Looking for support/advice from others who are undecided about the vaccine

[Anonymous]

How are you making your decision on whether or not to get yourself or your child the vaccine? I am the PP who wrote in another thread that I am jealous of those who are confident in their decision, one way or another.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line for us is, there hasn't been any negative feedback coming in re: a reaction.

Secondly, and more importantly, I don't buy into celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Bill Maher pretending to have clinical or research background on vaccinations. Scare mongers, in other words.

This is a sincere question: Why wouldn't you just get the shot? Please state in 100 words or less what the downside is, using fact-based evidence.

[Anonymous]

I sympathize with you, but what exactly is your concern about having your child get the vaccine?

True that there are documented side-effects. But the risk of complications from getting the flu far exceeds the risk of the shot.

I'm usually ambivalent about getting the seasonal flu shot, but in this case there is an actual pandemic going on. So getting a vaccine against an actual threat makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

I am pro vaccine and we are up to date on all DD's shots. She has never had a reaction, etc.

She has gotten her seasonal flu shot, because the pediatrician had them available. As for H1N1, I would like her to get the shots, but am not going out of my way to get them. My pediatrician is expecting them any day, so I will call next week (just called this morning) and see if I can schedule something. I am not going to stand in line to get them at a clinic, unless it gets to mid-November and my pediatrician still does not have any info, then I will re-assess.

So I wouldn't say I'm undecided, but I'm not hell bent on getting her one, even though I would like her to have one.

[Anonymous]

Don't obssess over it. By the time you convince yourself to get your child vaccinated, there won't be any available. There appears to be a shortage of the seasonal flu vaccine as well as the H1N1.

[Anonymous]

OP Here. I guess I am just worried that my child (or myself or my husband) will be the rare case of "severe reaction" to the vaccine. I am worried about this with the seasonal flu vaccine as well. FWIW, DD and I have never received the flu vaccine and DH has not received it in many years.

I am also worried that any of us could be the rare case of severe flu complications. So you see, I am an equal-opportunity worrier. I am effectively paralyzed with fear.

If it makes you feel better, the three of us are leaning towards getting the vaccine, especially since our dr.'s office called to let us know they were getting some in and wanted to know if we'd like an appointment.

BUT I am not relieved and I am not looking forward to it (and I'm not talking about the needle stick!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here. I guess I am just worried that my child (or myself or my husband) will be the rare case of "severe reaction" to the vaccine. I am worried about this with the seasonal flu vaccine as well. FWIW, DD and I have never received the flu vaccine and DH has not received it in many years.

I am also worried that any of us could be the rare case of severe flu complications. So you see, I am an equal-opportunity worrier. I am effectively paralyzed with fear.

If it makes you feel better, the three of us are leaning towards getting the vaccine, especially since our dr.'s office called to let us know they were getting some in and wanted to know if we'd like an appointment.

BUT I am not relieved and I am not looking forward to it (and I'm not talking about the needle stick!)

I'm in the same boat. I ambivalently decided to get the vaccine for my kids, then nearly panicked when I read about lines around the corner and my ambivalence turned into desperation to get it. But now that we have a plan to go to the clinic tomorrow where my kids will likely be able to get the shot, I'm feeling uneasy again. A roller coaster. My kids have been healthy, have barely had colds thus far, and I hate to put all this stuff in their little bodies. But if they do get the flu and suffer terribly, I won't be able to forgive myself for not doing it. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

A little bit of dead (or weakened) flu virus suspended in a tried and true formulation injected into a muscle (or inhaled) will make me worry less that my DD will have complications from a virus she is most likely going to get, since half the kids in her preschool class have already. Not much of a calculation for me, but then again, I am pro vaccine.

Vaccines have inihilated so many killer diseases that people choose to not vaccinate their children because they are no longer afraid of those diseases (even though they should be worried enough to get their kids vaccinated).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here. I guess I am just worried that my child (or myself or my husband) will be the rare case of "severe reaction" to the vaccine. I am worried about this with the seasonal flu vaccine as well. FWIW, DD and I have never received the flu vaccine and DH has not received it in many years.

I am also worried that any of us could be the rare case of severe flu complications. So you see, I am an equal-opportunity worrier. I am effectively paralyzed with fear.

If it makes you feel better, the three of us are leaning towards getting the vaccine, especially since our dr.'s office called to let us know they were getting some in and wanted to know if we'd like an appointment.

BUT I am not relieved and I am not looking forward to it (and I'm not talking about the needle stick!)

In the last 21 years, only 293 claims have been filed for influenza vaccine injuries*. I'm sure there are other adverse reactions, but anyone with a reaction significant enough to change their lives is undoubtedly in that 293. During that time about 1.2 billion influenza vaccinations have been given in the U.S.** So the odds are so fantastically small.

Your odds of getting struck by lightning: 1 in 300,000 (based on 1,000 people injured per year due to lightning)
Odds of dying in a car accident: 1 in 7500
Odds of your infant dying of SIDS: 1 in 1800
Your odds of getting a serious injury by an influenza vaccine: 1 in 4 million (based on the numbers above).

* the source for the injury claims is the vaccine injury compensation program
http://www.hrsa.gov/Vaccinecompensation/statistics_report.htm#claims_filed

**The source for the number of vaccinations was the following links. I had to estimate for 1/3 of the years, but it's pretty easy to interpolate based on the trends.

http://www.jpands.org/vol11no3/geier.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/pdf/targetpopchart.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here. I guess I am just worried that my child (or myself or my husband) will be the rare case of "severe reaction" to the vaccine. I am worried about this with the seasonal flu vaccine as well. FWIW, DD and I have never received the flu vaccine and DH has not received it in many years.

I am also worried that any of us could be the rare case of severe flu complications. So you see, I am an equal-opportunity worrier. I am effectively paralyzed with fear.

OP, that's fair.

OK so which situation would make you feel worse?

If you follow standard recommendations to get the vax -- and are one of the unfortunate few to have a bad reaction -- would you be able to say to yourself, "I did the best I could with the informatino I had?" Or would you be upset with yourself for following official guidance?

If you don't follow official guidance, and someone has a bad reaction to the actual flu, would you be able to say "I investigated the vaccine, and didn't feel comfortable with it, and unfortunately someone did have a bad reaction to the flu, but I still feel I did the best with what information I had?" Or would you be upset with yourself for not following official guidance?

And -- are you and your spouse/partner in agreement on which would be worse?

[Anonymous]

I'm waiting until I can find the mercury-free shot for my kid under age 2. Then I'll feel comfortable.