What is your opinion of the Swine Flu Jab for under 5's?

I would recommend talking to your pediatrician and weighing the options specific to your child.

My daughter has a heart defect and is considered immune compromised. Where the other poster's child had the flu and the worst of it was a high fever . . . any sort of respiratory condition with my daughter could be fatal. I am more than willing to accept the risk of any side effects to provide her with extra protection. At 14 months, my daughter and her twin both had the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 shot. When they became more readily available, both my husband and I got vaccinated. None of us have had any side effects.

Some people say they are not doing it because it is not as tested - this is a statement that I disagree with. The flu shot is new every year because the strain changes - the technology to create the shot is based on decades of previous vaccines and testing. The H1N1 shot is not any more or any less tested than the regular flu shot.

For me - it is about protecting my family, especially due to my daughter's condition. Our babysitter ended up hospitalized with H1N1 - she is 24, heatlhy and was training for the Boston Marathon . . . it knocked her for a loop. She is fine, but I am not sure that my daughter could have fought it off. I sleep better at night knowing we are protected.

Do your research, talk to your doctor and then make your decision.

Swine Flu has been so over hyped that they now have an overstock of expensive vaccines they have to get rid of. I for one will not be giving my 3 year old an untested on humans vaccine which has a list of possible side effects as long as your arm. Swine Flu is now being reported as a mild illness in most cases and this was in the News.

Did you know if your have had tamiflu you can't get the vaccine. We are all Guinea pigs at the moment. It's just not worth it.

More people die from Seasonal Flu than Swine Flu so why the haste to get as many people as possible immunised when we don't know the long term side effects of the vaccinate. Our Children are over vaccinated as it is and that in itself is causing enough problems.

There are a host of websites that you can report the side effects of vaccines to. But this is not considered news worthy because mose complications and side effects are passed of as co-incidence. Or the Child or Adult had an underlying medical condition; yeah right. Many of us will have underlying medical condition that will trigger off a reaction but what then. It's too late and we have to live with it.

YOU ASKED FOR MY OPINION. I sorry it's a strong one but I've researched enough to know that vaccine makers are not in it for the good of the nations heath, they are a Business and they want to make money first and foremost.

Research and educate yourself. Don't just go by ' yes it's safe because the Dr said so, so it must be' mentality.

It's your life and your Family is YOUR no 1 priority. You must make an informed choice and be comfortable with your choices.

A few links for you browsing pleasure. A few may surprise you:

In addition to the great answers above, I want to relay a few facts that I posted to someone else's question. And FYI, I am not "uneducated" or "really overreacting". :)

I want to start out by stating that I work in infectious disease. I do not believe all the conspiracy theories. I am an advocate of many vaccines. However I will NEVER in my life receive any type of influenza vaccine. I have never received any flak from my department because they share the same opinion.

Frankly, in my opinion, there is no point to receiving an influenza vaccine, especially H1N1. I see many cases in which a vaccinated person still contracts H1N1. This is because at best, only one in four people are truly protected. I will explain below.

I have attached a link that will take you to the the FDA website. This is a link to the PACKAGE INSERT that comes with the vaccine.

It states in the mechanism of action section: "In some human studies, antibody titers of 1:40 or greater have been associated with protection from influenza illness in up to 50% of subjects". Then take a look at the immunogenicity section. In the tables you will see that 48.7% of people 18-35 meet the seroconversion factor and 34% of those >65 meet the seroconversion factor. Take into account that only 50% of those who meet the seroconversion factor are protected. That means that only half of that 48.7% and half of that 34% are truly protected. That equals only 24% of people 18-65 and 17% of people >65 who are protected after receiving the vaccination. Crazy, huh!

And also I want to point out that on that SAME package insert, it states, regarding pregnant women, "Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed."

And yet the media AND the government were urging pregnant women to get it? It boggles my mind!

I hope you share this information. I truly believe in many vaccinations, e.g. measles, mumps, tetanus, etc., but I do not, nor will I ever, receive an influenza vaccine. I will never vaccinate my children against influenza either.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBl%E2%80%A6

It's completely up to you... but where I live the number of swine flu cases has declined dramatically. My pediatrician didn't recommend getting it for my 16 month old at this point in the flu season, and I'm pregnant now and my obstetrician even advised me against it since the cases have dropped off so much. And pregnant women are one of the highest risk categories for the swine flu.

as far as im concerned our own family has had about five sickness bugs since september. is it honestly possible that not one of them was swine flu? i didn't see the point in getting a jab when we've most likely already had it. and for those that are worried about swine flu being lethal to small children i would be more concerned about the seasonal flus which kill more people each year than swine flu has in total.

im only 17 but im in the "at risk" group and my friend unfortuntly died from swine flu but i didnt get the swine flu jab. She had a serious underlying condition and had been sick for years. But honestly if your healthy and fit then i dont think theres any need. The plain and obvious misunderstanding around the jab is a clear reson not to get it. Like do we need one or two jabs? And the very slow uptake to the vaccination also makes me hestinant but ultimately its up to you. Good luck

well, do you want to risk him going through a few days' misery or suffering potentially lethal side effects?

personally, i wouldn't give it to my daughter at gunpoint.

australia has been running flu vaccinations for years, now - high 90 percent of the population gets it every year.

the effect on the incidence of flu? zip. no change at all.

"The Australia 2009 stats for regular 'seasonal flu' are not final yet, but their Health Dept literature cites annual flu-associated mortality historically has been between 2,500 and 3,000 in spite of universal vaccination programs for regular flu long being established. A logical review of these results strongly suggests next year Australia should initiate a "flu vaccination holiday," promote vitamin D supplements, long known to be effective for preventing Wintertime flu disease, and then compare the outcomes. "

from http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/10/without-vaccine...

Hi, I wasnt going to get the jab for my youngest two (my oldest has asthma so I decided to get for him) Then my youngest who was 18 months at the time, and has only once had to have Calpol in her life, caught it. She was fine at suppertime (5pm) and by 7pm she was in an ambulance unconcious and then ended up on life support and being airlifted to Edinburgh sick kids hospital (we are in the highlands) Shes fine now but it just goes to show how a normal healthy child can take so bad with it. That was the scariest thing thats ever happened to me.

A few of my pals went and got their kids done who werent going to on the back of what happened to Lily. My middle daughter caught it and was only really poorly for 1 day.

We never get flu shots.

The first time we did, we almost died!

Are you around many pigs and live in the farm?

Go to FDA website and find out, consumers don't have to have every shots avail. Use common sense.

My 10 month son has had the jab over a month ago, and has been fine since no high temp/reaction to the jab, unlike other jabs he has had. My 2year old is going for his on Friday.