Do we need swine flu vaccine if we have had swine flu?

[Anonymous]

Do we still need to get the vaccine? My DD was diagnosed with h1n1 on tuesday and now I have it...do we need to get the h1n1 vaccine once we are healthy?

[Anonymous]

My ped said yes.

[Anonymous]

OP here, the RN at our clinic said yes also. I don't really understand why. Of course, I will follow the medical advice, but maybe someone in the health field can explain further? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I dont get it either - how would the live mist vaccine differ from the actual flu?!

[Anonymous]

That sounds crazy!

[Anonymous]

There was an epidemiologist on NPR that also said to get vaccinated if someone has already had the H1N1 flu. He kind of explained it, but I don't recall the reasoning. He said to definitely get vaccinated after having it if someone is high risk.

I was not tested but believe I had it over the summer. I am not rushing to get it, but I will when there it is available to everyone.

[Anonymous]

According to our pediatrician, the only true test results for H1N1 are being done in hospitals. Of those results, 90% are H1N1 cases. But this is only a sampling, as not all cases are being tested. So, to be on the safe side, I'm sure many doctors are encouraging people to get vaccinated.

Our ped., however, said that his practice wasn't even thinking of stocking up on the vaccine b/c it was just too new. But due to "client" demand, they did decide to hop on the H1N1 bandwagon. But he's not too convinced that it's as serious as the media makes it out to be. In fact, he said they receive daily reports from the CDC, and much of the information is contradictory.

And - at this point, once more H1N1 vaccine arrives - they're only supplying the vaccine to high-risk children. Furthermore, he said the regular flu virus is more serious b/c it doesn't respond to Tamiflu. So if you must find a vaccine, go for the regular flu vaccine.

[Anonymous]

physician here...if you've gotten any testing in the office OR in the ER OR in the hospital that was back right away (or within the hour) it WAS NOT a test for H1N1. (it was the "rapid influenza" which tests for the seasonal flu as has some crossreactivity) We still have to send the H1N1 tests out to certain out-of-hospital-labs, don't get it back for a few days, and the CDC is only recommending this test for sick hospitalized people at the present time.
BUT
if you had LAB CONFIRMED H1N1 influenza, you do NOT need to be vaccinated.
See the following from the CDC: "People who had an illness confirmed by rRT-PCR to be 2009 H1N1 virus earlier in 2009 can be considered to be immune and do not need to be vaccinated this year. However, most people with respiratory illnesses since this spring have not had testing with the rRT-PCR test, which is the only test that can confirm infection specifically with the 2009 H1N1 virus. Tests such as rapid antigen detection assays and diagnoses based on symptoms alone without rRT-PCR testing, cannot specifically determine if a person has 2009 H1N1 influenza."

[Anonymous]

Like other posters said, most people are either not getting tested, or they are getting tested for Type A, but not specifically Type A/H1N1.

The thing is, for treatment purposes, they might as well assume any positive test is H1N1, because the treatment protocol is as good as they have for any influenza.

But for vaccination purposes, they can't say for sure you have H1N1. It's a decent bet, since the people who are fully tested are overwhelmingly H1N1, but they do not know for sure that you, as an individual, have it unless they do more expensive and time-consuming tests.