a pneumonia vaccine, at least if you catch the H1N1 flu, you won't run the risk of having it followed by pneumonia. That will probably ensure that you will remain in the 99.5% of cases that suffer no greater effects than those of the seasonal flu. Nothing is certain, though . . . . .

ps - Pneumonia shots are good for about 10 years, too - they're not required annually.

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hunnychile

In Ohio last week, at the Canfield Local Schools, every child was given a vaccine for H1N1 unless they were not allowed and have a note from their parent or a parent "with them" at school to tell the administrators not to give their child the shot.

This makes me feel a lot better since most of my friends' kids go to this school. Now to help the elderly around here & fast.

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yournamehere

Actually, people under the age of 65 are considered more at risk to H1N1 than those over 65. People 65 and older have more "experienced" immune systems and can fight off the virus better than those with less exposure to a lifetime of viruses. Of course, they are the high-risk category for the seasonal flu, though, and should get that vaccine if they haven't already.

Also, there was a widespread outbreak in the U.S. of a very similar flu strain in the mid-1930s, so many doctors consider anyone alive then (age 75 or older now) to have at least partial immunity to the 2009 H1N1 strain.

And, as I said a couple of posts above, the one-two punch of flu + pneumonia is what is killing people, and many seniors have already taken their doctors' advice and have been vaccinated against bacterial pneumonia.

With children and pregnant women being vaccinated; and those over 65 considered "low risk," the high risk category for now is adults aged 25-65. Especially those 50-65, because they will not be given the more plentiful nasal vaccine, because it was never tested on anyone over 49.

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If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
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hunnychile

So, say you were aged 54 and more likely to get bronchitis in the winter months, would you be looking for the H1N1 shot or just willing to tough it out?

PS. Glad I finally made out a Will, just in case...

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yournamehere

I would suggest getting the seasonal flu and pneumonia vaccines ASAP and get the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available (it's looking like early January for non-high risk adults - at least in my neck of the woods) By that time, it may be too late. In the meantime, staple a bottle of Purell to your sleeve, wash your hands every time you blink, and stay away from crowded places. If your primary care physician is familiar with your respiratory problems, perhaps he/she could help you get a vaccination. Other than that - you'll be made a pariah if you stand in line "keeping a child or pregnant woman from getting theirs."

Our local news station was at a vaccination clinic last week, and I thought some of the parents were going to tar and feather anyone over 18 standing in line. How dare they steal from the children? Forget the fact that many of those adults had lupus or asthma.

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If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Redlemon

Thank you very much for that information. I'll add that the pneumonia vaccine appears to be part of the standard list of vaccines given to children these days (my son is 7), so now we're a bit less worried about our son. We all already have the seasonal, I'll think I'll take a trip today for the pneumonia as well.

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GreyWolf

Actually, the strains of the flu prevalent in the late 1950's also seem to convey some degree of resistance to H1N1 due to the similarities in the strains. People who were alive then (anyone much over 50) may already have limited immunity.

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Grancey

Our county health department administered free H1N1 vaccines today. I got mine. 20 minute wait at 9:30am. They were expecting no crowds at all by noon, and they were scheduled to go until 3:00. I was expecting a very long wait, so I was very surprised.

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Quiet, mild-mannered souls might just turn out to be roaring lions of two-fisted cool.

BogeyDope

I voted that I have never gotten one, but I had my first one yesterday. My school was having free H1N1 vaccines, and seeing as I'm going to travel overseas to an area that is currently afflicted with H1N1, I figured it'd be extremely smart to get vaccinated.

Wish I could change my vote. I feel like a dirty liar now.

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Salem

I've had a couple flu shots in my life, but I don't get them every year. And I'm not getting the H1N1 vaccine.

Baraka_Guru

I couldn't get a flu shot right now if I tried.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

MSD

Not to mention that if you're getting it, it's probably flu season. I can't imagine how someone could get the flu then.
I fucked two girls with condoms, they both got pregnant anyway, so why bother use condomw?
Lobar Pneumonia infections were the worst experiences of my life. I made the stupid mistake of "it might be viral, let's give it a day to clear up before we start antibiotics." Two days later, in the ER, hallucinating due to the 106° fever about the big metal machine that was coming to ... absorb me. The doctor said in his long career he has only seen a few patients who managed to melt their earwax. IV fluids for 6 hours, ice packed around me to get my temperature down until the ibuprofen did something, and the sympathetic nurses who would rub my shoulder and reassure me that I was going to be fine (didn't hurt that they were hot) until I was down to a safe, maintainable 102° and could go home.

I wish I know they had a shot for it.
If you're likely to get bronchitis, you're in a risk group and need the vaccine.
If you were around in 1957 or before, you most likely have H1N1 antibodies that will drop this to a mild seasonal flu if you get any symptoms indistinguishable from the common cold.