The Swine Flu Vaccine: Yes or No?

As if keeping your kids healthy weren’t hard enough, along comes the H1N1 Flu Virus, better known as Swine Flu.  First detected in April 2009 in the southern U.S., H1N1 initially threw doctors for a loop because it was different from Seasonal Flu.  This quickly became a concern for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for two reasons; one, most people would have little or no immunity to the new bug.  And two, the Seasonal Flu vaccine would not prevent people from getting H1N1.

Plus, and this is when the media really over reacted, on June 11, 2009, the CDC raised the warning level of H1N1 to pandemic.  The reason the CDC did this was NOT to cause panic, but because H1N1 was spreading to other countries and when that happens it’s CDC procedure to identify the virus as pandemic.

And back in April doctors just didn’t know how strong the virus could be, however, it isn’t turning out to be as robust as they initially feared.  As of last week the CDC released new data stating 76 children in the U.S. under the age of 18 have died due to complications from H1N1, and of those only 15 were seemingly healthy. (The rest had existing health issues, such as asthma, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy.)  When you consider there are approximately 45 million children in the U.S. those statistics don’t seem cause for alarm. 

However, it’s also important to note that over the last three years 46 to 88 children (per year) have died due to complications related to Seasonal Flu, according to Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.  So when you consider 76 children have already died from H1N1 this year (and it’s only October) you can see why the CDC is trying to be proactive.

So how do you prevent H1N1 from entering your home?  Ironically, the best way is the easiest:  Wash your hands.  Teach your children to wash for at least 20 seconds with soapy water as hot as they can stand without burning themselves.  Also get them in the habit of washing as soon as they come home (from anywhere).  Tell them to keep their fingers away from their faces, especially the eyes, nose, and mouth areas.  And if they do appear to be sick, keep them home.

Another form of prevention is the H1N1 vaccine, which is available in limited quantities.  The vaccine comes in nasal mist (a live virus) and injection (an inactivated, or dead, virus) and is only being given to people ages 2 to 24, and to people ages 25 to 49 who are either health care workers or who have infants ages six months or less.  For children ages 9 and under, a booster is required one month after the initial vaccine. 

Much debate has been made over whether parents should vaccinate their children against H1N1, being that the chances of your child dying from H1N1 are less than one in half million.  According to the CDC the risk of harm from the H1N1 vaccine is even less than that.  Occasionally, mild side effects have been reported, such as runny nose, congestion, cough, mild fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhea, however, these are usually over within 24 hours.

The only downside to the vaccine is that we simply don’t know its long term effects, however, the CDC is confident they’re similar to those of the Seasonal Flu vaccine, which appears to be none.

So in the end you have to ask yourself what are the pros and cons of immunizing your child against H1N1?  If you can’t miss work (due to loss of income), or your child can’t afford to miss school, or you simply don’t want to put your family through a flu outbreak, then get the vaccine.  If you’re uncomfortable with the vaccine being new, and prefer to wait for more data, then don’t get the vaccine.  Either way, chances of anyone in your family dying from H1N1 are very slim.  And that alone should be a huge relief!

Stacy Dymalski is a freelance writer, filmmaker, and stand-up comic. Her screen credits include co-writer (with Zack Van Eyck)/director of the feature film "Jupiter Landing" and writer/director of the web sitcom series "Hagnet."  Stacy learned about being a parent the hard way: she became one. A working mom, Stacy finds the humorous lessons in family life and then writes about them in magazines and books (much to the annoyance of her two sons).  Stacy recently co-authored 'The Vixen Chronicles' with Brandy Pinkerman: