would you give your child the flu jab if your offered it?

[juicychops]

my ds got a letter from my docs offering him the flu jab. all 0-5 years are being offered it and i booked him an appointment to have it done. a friend of mine said she WOULDNT give her kids the jab

i am still going to do it

what would you do?

nope

sorry i meant swine flu jab

Yes, DS aged 3 had it on Tues - no ill effects at all apart from a little bruise where the needle went in. There are pros and cons to it like all vaccinations and down to personal decisions. I'm disappointed he will need another in 3 weeks though. The present I gave him immediately the after the injection stopped the tears in seconds!!

i went to gp's yesterday about something else, and asked her about the jab for dd. i asked if the gp had had it herself, she said neither she nor her husband (also a doctor) would be having it as they were concerned about how much/little testing had been done - that is enough for me to say dd will not be having it.

wouldn't touch it for any of mine. DS1 and DD have been offered as they have asthma. Declined.

But all our children/medical histories/opinions/experiences etc are different.
Why is there endless poll taking on this?

No, both of my kids are healthy, no underlying complaints etc so no reason to I think.

Yes because many of the children who become seriously ill or die have no underlying health problems and I'm not prepared to knowingly put my kids in that position

Yes I would - the number of children who have died as a result of swine flu has trebled over the past few months - these are not just statistics but lives lost. Wouldn't hesitate to be honest however, DS is nearly 7 so not eligible. I've had the vaccine (as I work for the NHS) the flu vccine is well tested and this is yet another flu vaccine - it's a different flu vaccine but even the seasonal flu ones change regularly depending on what is likely to be the worst of the viruses. Flu vaccines have a good safety record.
It's down to personal choice - if my child was under 5 I wouldn't be prepared to risk his health just because the media are stirring people up into a frenzy over a well tested vaccine.

... and Nancy75 I am amazed by the ignorance of your GP - she needs to look at the figures. God forbid your child should die as a result of this virus but you won't be thanking her if that should occur when you know a vaccine exists which could prevent it?

No.

I have been offered it and if it isn't fine for me to have it, it certainly isn't good enough for my dcs to have it.

It is up to personal choice and also personal experience. And my declining has nothing to do with a frenzy being stirred up by anyone.

People disagreeing with your choice are not media controlled numpties. Any more than those having the jab are sheep.

What are people's reasons for declining the swine flu jab? Children have died from swine flu - and not just children with underlying health issues. A vaccine has been developed in the same way, over the last few months, as the seasonal flu vaccine is developed - as one poster has already mentioned, the latter is re-developed each year so is not a vaccine that has been unchanged for years.

There has been not one recorded terrible side effect of the swine flu vaccine. 22 million Americans have already had it. Yet there have been many deaths from swine flu itself. Again, I'm genuinely interested in people's reasons for not having their under-5s vaccinated against a potentially fatal virus.

I would only give my child a vaccine for an illness which had a very high rate of infection combined with a very high risk of serious complication.

I don't believe that vaccination is always benign. Vaccination always carries a risk of side effects. Vaccinations often contain ingredients such a squalene and methyl mercury which bother me enormously. An MNers child was receiving medical attention for extreme night terrors following the vaccine in the last week or so.
I suspect my DS2 may well have had swine flu last week but the symptoms were so mild he was barely uncomfortable.

It is a personal decision. We all weigh what we regard as important and significant and make our choice.
Personally I am always surprised when people with no underlying health issues vaccinate for illnesses which have a low incidence of serious complication , like mumps, but tend not to ask in an aghast tone why they do as I feel it is rude. Something I wish others would consider when they ask me in an aghast tone why I do not.

If my child were more likely to have a life threatening episode from the disease than from the jab than I would. She does and has had the jab.

As pag says I probably wouldn't give it to a normally healthy child. Benefits probably don't outweigh the risks in that case.

I have been vaccinated. I am very keen to get my two DSes vaccinated too - just waiting for the letter.

Flu can be mild or it can be serious. I get the seasonal flu vaccine every year and am satisfied with the safety of both seasonal- and swine flu vaccines.

My ds2 has already had it as he is asthmatic. He had no ill effects and tbh, I had no qualms about him having it, in fact I was anxious that he did.

If it was offered to my other children, then yes I would accept it. We have had continuous illness in the family now for 5 weeks and even though I suspect SF would be a mild illness for my children, I don't want any more.

There does seem to be a lot of conflicting advice that is not helping parents to make an informed choice. However, i found this article useful and hope some others will too:

www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427321.100-swine-flu-eight-myths-that-could-endanger-your-life.html