Breastfeeding and swine flu

[Guacamole]

A few questions from the genuinely ignorant...

I am breastfeeding DS 9 months and am asthmatic. I am due to have the swine flu vaccine on Monday. Will me having the vaccine protect DS in any way through my breast milk? If not will I be protecting him better by not having the vaccine for example, if I caught swine flu and continued to breastfeed would my antibodies protect him through my breast milk?
Or is there nothing I can do to protect him, and just protect myself because I am 'high risk'?

Actually isn't he more high risk than me being under 5?!

Maybe this will help?

If it was me, I would have the vaccine and carry on bfing. I wouldn't want to risk having serious flu with a baby around... an asthmatic friend had swine flu in 2009 and was literally in bed for 2 weeks, could barely move, although she was pregnant at the time so couldn't have any proper drugs.

Oh dear that actually mentions that they are not sure if the vaccine is safe when breastfeeding. :(
I'll have to ask the nurse.

I had the vaccine and carried on bf.

this is in the package leaflet for pandemrix (swine flu vax)
"Pregnancy and breast-feeding
Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, plan to become pregnant. You should discuss with your doctor whether you should receive Pandemrix.
The vaccine may be used during breast-feeding."

Don't know much about the vaccine and whether it would protect your DS - but my sister had swine flu last year (had not taken vaccine) when her DS was 1 and still being BF, she was sick as were her two older DDs, but her DS was the only one in the family who had nothing. So he was clearly protected by her antibodies. So in case you decide not to have the vaccine, your antibodies if you get sick should still protect your DS.

I was wondering the same thing, am BF DS, and I had the flu vacc'n in November.

Here's my take on it: the flu vaccine doesn't actually fill you with flu antibodies, it just shows your immune system how to make the antibodies.

So at the moment, if DS and I are exposed to flu, I will start making antibodies more quickly because of the vax, and these should pass across to him.

Whereas, if I wasn't vaccinated, there would be a longer time between my immune system 'seeing' the virus, and making antibodies to it, so more time for DS to get ill.

I'm not sure if any of that is actually correct, it's just what I'm hoping. It would appear that no-one, in fact, knows.

I'm also going out less and washing my hands more....

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but aren't the flu vaccines dead virus of that particular strain. I think this is because the molecular structure or something is the same whether alive or dead.

If a person at risk is vaccinated, the dead virus is attacked and recognised by the persons antibodies. If the vaccinated person comes into contact with that particular strain, the antibodies see this virus and goes in for the kill IYSWIM.

I hope this is explained well enough.

Yes I think you are correct, they're inactive vaccines, so what I'm wondering is if these antibodies will pass to DS as a result of vaccine?

I would guess that your antibodies would pass to your LO as normal. I would expect that if your antibodies are bumped up to fight the against the flu etc you should, theoretically, pass that on to your LO.