H1N1 vaccine
I've been doing a ton of research on H1N1 and the vaccine recently ("recently" meaning a couple months ago, and then again for the past week to review new info that had appeared in the last couple months). Anybody who's read my journal for awhile knows I'm cautious of vaccines, and very selectively vaccinate. My younger son's getting the Tdap, and my elder son's gotten the Pneumovax, and that's it so far. (My elder son will be starting the Tdap shortly as well.)
I'm a big fan of doing risk/benefit analyses for vaccinations; what are the risks of the drug, what are the risks of the illness, what are the factors for my children and myself? And the research I'd done a few months ago had left me with a "let's wait and see" approach to the idea of vaccination for H1N1.
However, over the past couple months more information has appeared that has been making me reconsider. There are risks to the vaccine, yes. I would have loved to see more extensive safety testing. It doesn't confer 100% immunity (of course) so even if you get the vaccine, there's no guarantee you won't get H1N1.
But on the other side, the fact is that the novel 2009 H1N1 virus is *fucked*. It kills people way more often. Simply being a woman is a major risk factor. Neurological disorders are a serious risk factor (which covers both Gavin and me). Asthma is a major risk factor (me). Being under five years of age is a risk factor (Connor, and Gavin just turned five a couple months ago). The average age of adults winding up in the ICU is 32. 32. What the fuck is this thing?
I work in an office; Gavin is attending school. I'm on public transit almost three hours a day, and 90 minutes of that is during rush hour. With the estimates that 1/3 of the population is going to be infected with H1N1, there's little chance that my family *wouldn't* get it. And based on the fact that I have three additional risk factors, Gavin has two, and Connor has one, our risk of serious complications from the flu is higher than for the average person.
My current assessment is that I'm going to get the vaccine, and will get it for Connor and Gavin. Frolic generally leaves vaccination decisions to me because he knows I'll research the hell out of it, so when I said that the three of us were going to get vaccinated, he decided to get it as well. The vaccination clinics are opening up this week for high-risk people, but Connor's the only one that officially falls into the "pregnant, immuno-compromised, or under 5" high-risk category, and there's not much point in enduring the wait twice, so we may as well wait until Nov 2 when the clinics open up to everybody, and then we'll just go get it as a family.
Should the data change between now and then, this decision isn't set in stone. But should nothing change between now and Nov 2, we'll be getting the vaccine. I've reached the conclusion that the flu's risks, for us, are higher than the vaccine's risks.
I'm a big fan of doing risk/benefit analyses for vaccinations; what are the risks of the drug, what are the risks of the illness, what are the factors for my children and myself? And the research I'd done a few months ago had left me with a "let's wait and see" approach to the idea of vaccination for H1N1.
However, over the past couple months more information has appeared that has been making me reconsider. There are risks to the vaccine, yes. I would have loved to see more extensive safety testing. It doesn't confer 100% immunity (of course) so even if you get the vaccine, there's no guarantee you won't get H1N1.
But on the other side, the fact is that the novel 2009 H1N1 virus is *fucked*. It kills people way more often. Simply being a woman is a major risk factor. Neurological disorders are a serious risk factor (which covers both Gavin and me). Asthma is a major risk factor (me). Being under five years of age is a risk factor (Connor, and Gavin just turned five a couple months ago). The average age of adults winding up in the ICU is 32. 32. What the fuck is this thing?
I work in an office; Gavin is attending school. I'm on public transit almost three hours a day, and 90 minutes of that is during rush hour. With the estimates that 1/3 of the population is going to be infected with H1N1, there's little chance that my family *wouldn't* get it. And based on the fact that I have three additional risk factors, Gavin has two, and Connor has one, our risk of serious complications from the flu is higher than for the average person.
My current assessment is that I'm going to get the vaccine, and will get it for Connor and Gavin. Frolic generally leaves vaccination decisions to me because he knows I'll research the hell out of it, so when I said that the three of us were going to get vaccinated, he decided to get it as well. The vaccination clinics are opening up this week for high-risk people, but Connor's the only one that officially falls into the "pregnant, immuno-compromised, or under 5" high-risk category, and there's not much point in enduring the wait twice, so we may as well wait until Nov 2 when the clinics open up to everybody, and then we'll just go get it as a family.
Should the data change between now and then, this decision isn't set in stone. But should nothing change between now and Nov 2, we'll be getting the vaccine. I've reached the conclusion that the flu's risks, for us, are higher than the vaccine's risks.