Flu Shot Alert

Many people clamor to obtain the somewhat rare H1N1 vaccine.  Many others clamor against being pressured into having their children vaccinated.  Are flu vaccines really safe? Is there any reason to be afraid? That depends on who you listen to. Here’s what the Harvard Medical School Advisor has to say:

Question: Is the new vaccine for H1N1 (swine) flu safe? I am pregnant and am worried that if I get it, my baby might be harmed. And if I do decide to have the H1N1 vaccine, do I need to have the seasonal flu vaccine, too?

Answer: You aren’t the only person wondering whether it’s a good idea to be vaccinated for the H1N1 flu. Let’s start with the question of safety and how vaccines are made. Every year, experts predict what the most likely strains of flu will be and then develop a vaccine to target those strains. That’s why you need a new vaccine every year.

When the new H1N1 virus emerged last spring, most of the seasonal flu vaccine had already been produced. No one predicted the sudden emergence of H1N1. Because there was no time to add H1N1 to the seasonal vaccine, manufacturers made a second flu vaccine for H1N1.

Manufacturers followed the same procedures to make H1N1 vaccine that they did to make seasonal flu vaccines. Apart from the type of virus in the vaccine, the “recipe” is the same as for regular flu vaccines. That means it’s just as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine already available and carries similar risks. Volunteers who tested the vaccine experienced the same side effects as with other flu vaccines: injection-site pain, fatigue and body aches. No serious side effects have been reported.

Some people worry that they will develop the flu from a flu vaccine. However, the flu shot does not contain a live virus and cannot cause the flu. A second type of flu “vaccine,” a nasal spray, does contain a live virus, but the virus has been modified so that it cannot cause the flu. It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to work. If the virus enters your body before the vaccine has had a chance to work, you could get sick — but the vaccine is not to blame.

Your concern about your unborn baby is understandable, but the flu shot will not harm the baby. In fact, it protects your baby by protecting you. Pregnant women are at high risk for serious illness and death from any influenza virus, but especially H1N1. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges pregnant women (and many other groups of people) to get both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.

If you get the flu, you have a higher-than-average risk of developing pneumonia, which lowers the amount the oxygen in your blood. This means your fetus might not receive enough oxygen for normal development. In addition, having the flu during pregnancy increases your risk of a miscarriage or giving birth too early. And women who have a fever early in their pregnancy are more likely to deliver a baby with a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida.

You can pass the protective antibodies you develop after receiving the vaccine to your fetus. That will help protect your baby from the flu after it’s born.

Even if you can’t remember the last time you had a cold, much less the flu, you should still consider getting the vaccines. Your ability to mount an effective immune response to viruses may have worked well in the past, but that provides no guarantee of future health. And even though the H1N1 virus so far hasn’t been more dangerous, on average, than seasonal flu, it does seem to be more severe in children, healthy young adults and people under age 50, including pregnant women.

Source: (http://www.freep.com/article/20091108/FEATURES08/911080329/?imw=Y)

But there may be other reasons than fear of the vaccine itself that have people thinking twice about it.  Some simply say they don’t want to be under the thumb of “Big Brother”, while others suspect more complicated conspiracies:

Whether the Swine Flu is a secret government project or just another illness, and regardless if the flu vaccines are a conspiracy or just a public safety measure, we all can take home one important lesson: Live a healthy lifestyle, and you’ll have less to worry about.