Your thoughts on swine flu jab for under 2's

Money_maker

Hi,

I know that no medical advice is allowed on the boards, but just after a few opinions on swine flu jabs for an under 2 (21 months).

DD has been offered one but am in 2 minds as to whether to take it up. Has your little one had one?

BTW, DD is very healthy with no known medical conditions, not terribly prone to illness thus far (fingers crossed) if that makes any difference

milliebear00001

I'd say it doesn't make much difference as flu (of any sort) is serious in a young child. Has to be your decision but this vaccine is no different to any other (have you had the other vaccinations offered?) it's the disease that appears to be more dangerous rather than the vaccine.

My son is three and is borderline asthmatic and I'll be getting him jabbed at the first opportunity.

Morgan_Ree

I'm sort of swaying towards my DS not having it done

I'm no expert but I don't believe the long term effects (if any?) can be known when the vaccine was developed in such a short space of time

mumslave

I had it done for me, as I am pregnant. If it is offered to my son (15 months) I will have him done too. There is no fatalities reported as a direct result of the jab, or even bad side effects, plus I have had it myself, so I know what to expect for him. It didnt even hurt having it done at all, but you do get a bit of an achey arm later.

sexandthecity

My daughter has been offered it as she is 3. I was reluctant when you hear about the side effects of the previous swine flu jab in the US years ago, there have been no serious issues with the jab as far as I know apart from some allergic reactions to the jab which happen with all immunisations in a very small percent of those having it done.

My daughter gets floored with a cold, she has been in hospital for a bad chest over past few months and is borderline asthmatic, if she gets ill it knocks her for six so yes she is having her jab in just over a week and after reading about parents in the UK with kids on life support when they have contracted Swine Flu personally the appointment cannot come quick enough, I also have a 7 year old daughter who has a very good immune system but I think given the choice I would give her the jab as well.


I dont particularly like the fact that my daughter is going to have to have a SF jab but I couldnt live with myself if anything happened if she contracted it and had complications when the vaccine had been offered

dtc04

Im waiting at the moment to see if dd2 can have the jab because she has had reactions to jabs before. The doctor wasn't sure if its OK so he is going to ring the local hospital and find out, but he did say he thought it should be OK.

If she can have it then she will. Flu can very nasty and shes still very small, so I think the risks from flu (any type not just swine flu) outweigh the risks of the vaccine.

Ishtar

My 9 month old DS has been called for his swine flu jab - just up to me to make the appointment. To be honest I'm not so sure what to do as the pandemic helpline was very sure that OH had swine flu in October last year.

I think I might take up some of my doctor's time and ask a few questions before deciding, as it seems to me that if DS has been exposed to swine flu (and he did get flu-like symptoms), then there seems to be little point him having yet another injection.

He has no other health issues - I'm not sure whether this should inform my decision or not, but the accompanying FAQs did not seem relevant as they talked about pregnant women and people with underlying health issues.

Anyway, I'm going to spend some time thinking about it before I make my decision.
HTH
D

elektra-2007

I think its personal choice i know some families where some people got swine flu and other members didnt and they were all together confined in the house!! I refused my sons 1st mmr as it was big news in the states about links to autism ect. Ive not heard anything about swine flu jab. Maybe google it and see, or ask your doctor. It is a very nasty flu tho, the people i know who got it were really bad, and they are just normal healthy kids/adults. Id hate to see what it would be like with an under 5.
If your Lo is healthy ect a vaccination shouldnt be too bad.

jimjams_mommy

I have had the swine flu jab in nov because I am pregnant and asthmatic. I have been admitted to hospital with asthma attacks and chest infections in the past and didn't want to risk getting swine flu as knowing my luck it would knock me for six. The last infection I was in hospital for over a week. I am classed as high risk due to my asthma which is under control and I am in my early 30s. I had lots of sleepless nights thinking about what to do, I spoke to my consultant at the hospital who told me she had it and if i was her sister she would say have it. It is such a heart tugging choice but I couldn't risk leaving my ds if anything happend as I do get chest infections that put me at risk.

I was over 30 weeks when i had the jab my arm was very sore and red which lasted a good week. I felt rough for a few days but wasn't sure if it was pregnancy feeling rough or the jab.

My son who is also asthmatic has had the jab ( one shot in nov and the second one last week, they are given half dose split in two lots, it was slighly delayed with the second one as he had a cold which i wanted to make sure he got over ) he is 34 months old. He didn't cry when he had the jabs and was ok after, I gave him calpol before and on the night as I do with all his jabs.

He only seemed to have side effects a few days later ( which is what he has had with all his jabs ) a red arm which he found sore if he knocked or lay on. He was a little tearfull and seemed to have a cold/ out of salts. He was fine after a good few days.

It is hard to make the choice about the swine flu jab but I just think it is what right for you and your family. With my medical history and my DS I couldn't risk the factors that could make swine flu worse for us. If I wasn't asthamic and was just pregnant I don't think I would have had it. Its back to the old pearl of wisdom in parenthood do what you think is right for your children.

Good luck and I hope my post has helped as I didn't know anyone who has had the jab when I had it, now I know a few ( from the last visit to my GP waitig room )

milliebear00001

Morgan_Ree wrote: »

I'm sort of swaying towards my DS not having it done

I'm no expert but I don't believe the long term effects (if any?) can be known when the vaccine was developed in such a short space of time

This vaccine has been developed in exactly the same way as the flu vaccine is developed every year. 'flu' is not one disease, but an ever evolving group of viruses. Each year, the 'base' vaccine is 'tweaked' to make it applicable to the variant that is most prolific that winter - this is the reason flu vaccines are able to be developed in such a short space of time - because the basic make up of the vaccine is the same every year and only a few components need to be altered.

This vaccine is a well tested as any other winter flu vaccine. It isn't at all the same as developing a vaccine from scratch which actually takes many years of development and testing..

skintchick

My DD is too young to be offered it but OH and I have decided we would decline if she were, as we feel it's an untested vaccine and we don't know what the side effects might be. And there have not been that many deaths from swine flu of an otherwise healthy child.

You have to make the decision that feels right to you though.