Swine Flu: What's A Good Mother To Do?
by I’ve been good mother. I done what I can to keep my children safe. They eat mostly organic fruits and vegetables, and tuna only occasionally. They bike with their helmets and usually with me. School maybe only eight blocks away but I would never let them go alone. They wear shin guards and sunblock. They know our emergency earthquake plan and have memorized their out-of-state relatives’ phone numbers. They don’t have mercury fillings and I try to keep the x-rays down to a minimum.
When it was time to vaccinate, I did, but on a much slower schedule to reduce lingering risk. When they are sick, which is rare because I keep them healthy with regular doses of vitamin C, vitamin D, and a variety of my favorite chinese herbs, I tend to them with the focus of mother lion protecting her cubs. I try not to hover but they tell me they can hear my helicopter even in the dead of night when I insist on leaving their doors open just in case they need me.
But let me tell you, this swine flu thing has had me stumped. The news is replete with stories of healthy people who are dying, pregnant mothers who have suffered months in comas, children who suffer needlessly. Just vaccinate we are told and all will be well. Then of course the internet is filled with horror stories of the risks of vaccination. “The manufacturer has not done enough testing.” “The last swine flu vaccination actually killed people.” “It’s a conspiracy!” one email declared. “The government is in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies in an effort to boost sales.” And by the way, you can’t call it swine flu anymore, its H1N1(the new designation advocated on behalf of the pork industry whose lobbyists worried the negative association would affect their sales: score another one for the conspiracy theorists).
The media has me in a tizzy. Do I vaccinate my children even though the serum has not been fully tested? Do I risk the chance that they will get this horrible disease? And then, I learn there isn’t even enough vaccination to go around. A recent article in the New York Times declared that good mothers vaccinate but limited supplies are rendering we good mothers failures because we can’t properly care for our little angels.
You can imagine my deep anxiety when not one but two of my children recently came home complaining of aches and pains. First, my son showed up one afternoon having skipped his cross country practice declaring he wasn’t “feeling too hot.” He had a fever of 103. I sent him to his room where he spent the next four days battling a high fever, a sore throat, a headache, and a mild cough. He returned to school on the fifth day, fever free but still coughing and weak. His illness reminded me of the flu the entire family had three years before. Horrible, but not life threatening.
A week later, my daughter complained of a sore throat and earache. She was also nauseous and suffered mild diarrhea. She too stayed home for four days. She never had a fever but was uncomfortable. In both cases, the doctor diagnosed H1N1. She told us that it was a waste of time to get a blood test. In 100% of the cases her office had sent to the CDC for testing in the past month, no matter the symptoms, the patients had Swine Flu. “If you are sick right now, you have it,” was our doctor’s conclusion.
Both my son and daughter survived the H1N1. They are weak and tired but they’ll live. The good news is my youngest son has not gotten sick - yet. Do I vaccinate him now? Do I wait to see if he will get it? What if something really bad happens? What if he is the one in a thousand? Tell me, what’s a good mother to do?
Alisha Whitfield's family had Swine Flu and she offers some great advice.
My new favorite “hypochondriac” Jenny blogs at Absolutely Bananas
Leave it to the Brits to write the funniest Swine Flu Blog
Posted In
- Home
- About Us
- BlogHer Community
- Conferences
- BlogHer Network
- Special Offers
- Contact Us
Follow us on Twitter:
@blogher @bloghersupport @blogherdeals
Become a Facebook Fan
© Copyright 2009 BlogHer | Terms of Service
Comments
If I could find the shots, I would get them
My pediatrician is out. But I always feel like if I can protect them, with minimal risk, why wouldn't I? Some parents disagree on the amount of risk, but I haven't seen solid proof yet. At least nothing that isnt' the same as any other drug on the market.
I just can't imagine sitting next to a hospital bed thinking 'I should have vaccinated' ...
Politics & News Contributing Editor Queen of Spain
Get the shot not the nasal spray...
Hey Erin. I'm most likely not getting my teens vaccinated (plus I think my son already had it at college). Anyway, I would just reccommend that you get the injection rather than the nasal spray. It may seem less tramatic to the kids to get the spray, but the spray is a LIVE virus and the injection is a dead virus (the same is true with the seasonal flu vaccines). The thing about the spray is...It does something called shedding (which is code for spreading) for up to 21 days after receiving it. So if you come in contact with anyone who has a compromised immune system (old people, sick people, etc) you can actually cause them to get the virus. Here is a link...
http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2009/10/h1n1-flumist-vaccine-spraying-live.html
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
at Catherine-Morgan.com and Women4Hope
we did it
precisely for the reason Erin states above: I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if they were hospitalized because I chose not to.
Every doctor/specialist I've asked recommends getting it, and I've learned not to trust stuff I read on the internet. (ha!) :-)
totallytogetherjournal.com and crockpot365.blogspot.com
I'm on the fence
It isn't available in my area yet and I am still on the fence. As much as I can't imagine sitting next to a hospital bed thinking "I should have vaccinated", I also can't imagine sitting next to a hospital bed thinking "I shouldn't have vaccinated".
To me the priority groups they have set here seem backwards. At least with regards to kids versus adults. They have tested the vaccine to some degree on adults. Not on children. Adults ages 40 to 55 are most likely to die from the swine flu, but they are not on the priority list for the vaccine, young children are. So they want me to vaccinate my young children with a vaccine that hasn't been tested on kids even though they have an excellent chance of surviving them swine flu of they get it.
PhD in Parenting - http://phdinparenting.com
I Vaccinated
I went for it after doing my due dilligence. I actually blogged about it today as well... http://workathomemom.typepad.com/the_daily_grind_of_a_work/2009/10/to-vaccinate-or-not-to-vaccinate-that-is-the-question.html
Absolutely vaccinate.
I'm absolutely going to vaccinate. My son and I have had the seasonal flu vaccine in previous years (and this year as well), and this vaccine is developed using the same safe, tried-and-true methods.
My son probably already had H1N1 this fall, but they're not testing for it here as the swab test is only 50% accurate. Accordingly, I'm planning to vaccinate him anyway.
Leslie
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox
I Will, Too
I'm with Erin: once the vaccines are available, my family will get them. Why? The best recent writing on the importance of vaccinations is Amy Wallace's Wired story: An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All:
Read her article, then check out the nasty and irrational reactions from the Antivax camp:
Who would you take advice from? Seriously?
We all know that there are very good reasons (too young, immune deficiencies, anaphylactic allergies) why some people cannot be vaccinated -- all the more reason for those who can to demonstrate social responsibility, and get jabbed.
Shannon Des Roches Rosa
Squidalicious.com parenting first, autism second
CanISitWithYou.org real tales of schoolyard terror and triumph
BlogHer Contributing Editor parenting children with special needs
Woman On The Fence
Just like the title of my Blog, www.WomenOnTheFence.com, I too just don't know the right thing is to do. It's kept me up at night just thinking about the whole thing. I wrote a very similar post yesterday, and for now, I have opted out for my family. After much research, H1N1 is not much different than the regular flu, and I will try more alternative methods for keeping my family well.. for now! Unless of course I panick and chicken out and bring everyone for the shot!!
I don't have the answer. The truth is, we just don't know enough about this vaccine long term.
Good luck this flu season, Lisen. I wish us all, good luck,
Erica Diamond
xoxEDxox
Still on the fence...
I wish I was more decisive and knew exactly what I was going to do! I talked about this on my own blog a few weeks ago (http://confessionsfromaworkingmom.blogspot.com/), and got a ton of responses from a lot of moms who had made up their minds one way or another, or, like me were still looking for guidance!
I work in TV news, and so it's my industry that's directly responsible for this "scaredemic" in a way. I'm not trying to downplay the outbreak, it can be potentially deadly, but each year 36,000 Americans die from the seasonal flu. So far this year (since April, actually), just 1,000 Americans have died from H1N1/swine flu. So really, what's the risk of something terrible happening if I vaccinate or if I *don't* vaccinate?
I'm getting vaccinated as
I'm getting vaccinated as soon as possible. An immune *community* is extremely important. A person who is vaccinated in a community of unvaccinated people is at more risk than an unvaccinated person in a vaccinated community. I work with kids, some of whom are medically fragile. I'm also going to college. Aside from not wanting to get sick myself -- everyone I know who has had it has said it was horrible -- I don't want to contribute to the spread, particularly to people who are at risk. And though it may seem silly to non-pet owners, I'm also worried about my parrot. Birds can catch it, and there's no treatment or vaccine for them, so I don't want the illness in my house.
It's not just about avoiding a horrible reaction to the flu. It's not just for people who are at risk of, say, dying. It's also about protecting those who are that we might be exposing if we get it. It's about minimizing the spread so that institutions like schools and businesses are better able to function (fewer sick days, etc.). And it's also just about not feeling terribly sick for a week!!
Unfortunately the vaccine seems a long time coming to my state. I can only hope it gets here before I catch it. It's going around my husband's work and my school. (They're telling all students to get it ASAP, as the sheer number of absences will cause issues.)
The risk is extremely extremely low that anything bad will come of the vaccine. The first article Shannon Des Roches Rosa linked to is excellent.
PS: H1N1 continues to shed virus after the fever has broken. Unfortunately if your son did have H1N1 and was coughing after the fever broke, he was still contagious. The minimum recommended time to stay home after the fever breaks is 24 hours; to reduce the spread of virus, a whole week at home is recommended.
Even though my son is down for the count
tonight
with what is most likely swine flu (screw the pork producers -- I don't eat pork anyway) the doctor's office told me to get him the H1N1 vaccine if it's available because he could get the flu again, or some mutation of it, later this year. The nurse told me that he can have the mist or the injection as long as his fever is below 100.5.
Visit my blog: http://blog.FeeFiFoto.com
PLEASE reconsider vaccinating
I have been following a lot of info on "swine flu." Don't believe everything you are told. The CDC admits that they have not tested or recorded ACTUAL swine flu results since August. When 4 states were thoroughly tested Florida had 14%, the other states had only 1% of all flu tests that were actual H1N1. The CDC has started lumping together all flu and flu like illnesses into the same category as H1N1. By doing this they can expedite the vaccinations hence making more money for pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these vaccines not fully tested, but they have already shown severe side effects. Many of the H1N1 deaths have been announced as such because the person HAD H1N1, although there have been other complications that have actually caused the deaths. To top this off, the government and pharmaceutical companies CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE for anything that happens to you, you cannot sue them! It's not worth the risk for a illness that is far less deadly than the yearly flu. Check out www.mercola.com , there are videos of his interview with the head of a vaccination awareness group.
Sorry, but I'm calling BS on this crap
Mercola is notoriously anti-vax -- any vax. And anti-pasteurization. And thinks vitamin D is a panacea to EVERYTHING, when yes, it's helpful, but it ain't chemotherapy or Tamiflu. So yes, you go off and Jim Henson yourself and drink raw milk, if that's what you're into.
And did you know that vaccines don't really make any money for the pharmaceutical companies? Yeah. It ain't a money maker, so put away THAT portion of your cospiracy theory.
The H1N1 shot is the same as the seasonal flu shot, just with a different strain. That is a fact. I examined the packaging myself.
I'm all for people making their own decisions, but I am not a fan of spreading lies, misinformation and, most importantly, extremely biased sources like Mercola like they're remotely credible.
Do you what YOU want, but spare people the bullshit propaganda.
www.jonniker.com
I'm afraid Mercola is not a
I'm afraid Mercola is not a reliable source. Natural health measures definitely have their place. However, treating modern medicine as a conspiracy is being blind to the science behind it.
Pharm companies make their big bucks off lifestyle meds (diabetes, cholesterol, etc.), not off one-time shots like vaccines.
People die of the flu every year. Lots of people. Getting both a seasonal flu shot and an H1N1 shot will help slow the spread of the disease.
And yes, the people who are dying of H1N1 are those with health problems already -- that's how the flu kills. Their already weakened bodies can't fight the flu -- but it really is the flu they're dying of, and they wouldn't have died if they hadn't caught it.
That means we must do all we can to protect the people who are medically fragile from getting this -- including vaccinating ourselves so that we aren't carrying it around to people with asthma, immune deficiencies, and other health problems.
We are not vaccinating
We've had H1N1 run rampant through our small town and our county twice already. Last Spring and now. It ran through our elementary school and our family this month. No one has died. An extremely small percentage have been hospitalized. The vast majority have been under 20 years old. I just don't see this as any worse than the regular flu. Yes, it's highly contagious but I don't see it as deadly. I'm even starting to see reports in local newspapers with quotes from qualified medical people saying it's not really as bad as has been previously reported. It's turning out to be quite mild relatively speaking.
I'm not saying don't vaccinate. I'm not even going there. But for our family we have chosen not too because I just don't see the need.
Amazing responses - Thank you!
So the saga continues... I got home tonight after school to find my husband in bed with a sore throat and headache. I've now sequestered him. My youngest and I are the only holdouts. I have a call into our beloved doc to find out the availability of the vaccine. I am still not sure what I will do if it is available but just knowing it is there will give me some sense of control.
Thank you to all who have weighed in. The dialogue reminds me that we all do our best to be good mothers. At the end of the day, we must make peace with our individual decisions and have compassion and respect for the decisions of others.
Be well!
Lisen
My husband got swine flu in
My husband got swine flu in September, and I work in a doctor's office, and I'm STILL not sure if I want to get vaccinated... It's such a difficult decision to make! My worry is not so much about myself; if I get it, I don't think I'll die. My husband was very very sick and got pneumonia and had to go to the ER, but he's still alive. He was very weak for at least a month, though. We're planning on trying to start a family in the next 6-9 months, and I'm worried about lingering vaccine in my body. I know that's weird, but I just don't feel comfortable with any drugs being passed to a tiny little baby, and I don't know how long the vaccine will remain in my body.
It's a scary scary thing. Not even a mommy yet but already worried for future tiny babies.
If you're interested in reading about a scary H1N1 case (my hubs, in fact), I wrote about our ordeal here:
Like the Dawn...
It's pretty sappy, I should warn you.... I really thought I was going to lose him after only two years of marriage.
No Thanks
When the public stops eating beef, I will vaccinate my family.
The symptoms are the same as a bout with e-coli. Which can be deadly if you are in a immune compromising situation. I don't see anyone this upset about the state of our food safety!
If only we could get this upset about how we allow manufaturers to treat our food and what we allow them to put in our mouths!
If you do not typically vaccinate for every new craze, use the same decision making skills you always do. Fear is taking over, and quite frankly, I really don't feel like being scared.
Houseonahillorg
www.Houseonahillorg.blogspot.com
www.HealthierHappierHouseonahill.org
It's such a tough decision but I made it last
night.,
After a lengthy weighing and many doubts and fears, I made the decision to vaccinate our kids only because my oldest getting H1N1 seems more dangerous to him than the vaccine. He has an aneurysm in his heart and I hope hope hope I made the right decision.
As it is he has reacted quite negatively to the vaccine (feverish, coughing, no appetite, lathargic), but all those symptoms are subsiding tonight and we are resting easier now. I'm still certain that despite the symptoms, this was a far better option for him than the actual flu.
Blogged it here: I Hope I Made The Right Choice
~ Karen ~
Craftastrophe | Swank Web Style | Karen Sugarpants
We all do the best we can
Great post.
I feel like there is a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) out there regarding H1N1 right now. Only the worst cases make the news, not the thousands of ppl who have it and are sick for a few days or even a cpl weeks, but are ultimately fine. I don't plan on vaccinating against it, but I respect those who do. We all have to do our research and decide what makes the most sense for our families.
Amy Crunchy Domestic Goddess BlogHers Act contributing editor
Its a topic that has left
Its a topic that has left most moms sleepless and anxious. As a pregnant woman and mother of a 28 month old, I thought I would loe my mind looking for this vaccine. While getting vaccinating, I heard horrpr stries of 6 week old babies that have died and a teenager who never woke up. And the way the CDC has gone about administring this vaccine has been rediculous. I was able to get my daughter vaccinated at her pediatrician, and there I with my huge belly asking if I could get a dose only to be told that I would be a liability in a pediatricians office, sorry. So, I called around to surrounding cities to find the vaccine about an hour away. I did the whole 2 hour long process and it wasnt all that bad. The thing that bothered me was that the sheet I held in my hand naming the top at-risk people included pregnant women and preschoolers. Then I looked around the room to find that the majority of the folks there were seniors or elderly. I'm not judging for we all have our conditions, but after being rejected as a pregnant woman by an OB, local health department, primary care doctor and even oncologist, I found it bothersome that those who are suppossed to be at the bottom of the list first in line.
Laaaaaame.
I find this really frustrating as well... I work as a medical receptionist, and so many older patients are demanding they get the vaccine as soon as possible. When they're told they are simply not at risk in the same way that children, pregnant women, and health workers are, they get angry at us. However, we stick to our guns; it's very unfortunate that other medical clinics to not. I'm sorry it was so difficult for you to get the vaccine! We are hopefully getting ours in today and will start with health workers on Monday, and then pregnant women, children-24 years old, anyone who works or lives with kiddos who are young, and THEN people who are over 25 with a chronic medical condition. That's what is supposed to happen. I'm sorry it didn't go better for you!
I'm not getting it, and here's why.
It is very possible that your son has built up a natural immunity just by being around his siblings. If it were me I'd just encourage good hand washing and common sense in crowded areas with him and forgo the vaccine.
I am not getting the vaccine, nor am I getting it for my five minor children.
18 reasons not to get the vaccine.
Russell Blaylock MD on the H1N1
Elena,
"If you bungle raising your children, nothing else much matters." Jackie Kennedy
Questionable Sources of Information
The "18 Reasons Not to Get the Vaccine" link cites many unsubstantiated claims, the most questionable of which is the "risk of autism." Here's one of the best explanations as to why parents wrongly attach autism to vaccinations -- when there is no evidence linking the two, and in fact vaccinations prevent one of the few known causes of autism, rubella (German measles).
The ABCs of MMR & DTP:
Is There an Association Between Vaccination and Autism?
http://www.pkids.org/im_vs_abcs.php
Though I understand this thread is specific to the H1N1 vaccine, if you bring up autism and vaccinations, then general vaccination fearmongering needs addressing.
Shannon Des Roches Rosa
Squidalicious.com parenting first, autism second
CanISitWithYou.org real tales of schoolyard terror and triumph
Vaccinate
My answer to this question? A good mother and a good member of society will vaccinate where possible. It's not just about you and your child and whether or not your child will be just fine with getting the H1N1 flu. There are large, vulnerable populations including pregnant women and young children and adults with chronic conditions who are dying from this flu. Do you really want to weigh your child's presumptive mild case of the flu against having your child transmit it to someone who dies from it? That's an easy question for me.
I have had all three of my children vaccinated for H1N1 and for seasonal flu, both of which vaccines are produced the same way. This is not the "swine flu" vaccine of the '70s. It's no different in production from the regular flu vax. The life you save may not be your child's, but someone else's child. Is that not significant?
There is no link--no link whatsoever--between autism and vaccines. We are an autism family, and we vaccinate. I have no intention of risking transmission of pertussis to an infant and causing its death just out of fear of not taking the responsibility to make well-informed risk-benefit decisions for my own children. Driving them every day in the car is more dangerous than having them vaccinated. And without question, the sequelae of the diseases against which we vaccinate--which include permanent brain damage and death--are far costlier and carry a greater risk than the vaccinations themselves.
For an excellent writeup addressing parental fears fueled by vaccine myths, see Amy Wallace's piece in Wired magazine. Don't live in fear. Be informed. Do what's right, not just for your fear or even just for your children, but for the safety of others.
Cheers! Emily
I straddled the fence on
I straddled the fence on this decision forever. Once we decided to get it, I couldn't find it. After an almost 3 hour wait mine son finally got one today! I wrote about our experience here. I just knew that if my 14 month old son had a bad case of it I would never forgive myself. Someone decribed to me as the vaccination being the lesser of the two evils. As horrible as that is I kinda agree.
http://www.babarnard.com/blog/index.php?m=10&y=09&entry=entry091030-121259
I have found parenting brings a lot of tough decisions.
Ashley
www.babarnard.com
As the segment last night on
As the segment last night on Sixty Minutes said, it is developed in the same way as any other flu vaccine. There is no reason to be any more alarmed than you would be for a regular shot.
I have spent the weekend trying to educate myself and although I'm still on the fence, there doesn't seem to be a huge risk to getting the shot. The one thing that did alarm me was the sceptics' statements which have never been proven, such as the autism link. There are a lot of questionable authorities out there slamming the vaccine and the "establishment" who have no business giving out medical advice. My pediatrician is a mother at my school and she firmly believes it's worth getting the shot. (Her office can't actually get hold of it so how she might be benefitting financially I don't know - in answer to the kickback argument.) In addition, I have been giving my kids Vitamin D as well as other supplements, and they still all got a really bad cold a few weeks ago.
As has been mentioned, not only does it affect kids under 20 the most, even if you're not hospitalized it really takes it out of you and the recovery is also slow. With a high schooler who's already been off twice with a bad cold, she just can't afford any more time off school.
If you're on the fence and think that the risk of side effects is minimal, why wouldn't you give them a chance to avoid a really nasty illness?
Read the article
BTW, I've just read through the Wired article (see two above for the link) and it's excellent. Recommended reading.
H1N1 Vaccine: Turning Some Moms Into Bullies.
I've just posted on my feelings about how this controversy is turning some moms into bullies.
This is my response to seeing so many bloggers and commenters turning the “choice” to vaccinate for H1N1, into a free for all hate fest against moms who are “choosing” not to vaccinate.
Swine Flu: H1N1 Vaccine Pitting Mom Against Mom
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
at Catherine-Morgan.com and Women4Hope
OK, but can we bully
...them for dropping their social responsibility ball?
Cheers! Emily