Is your Ped. offering the H1N1 vaccine?

[Anonymous]

Washington Ped Associates (Lang and Sage) will not have h1n1 vaccine. They tell you to read the CDC info. We're still not sure if we will vaccinate 10 mo DD. She is getting both regular seasonal flu shots. DD is home with me and goes to the gym childcare a few times per week, but we don't live in a bubble. We will likely get vaccinated for swine flu.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know whether Northern Virginia Pediatrics in Falls Church is planning to offer the H1N1 vaccine?

[Anonymous]

My daughter's daycare think it's NOT a good idea to get the vaccine. I wonder why? I didn't know that it was controversial. Has anyone heard anything negative about it?

[Anonymous]

You can find out about this on the CDC website and then by reference to the website of your local jurisdiction. The swine flu vacine is being distributed in each state differently so those in DC, MD and VA might have different experiences. In DC any provider that wants to administer the vaccine must register separately with the DC government agency - a ped office can't just get the vaccine by asking for it or by their ordinary flu shot registration. So some ped offices just aren't going to go through the administrative burden, which with DC may well be substantial, to get that registration in order. Those offices may still be administering the regular flu shot. There isn't any reason to assume that b/c your ped isn't administering the vaccine that they don't support immunization. Like other flu shots, when it is shipped and available the swine flu shot will likely be available through multiple other sources, including schools, work places, medical centers, pharmacies etc. My ped in DC isn't registering to give the swine flu shot (although they are giving the regular flu shot as normal) but she recommends my children get it - esp b/c the youngest 1.5 year onl is prone to respiratory illnesses - and when it becomes generally available I'm not concerned about finding a place that provides it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's daycare think it's NOT a good idea to get the vaccine. I wonder why? I didn't know that it was controversial. Has anyone heard anything negative about it?

No problems were revealed in clinical trials. It was made exactly the same as other flu vaccines. My personal concern is that it's rushed to market and I worry about contamination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's daycare think it's NOT a good idea to get the vaccine. I wonder why? I didn't know that it was controversial. Has anyone heard anything negative about it?

All vaccines seem to be controversial - there are many people who think they are worthless, they don't work, etc. My favorite is that the H1N1 vaccine was "rushed to market" so it's not safe. Umm....it's a vaccine for a pandemic flu, we better hope it was rushed to market.

So far 2009 H1N1, though it has caused deaths and hospitalizations, seems to be acting like seasonal flu in that most healthy people who get it will recover. But when it surfaced in Mexico this spring, no one knew what would happen and how bad it would be. So I for one am glad they can "rush" a vaccine to market. However, it is manufactured in the same way seasonal flu is manufactured, in the same facilities, etc. Essentially, it is just a vaccine for a different strain of the flu.

In any event, whatever you decide to do, I would take guidance from the CDC and your pediatrician, not daycare, who are probably not experts, to make your final decision.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to get good info but my understanding (not a medical professional) is that the "rush to market" fear is unfounded. Every spring they study the flu viruses that are out there, decided which to include in the seasonal vaccine for next year and then manufacture it. any my understanding is that the H1N1 virus is being made with the same timeline. The clinical trails that were carried out this summer were for effectiveness (and not for safety): they were confident in its safety because that is how they make the vaccine every year but they just wanted to make sure that it would actually work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Front desk staff told me they weren't planning to offer b/c the peds didn't feel like they knew enough about the vaccination. That was about 2 weeks ago. They said to check the CDC for listing of other places to get it if we want it.

OP here, front desk staff told me that aren't planning on administering at this time but were still talking about it. I would have assumed they would have had to order it by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's daycare think it's NOT a good idea to get the vaccine. I wonder why? I didn't know that it was controversial. Has anyone heard anything negative about it?

All vaccines seem to be controversial - there are many people who think they are worthless, they don't work, etc. My favorite is that the H1N1 vaccine was "rushed to market" so it's not safe. Umm....it's a vaccine for a pandemic flu, we better hope it was rushed to market.

So far 2009 H1N1, though it has caused deaths and hospitalizations, seems to be acting like seasonal flu in that most healthy people who get it will recover. But when it surfaced in Mexico this spring, no one knew what would happen and how bad it would be. So I for one am glad they can "rush" a vaccine to market. However, it is manufactured in the same way seasonal flu is manufactured, in the same facilities, etc. Essentially, it is just a vaccine for a different strain of the flu.

In any event, whatever you decide to do, I would take guidance from the CDC and your pediatrician, not daycare, who are probably not experts, to make your final decision.

Let me add that I heard on the ABC News last week that if they had identified this strain a little earlier, it would probably have been part of the regular flu shot. It is made the same way.

[Anonymous]

This won't mean anything to some of you bc you don't know the person, but I just wanted to pass along an email I got from a friend who is a very well respected physician in NYC.

Hi Everyone,

I just attended Grand Rounds at the Einstein Campus which was given by Dr. Stephen Baum, a very prominent Professor of Microbiology and Immunology whose life career is dedicated to the study of Influenza since the pandemic of 1918. It was very interesting, very well attended - standing room only.

A couple of take home points for you and your families...

1. EVERYONE should be vaccinated this year for both seasonal flu (available now) and H1N1 swine flu (should be available mid October.) This includes the elderly, the young, the middle ground and children.

2. Believe it or not, children and pregnant women are most at risk for death from swine flu. It is believed that they generate a very aggressive immune response when exposed to the H1N1 virus that can lead to fatal pulmonary consequences. It is important to vaccinate your kids and pregnant wives this year!

3. Older people (born before 1958) are thought to be somewhat protected against the catastrophic effects of the H1N1 flu. THis is because they were exposed during the last pandemic of H1N1 in 1958 and have developed some resistance/immunity. This does not mean that they cannot get the flu, just that they probably will not develop as severe a syndrome.

4. The seasonal flu shot and swine flu shot can be administered together.

Please feel free to pass this along. I won't have time to answer individual questions for everyone. Just wanted to keep you guys informed.

[Anonymous]

My ped said he didn't even know where the vaccines were being shipped. The nasal spray vaccines was shipped out & due to arrive wherever it was going soon. The shots are expected to ship within the next 2 wks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys, many many people clearly have already had it. Regular flu is still dormant and there is no other explanation for the many cases of flu-like illnesses (low fever etc for a few days). I am pretty sure my kids had it--the docs suspected it. And it was soooo not a big deal. If you or your kids have compromised immune systems and/or complicating conditions (asthma, etc) then you should get the vaccine. Otherwise, why all the fuss and worry???

Hmmm ... we've had that & so have all the kids in the classes of 2 local schools that my kids go to. No-one's mentioned swine flu. Couldn't it just be a cold?

It's gone through our school too and the only reason I know that it was swine flu is because a mother told me that both of her children had confirmed cases. Nothing official was said by the school. We all got sick after exposure to her kids - so I assume we had it. In our cases, it wasn't so bad, though I guess we'll we'll never know for sure. We were all sick for a few days with sore throats, runny noses, aches, etc. But no fever.

I think that schools are scared to make a fuss because of working parents. Everyone will start panicking and want to pull their kids out of school - etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure doctors offices don't yet know if and when they'll be getting shipments. Everything is being kept under wraps--the shipments go to four secret distribution centers, then get allocated to each state, which makes a decision about final distributions among hospitals, clinics, providers, etc.

My ped office won't commit one way or the other until they know for certain they're getting it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/18/AR2009091803050.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure doctors offices don't yet know if and when they'll be getting shipments. Everything is being kept under wraps--the shipments go to four secret distribution centers, then get allocated to each state, which makes a decision about final distributions among hospitals, clinics, providers, etc.

My ped office won't commit one way or the other until they know for certain they're getting it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/18/AR2009091803050.html

This is what we were told yesterday, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you guys, many many people clearly have already had it. Regular flu is still dormant and there is no other explanation for the many cases of flu-like illnesses (low fever etc for a few days). I am pretty sure my kids had it--the docs suspected it. And it was soooo not a big deal. If you or your kids have compromised immune systems and/or complicating conditions (asthma, etc) then you should get the vaccine. Otherwise, why all the fuss and worry???

Because not everyone's symptoms will progress like yours, if you actually did have H1N1 at all. There is a wide variation, even among healthy people. So you didn't develop any complications, but some others will.