Flu Shots - H1N1

[dcmom]

Ugh! It looks like it may be too late for non pandas daughter, anyway. She just came down with a fever and dry cough. The flu has started going around her class this week. Will keep you posted...

[kim]

Meg'smom,

 

I admire you for educating yourself, talking with a Dr. that you trust knows something and then going with your gut. That is all any of us can do.

 

Since this conversation came up, I do want to share something that is really bugging me. Our school system has several confirmed cases of H1N1. Classes that normally have 25 or so students have been having 6 or 8 in attendence. Teacher's with confirmed cases etc.

 

NO ONE will say the word H1N1. Our local news is reporting "flu like illness" is responsible for closing of area schools. WHY???? I do have a guess here. I think they know that there are too many people who won't take the vaccine when it becomes widely available. This makes me so angry. They send home notes about strep in a classroom (or they used too) lice, etc. WHY NOT CONFIRMED H1N1? While I respect everyone's privacy, there is no reason that I can think of that parents wouldn't be informed that there were confirmed cases, with no names mentioned. Most people know who they are anyway. It's not like families are hiding it, but the schools and the news are.

 

Now another thing, and I'm really not up on this one, but I was reading a study where they were talking about the adult Pneumonia vaccine being given every 10 years in most cases. The part that surprised me was that they said when given closer together than that there were more adverse events and it was presumed because the antibody level was still high for some strains. I have also read and I think posted somewhere, that that was found to be the case for the tetanus vaccine too. Higher adverse events with subsequent injections. Now what happens when you vaccinate a child who recently recovered from H1N1? Where is the safety data on giving this thing AFTER there is widespread transmission (remember the vast majority have not had confirmation)? And for the luv of children, WHY if special (medical) needs kids are the ones who need protection most, isn't there ever a study done on them, PRIOR TO WIDESPREAD USE?

Children with allergies, asthma, maybe psoriasis or excema, type 1 diabetes, or some combo of. WHY isn't it ever been done?

 

This is a story that I read yesterday, which mentioned deaths attributed to H1N1 in special needs children, and a 15 year old special needs young man who presumably had a bad reaction to the vaccine, BUT he was coming down with the flu when he got vaccinated apparently. I'm not sure if his vaccine contained an adjuvant or not, but wouldn't surprise me if it did.

 

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/loc...b-14543347.html

Boy rushed to hospital after swine flu jab

[mama2alex]

Thanks for being brave enough to post on this topic! I think it's really important that the vaccines are openly (and calmly) discussed on this forum. They are a risk for our kids and we all know it, but sometimes the decisions aren't simple. I know what a tough decision this is, as we are in the process of making it ourselves. Our son has had 6 pneumonias, including two hospitalizations, and is being tested for Specific Antibody Deficiency to strep pneumoniae bacteria. As SFMom mentioned, our son had the Pneumovax vaccine two weeks ago to test for immune deficiency. We went through an agonizing decision process beforehand, but thankfully he is doing okay.

 

But now we are faced with the H1N1 decision. What a nightmare. A lot of kids at his school are sick, but since the CDC recommended no more testing for H1N1, nobody knows if their kid has had it or not. Luckily, our ped is testing and she said 80% of the flus they're seeing are H1N1. She also knows what symptoms to look for versus regular flu or non-flu viruses. For now, we've taken our son out of school because he is so exposed up there - they are doing nothing to prevent the spread - no hand washing, purell, nothing.

 

We're pretty sure we're going to give him the H1N1 vaccine if we can find it in thimerisol-free vaccine form. We don't want the live virus (mist) and NO MERCURY for us.

 

Good luck and please keep us posted on how it goes.

[dee45]

Hi,

when we saw Dr. Latimer in August she said was totally against any flu shot seasonal or H1N1 we see her tomorrow I will let you know what she says.

 

Deanna

[monarchcat]

Thanks, that will be helpful!

 

Hi,

when we saw Dr. Latimer in August she said was totally against any flu shot seasonal or H1N1 we see her tomorrow I will let you know what she says.

 

Deanna

[mama2alex]

If it makes a diffence to anyone, 29 percentage of the flu deaths were associated of secondary bacterial infections. I would think those that are already on good doses of good anti-biotics (like Azith.) should (in theory) be protected against this.

 

I thought I'd mention that my son had an ear infection that was cleared with full-dose antibiotics several weeks into prophylactic Zithromax (250mg/day). So I'm not sure the lower dose would necessarily protect against pneumonia. But if your child is on full dose, I assume that would protect them.

[vermontmoms]

Ok, this topic is near and dear to me as well. My twins bookend a girl in their kindergarten class who just came down with H1N1 yesterday. Even before the outbreak in their class I had decided that I would not vaccinate. We haven't vaccinated them in over 2yrs I am not going to start now....That said, I am doing all I can to keep them healthy (see supp list below) so we will see how we fair over the next few weeks....In my personal opinion, there are just too many loop holes and too many additives in vaccines today and I am not willing to risk my children's future. If you want, take a look at these websites before you make your final decision:

 

1) http://www.mercola.com/article/swine-flu/S...lu-Update-2.htm

 

2) http://www.nvic.org/

 

3) http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/new...efluhighanxiety

 

4) http://www.medicalvoices.org/en/vaccination/articles/

 

5) Adjuvants and Cytokines I - the Curious Case of IL-6

http://www.newfluwiki2.com/diary/4045/adj...ous-case-of-il6

 

6) Adjuvants and Cytokines II - The Meaning of "Reactogencity"

http://www.newfluwiki2.com/diary/4051/adju...-reactogenicity

 

 

Now, about staying healthy and building up your natural immunity....For us, I give my boys antivirals that have been shown effective during previous swine flu outbreaks and the bird flu. Elderberry extract has a long history of providing protection against similar flu strains....just google Elderberry and flu and you will get a ton of results....Now for our personal run down of supplements...

 

Our Supplement list:-Elderberry extract (The elderberry w/out echinacia b/c echinacia builds up mucus and can help the H1N1 virus replicate.

-Zinc,

-2000iui of D3, which I will up to 5000iui if they get sick (if you are worried about toxicity see references below)

-Probiotics,

-High doses of vitamin C

-We also do salt water gargles and salt water on Q-tips in the nose which changes the chemical make up in the nose and makes it unfriendly to viruses

-Multi too.

 

 

Now about vitamin D toxicity....2000iui is not too much for kids according to the docs that I follow. Here are some links to his website and some of the published preliminary findings about vitamin D.

 

1) http://homefirst.com/

2) http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/H1N1-Vitamin-D.pdf (end of doc has dosing info for kids)

3) http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/...swine-flu.shtml

 

Also, here are interesting tidbits about Vitamin D toxicity:

 

(1) Vitamin D is one of the least toxic substances to humans, overdose of vitamin D3 doesn't occur until more than 100 times (approximately one bottle of vitamin D3 tablets) the daily RDA has been taken daily for several months. Acute, one-time overdoses require over 50 mg (10,000 times the RDA). http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/research.shtml

 

(2) We present a risk assessment based on relevant, well-designed human clinical trials of vitamin D. Collectively, the absence of toxicity in trials conducted in healthy adults that used vitamin D dose 250 µg/d (10 000 IU vitamin D3) supports the confident selection of this value as the UL (upper limit).

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, No. 1, 6-18, January 2007

 

(3) Growing evidence supports a low risk of toxicity with vitamin D use in fortification or supplementation, despite its past reputation of potential toxicity in excess.

J Nutr. 2006 Apr;136(4):1135- 9.

 

(4) http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/vitaminDToxicity.shtml

 

Well, I wish us all well in whatever route we choose for our families....For us the shot is too new and in my opinion the shots lately have caused too many injuries and deaths and I am not willing to take that risk with my child. I rather take the natural route that has shown no harm in past flu seasons.

 

Already we are seeing people die from the vaccine and injured...here are just a few of the latest one making headlines...

a) In Sweden they have already had 4 deaths from the H1N1 shot: http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php...d=3927#newspost

b ) http://www.theautismnews.com/2009/10/15/je...siree-jennings/

c) http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/loc...l#ixzz0VLgOTe38

d) http://www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Soldie...cine.5768722.jp

 

Hope you find this helpful...

Jen

[dee45]

Hello,

we saw Dr. Latimer today I did ask her about her thoughts on the flu shot. She seemed at first like she did not know what to say. she began by saying that children are dieing from the H1NI flu however they(meaning neurologist) saw alot of ill effects after the vaccine was given in the 70's. She said her children were not getting the vaccine. So I guess that means not to get it. I felt like she was giving me info but did not want to committ either way.

 

Deanna