To vacinate or not to vacinate - I can't decide!

[Holymoly321]

Not sure why I'm posting this really as having looked at other posts it seems to be a 50 50 split in advice! DS1 is 4 and DS2 is 2, the 4yrold sometimes uses a brown inhaler (maybe once a month for a week if he's got a cold) but is not diagnosed as a definite asthma sufferer. The 2yr old has used a blue inhaler when he had a bad cough a few months ago but not really used it since. My dad died from a asthma attack over 30 years ago. The boys are both otherwised quite healthy, have had chickenpox etc. Today a friend said their GP father said she shouldn't get her 1yr DS vaccinated - said the risks from the jab were far greater than the risks of getting severe reaction from SF. I just don't know what to do!

If a GP said that to me then I would probably decide to not vaccinate. However, I have vaccinated by 1 and 4 year olds and now, hearing that you've been told by a GP that the risks of the vaccine outweigh the risks of sf, I'm extremely worried.

beware - sorry, didn't want to scare anybody. I am still in two minds myself. There are threads on here where other MN's have exp of GP or healthcare workers that have said they definitely would get their children vaccinated. Like I said, it is 50/50 out there! That is what is making the decision so goddamn difficult. Also, because there is less press about cases, it makes you think that SF is on the decrease now anyway - but this may not be the case and it may be the case that if my DCs got it they could be the unlucky ones with severe reaction! Arrrgh!

It has decreased, less than 5000 reported cases a week ( in think) which is why the DOH have stopped doing thier weekly updates.

Have a look on 'fergus on flu' on BBC website.....

does this mean we don't need to bother with the vaccinations?

I've had the vaccine, my DS has also had his (on Sat). My GP friend said that all flu vaccines are 'new' each year as the strain of flu mutates/varies, so the swine flu vaccine is only as risky as a normal flu vaccine IMO. With any kind of intervention there are always different opinions, and the inevitable scare stories and it's hard to figure out the truth... but I felt the benefits outweighed the risks. I think it was easier for me because I've had the vaccine myself (sore arm, headache for a day but no other effects) so I've not been as concerned for a bad reaction in DS.

It's not the immediate reactions that I worry about - it's the unknown ones that may appear 5 / 10/ 15 years down the line....

interesting link Lady - where do you live?

What did the GP dad say the risks of the vaccine were? And does his 1yo have asthma like yours, OP? See? He may have totally different issues to consider than you do.

Good luck. DS3 had his SF jab last week (fine). I really want DS2 to have it asap because he tends to be wheezy (not truly asthmatic, but I guess he could develop it one day). I am not at all worried about other 2 DC having it.

i really sympathise with u i can understand why you are worried i had to make this decission for my 9 yr old boy coz he has mild asthma. He had the jab in the end coz i have a scary memory of when he ended up with pneumonia and we were in hospital for 5 days , he was only 18mths old and he was so ill i thought he wasn't going to make it.
There are 2 nurses in our family both have had the vacine and both said if it was their child they would give it him. Its a very difficult horrid position to be in!He had vacine in early dec and had a sore arm raised temp and headache for a day then has been ok since.

Swine flu cases are really on the decrease and chances are you've come into contact with it already because it has been so widespread. My GP friends think the vaccine is unnecessary unless you normally get the seasonal flu vaccine. Do your kids get offered the seasonal flu vaccine with their asthma? Swine flu is milder than seasonal flu - it has a 0.02% fatality rate which means that 99.8% of people get it and recover - there have been approx 300 deaths throughout the UK in comparison to the estimated 12000 seasonal flu deaths that there are usually. The scary stories are still out there but the figures speak for themselves imo so we're not vaccinating.

oops 99.98%

My 5 yr old DD has had it because she has suspected asthma. I had a wobble about it after she had it done because I read the scare stories on the web however, I have continued to research it and the more I read, the more I am convinced that I made the right decision. I also spoke to several Gp's at my local practice and they had all had the vaccination.

Good luck with the decision.

Pammym.