To not give my children the swine flu vaccine?

[wintersnow]

I decided not to last year as I wanted to wait and see how safe it was but am reconsidering this year after several people have died. Did you give it to your children and what were your reasons to give/not give it?

Yes I agree with that, just to clear up my post, if your child has health issues, or you have family history and you choose not to vaccinate then I can respect that choice.
I dont agree with it, but I respect it, and if that was my child I may make the same decision.
However not vaccinating because you breastfed and you believe that your children are invincible is just nonsense to me

Agree with you pag. I just wish people would temper their posts a little and not assume that what is best for their child is best for all children.

Trying - Under fives were offered it last winter - and we took it.

I remember your thread pixieoneleaf how is your dd doing now?

swine flu or normal flu? I don't know anything about this and just stumbled on this thread. Now very confused

Have I missed something?

'And, as for those who prefer their children to be 'the unvaccinated few among the vaccinated many', I could call you all the names under the sun for risking my daughter's life and you'd still sit there with your smug faces, so I won't bother. It makes me so angry I feel sick.'

Really Pixie-on-a-leaf? Maybe we just don't trust the government and don't want to risk our children - why should we put our children at risk, huh?? I already have one child with severe special needs and I'm not about to take any chances. Smug I'm not!

How dare you be so insulting

I'm sure I'd feel the same as you, Pixie, if my children were forced into vaccination and one or both became ill as a result. I have choices and one of those was to prioritise my children over other peoples.

As I said, I'm prepared to be called selfish, I couldn't care less, but to call me smug isn't just insulting, it's wholly inaccurate.

None of us are smug. We're all (whether pro-vaccination or otherwise) trying to do what's best for our children. I do not believe that there is one person on this board who would not put their own child first - that is just how it should be. Those of us who don't vaccinate know we are taking chances with the diseases - but we've decided that risk is the one we would prefer to take.

my dc does not have any health problems.

improvement in sanitation and diet were the main reasons why death rates in childhood diseases dropped dramatically in the 1920's. the vaccinations came shortly after and are now widely considered the reason.

i completely, completely understand why you would vaccinate. but i believe in an informed choice.

I really don't understand (genuinely) - how do people see their ideas in the concept of say Africa? If nobody got vaccinated people would continue to die in scores.

Electra - whilst I can see why you are so cross I can also see why Pixie feels so strongly too. For those of us who do vaccinate, and so contribute to the herd immunity, it can be very upsetting to hear someone else say they don't put their children at risk from vaccines - the point is you only really have the luxury of a choice because the rest of us do vaccinate; (particular health issues aside of course). Don't quite see how this relates to swine flu though as it mutates every year anyway.

All three of mine had actual swine flu. So did I, and DH.

That was back in the first big outbreak, in June, 2009, so we were actually tested for it with positive results. For the kids, it as only a swab, for us adults it was throat and nasal swab plus blood work.

It wasn't pleasant, DD1 was quite ill, the worst of all of us, but now, I'm glad we all had it and don't have to be concerned about going for a jab.

Pixie, I am so sorry about your child. I don't know what she had, but I hope she is home soon.

There is no luxury - it's a difficult decision to make.

I believe that the benefits of vaccination are overplayed while the risks are underplayed. And there is a conflict of interest with people's health due to the influence pharmaceutical companies have. There is no conspiracy theory - it's just how it is, unfortunately.

I remember after that study was published about mercury and autism, we got the 5 in 1 (no mercury) but apparently (according to the official line) it was all about oral polio That kind of stuff does not inspire my confidence.

Leonie - just type "infant mortality rate" into google.

Pixie - I hope your child gets out of hospital soon, it is very hard when they are in.

I do agree that all of us have a primary responsibility to our own child(ren) but I don't think that means that we have no responsibility at all to others, or to the general good of society. So, in the absence of particular health issues or extreme family trauma I do strongly believe that the correct moral decision is to vaccinate.

I have studied social history and while clean water and better living conditions of course contributed to improved general health vaccination was I believe also very important. Mother Nature, sadly, is not always right. So many of those closest to me (including my son) have been saved by modern medicine and I often think how grateful and lucky I am to be born now, and in the richer developed world, so that I and my family have benefited from it.

Pixie - I think you can be forgiven for a sharp tongue in the circumstances. Hope dd gets home for Christmas, even if it's only on day release.

Pixie - I'm sorry for what happened to your daughter.

I think that when my child will have an invasive procedure it has to be for their benefit first.

But I keep them at home if they're ill and try my best not to expose them to others if they are...