swine flu vaccine for children age 6 months - 5 yrs....to have or not to have? - WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

freespirit

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Thursday, November 19th 2009, 11:05pm

swine flu vaccine for children age 6 months - 5 yrs....to have or not to have?

hello mummies,

just finished watching the 10 O"clock news....they say swine flu vaccines are available to children from 6 months to 5 years old and children at that age should have the vaccine coz it shows these are the age group that are most likely to get the flu virus...

would you let your child have the vaccine? is there any side effects after the injections.....DD is going to be 6 months soon and im worrried and don't know wether to get her vaccinated or not, but i also don't wan't her to get the flu.....im confused...would you have it or not??????

need your opinion ladies......

thanks :happy:

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Thursday, November 19th 2009, 11:31pm

My daughter is five and if I'm offered it then I'll take her for it.

A couple of days ago she was quite poorly and as she's of school age it goes through your mind that it 'could' be swine flu. Faced with that very real threat I admit I was a little worried. If the jab could guarantee to remove that risk then it's worth doing IMO. We vaccinate against everything else so why not?

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bubble

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 10:04am

I agree. I was thinking about this last night. I have had all of baby bubble's injections done so far so why not this one? If this is something I can do for her that prevents her getting seriously ill then I'm all for it, especially as she seems to be picking up every bug going at the moment (I blame ending exclusive breastfeeding :snigger:

).

I imagine the side effects are the same as for a 'normal' flu jab - you risk getting a mild version of the symptoms. I personally think that's a risk worth taking when you consider how serious it can be.

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 10:15am

Me too I will take them up on the offer of a jab.

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mrsjasper

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 10:46am

I will be taking my two for it if they are offered it. For the reason most people have said, I believe the benefits of having it outweigh the risks.

I had it myself on Monday so I can tell you that the side effects are a mild fever (which you can treat with paracetamol) a sore arm and feeling a bit unwell for a couple of days.

However, children's immune systems are less well developed than adults so for the younger ones, there is likely to be a second dose, don't know the details yet I'm afraid. I know its not fun but flu is NOT bad cold, it can kill or cause serious complications like pneumonia. IMO its worth the few days of minor side effects to protect against something much more serious.

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Originally posted by Bells
If the jab could guarantee to remove that risk then it's worth doing IMO.

Just want to pick up on this, no vaccines are 100% effective, there are no guarantees. Most of the vaccines in common use are about 85-95% effective. Also, the more people have them, the more difficult it becomes for the virus to travel around a population so this provides 'herd immunity' and protects those people who either can't have it for medical reasons or in whom it hasn't been effective.

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 7:51pm

My dd will certainly be having it. One of her friends had swine flu when he was just 7 months old and was REALLY poorly :sadface:

thankfully he's fine now but i'm sure his mother would have jumped at the chance of getting him the jab rather than seeing him go through that.

Mrs J - i wonder if you could answer something for me please?
If my dd is due to have the jab around Jan/Feb time (which i've heard is likely to be the case) is ok for it to be so close to her 12/13 months imms? I'm sure it'll be fine but it's just something i've been wondering.

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mrsjasper

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 7:59pm

It will be fine. The only issue arrises if more than one live vaccine needs to be given around the same time. MMR is a live vaccine so it must be given either at the same time as any other live vaccine or after a gap of (I think) 3 weeks. All the other vaccines in the routine schedule are killed vaccines and so is the swine flu one so they can be given after any time interval with no problems.

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compley

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Friday, November 20th 2009, 8:00pm

Having listened, read, discussed it with dh, and weighed up the risks and benefits, H (L isn't 6 months until Feb, but am hoping she will be able to have it then), will be having it.

xxx

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picklesmum

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Saturday, November 21st 2009, 2:17pm

My DD is 6 months and I want her to have it. Do I just enquire at my Drs?

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Saturday, November 21st 2009, 9:46pm

They will contact you Picklesmum. When your surgery is ready is start giving them they will write to parents of all 6m-5y olds.

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freespirit

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Sunday, November 22nd 2009, 3:13pm

... salute to all Moderators! thank you for rescuing my tiny brain yet again...

after reading all your reply, reading all about it in the internet and also spoke to my friend in texas (which by the way her whole family had been vaccinated)...... DD will definitely be having it if she's offered one.....as we all know swine flu can be serious and quite scary especially for babies and young children....

they rekon injections will be given around jan/feb.....but earlier in scotland i think, not quite sure.....

thank you so much ladies for all your replies......really apprecicated....

lots of love XXXXXXXXXXXXX

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Cathie

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Thursday, December 3rd 2009, 8:00pm

Just to add to this thread, Eric has had the jab 10 days ago, as did I as his main carer because of the risks of complications with his medical history.

He's had his MMR the week before too and thats when I asked and was told Eric was a priority so hey leaped at the chance to avoid any worries! (FYI the MMR jab gave him swollen glands 7 days after)

To report Eric had the snivels already - a constant since going to nursery for one day a week, and was marginally more grumpy the next day but no temperature and was back to normal (still snotty) the day after. I was 100% fine except for the injection site which was as sore as hell!!

No worries, for me the thought of Eric spending more time in hospital when there is something proven to stop it meant it was a no brainer!!!

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compley

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Sunday, December 6th 2009, 7:36pm

H (and myself!, L is too young at the mo), are having the swine flu jab on Tuesday, as dh had his spleen removed when younger, so is classed as immunocompromised. Dh had his jab a couple of weeks ago, and was ok afterwards.

I feel sure we are doing the right thing, with H, as we would have had the jab anyway, when they started immunising children....am not looking forward to taking him along for it though, imagine we will have a bit more of a struggle now he is a strong 2 year old, compared to his baby jabs (and they were bad enough!)...I'm steeling myself for tears (him and me, as I hate seeing them upset!).
He has to have a 2nd jab 3 weeks after this one (I need to ask the practice nurse actually, as I'm only having one, dh needs to have 2 as well, am guessing that children/ at risks groups are maybe being given it in 2 lower doses, and I'm having one big dose???....)

xxx

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cazzmo

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Sunday, December 6th 2009, 7:55pm

A's having his when they send for him. I have to have one too as have immune issues, theres 2 jabs involved for me

. Got to have a yearly flu jab now too ( me not A )

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compley

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Saturday, December 12th 2009, 9:42am

H had his jab Tuesday, and apart from a few tears (which were soon stopped with a treat to eat!!), he has been absolutely fine

He doesn't seem to have had any side effects. He has his 2nd jab on the 29th Dec, and hopefully all will go as smoothly as this one. (children under 10, having the pandemrix (?sp!), have 2 lower doses, and I had one bigger dose).

xxx

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compley

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Tuesday, December 15th 2009, 9:16pm

Practice nurse rang today. She has had some new guidelines through, and as H has a healthy immune system (he receved the jab now because of dh), he only needs one dose, so all done!

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bubble

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Tuesday, December 15th 2009, 9:21pm

That's good Laura.

Just wondered, does anyone know whether both types of vaccine (is it celvapan and pandremix?) are available for children and whether there are any advantages or disadvantage on having one as opposed to the other? I really should do some reading up on it.........!!

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mrsjasper

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Monday, January 25th 2010, 8:48am

Just to update this, my two had their swine flu vaccine on Friday and were absolutely fine. DD1 had a slight temperature on Saturday and had a slight bit of diarrhoea which lead to a couple of 'accidents' but otherwise all was fine. Well, I say all was fine, the whole experience was very stressful because we took teddy with us and when we got home, we couldn't find him. Thankfully he was waiting for us on the desk at the surgery when we went back to get him. Loosing teddy is something I do not want to contemplate, no one would sleep ever again! When DD1 was 7 months old she fell off her cot top changer and we had to go to A&E and loosing ted was almost as stressful! She has her pre school booster and MMR this week and teddy will be waiting at home!

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Indiechick

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Monday, January 25th 2010, 8:55pm

Hooray for Teddy, so glad he's safe and DD is comforted! Thanks Ladies, after seeing the opinions of those of you I really trust (you know who you are!!!) my two will be having it! x

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freespirit

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Wednesday, January 27th 2010, 9:52pm

i received a letter today for dd's swine flu vaccine saying to come to the surgery dated Jan 23.10 / 8:30-11.00 am....its a bit late isn't????? damn royal mail....lol.

we were out all day... so didn't know until we got home otherwise, i would have ring the surgery.....

mrs J im glad yo haven't lost teddy completely.. i could imagine the trauma..from now on keep a close eye on teedy ok...lol.

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mrsjasper

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Wednesday, January 27th 2010, 10:12pm

Quoted from "bubble"

Just wondered, does anyone know whether both types of vaccine (is it celvapan and pandremix?) are available for children and whether there are any advantages or disadvantage on having one as opposed to the other? I really should do some reading up on it.........!!

Bubble, the cevalpen is not the one being used for the national programme as it has a lower antibody response than the pandemrix. They both come in 10 - dose vials and cevalpen has the shortest shelf life after opening so would probably mean more wastage if it was used for the national programme. Pandemrix contains thiomersal preservative (mercury based, there has been a move to phase out mercury based preservatives from vaccines although there havenever been any reported problems). Pandemrix is also manufactured using eggs so its not suitable for egg allergy sufferers but cevalpen is ok. Where I work, pandemrix is what we have is but there are specialist clinics for thosepatients who need cevalpen.

Freespirit, that sounds like the NHS I know and love! I'm sure if you ring your surgery, they will be able to give you an appointment.

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Indiechick

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Wednesday, January 27th 2010, 10:35pm

We don't get appointments, just got to turn up and take a ticket and wait - bit like the cheese counter at Tescos! Not looking forward to that bit actually cos it's hard enough to entertain two in the comfort of my own home let alone in a doctors surgery

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Thursday, January 28th 2010, 9:07am

There seems to be a bit of a delay with it down here. I asked about it when i booked dd in for her 12 month jabs and they said it would be a while yet before they send letters :sadface:

I'm supposed to have it too but not heard anything about that either.

Was talking to my mummy friends about it the other day and have two who are going to refuse it altogether and one who is paying privately for the one without mercury. I'm confused about it all really - where are people getting information that makes them want to refuse it and not get their children protected?

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mrsjasper

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Thursday, January 28th 2010, 9:48am

Michelle, there will always be parents who mistrust the healthcare system and if you look hard enough there are internet sources that can discredit most of the stuff we do. With vaccines, its got much worse since the MMR 'scare' a few years ago. No drug is 100% safe and that includes vaccines but if you want 100% safety and never to have to worry, then you're better off with a doll rather than a child! It doesn't help that the media love to report on the few cases where things do go wrong and the few parents who's children have a particular condition and the parents feel a vaccine has caused it. They don't show you the millions and millions of kids worldwide who are healthy and protected from a lot of very serious illnesses because of vaccination, that unfortunately is quite boring in terms of selling newspapers! I think as well the drug manufacturers are portrayed as orges who put profits before the safety of our kids and that is just not true, they are largely very resposible companies who have to adhere to strict guidelines and are staffed by people who have kids themselves. Also, most GP practices are groaning and rolling their eyes at the amount of work this is creating and what it costs to send out letters, pay staff for extra clinics etc... we don't do all that for no good reason. What I am trying to say is that I still believe the benefits outweight the risks. I know rates of infection with the swine flu virus are dropping, but its not the risk of them catching it that bothers me, its the fact that kids suffer more with it. I would not want to be sitting beside my childs hospital bed knowing that a vaccine could have kept us out of there.

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Thursday, January 28th 2010, 10:21am

Lochlan had his Swine Flu jab a couple of weeks ago and was absolutely fine. No fever, no swelling and actually no tears either!

Just to clarify, the swine flu vaccine is not a 'live' vaccine, so your child is not injected with a mild form of the illness like in some vaccines. It is the same vaccine as the seasonal flu one, just with the strain of the flu virus changed. Studies show that side effects, (or lack of in this case) do not change even when the type of flu virus is changed in the vaccine. It is one of the safest vaccines there are.

My view would be to take what's offered. Childhood illnesses are horrid and some potentially very dangerous and the risks of your little one catching the illness far outweigh the possible risks in a vaccine.

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Thursday, January 28th 2010, 11:35am

That's exactly how i feel about it - why would you not protect your child against an illness that could potentially make them very poorly?

I've just noticed that Treezuk's ds is having his swine flu jab tomorrow and they live fairly close to me. So maybe we wont have to wait too much longer.
I'm just worried as we've been out and about so much and have started going to soft play centres etc - last week we left one when a boy arrived who was SO poorly that he shouldn't have been taken out, he clearly didn't want to be there and was coughing and sneezing and falling asleep. Probably was just a bad cold and had no doubt been spreading it around before he had the symptoms himself but it goes to show that there are always going to be a small number of parents who knowingly put others at risk like this and i want to do everything i can to protect my dd from getting ill.

ETS - i dont mean that i worry about taking my dd out to have fun......we do lots of that :smile:

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Thursday, January 28th 2010, 12:32pm

My two had their injection a few weeks back now, and apart from a few tears, they're absolutely fine!

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Friday, January 29th 2010, 10:45pm

Would it be worth mentioning to the doctor when I take C for her jab, that she may have already had it? She was very poorly over Xmas with flu-like symptoms.

Would it affect the vaccine in any way?

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mrsjasper

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Friday, January 29th 2010, 10:51pm

Polly the guidelines are for it still to be given anyway, lots of other virus have been mistaken for swine flu so to not give it could leave her unprotected.

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Indiechick

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Saturday, January 30th 2010, 11:09am

My two had it yesterday, was very proud as neither of them cried. One has had a bit of temp and been a bit sick since but that could be coincidence?

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freespirit

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Tuesday, February 2nd 2010, 8:57pm

well well well....i thought i made up my mind about having dd vaccinated....reading stories in the internet and youtube, now i'm more confused, scared and have no idea what im going to do.....dh doesn't want dd to have the vaccine, he says its not been tested long enough....as for me i wan't dd to have the vaccine coz i don't want her to get it...but there are so many scary story's out there reminding the danger of the vaccine....really don't know what to do to be honest ?o(

..... help me please :bawl:

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Thursday, February 18th 2010, 7:38pm

Hi, I've booked Charlie in to have his. My good friend is a GP and her two girls have had it. He's had a cold for ages now and I'm feel awful if he caught it while his immune system was low.

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Thursday, January 6th 2011, 9:31pm

hello
just wanted to find out anyones thoughts on the swine flu jab for this year. I phoned up my local surgery and they said they are not giving it to under fives, it is only going to people with previous health conditions. Last year i would have said definately no to the jab but DD is 18 months old now and she is in the company of many children at the various groups she attends. I would also have liked to have it as we are about to embark on a FET. What are you thoughts ladies and gents x

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Friday, January 7th 2011, 9:29am

If we can get it I'm going to have J done, whilst most children are fine with Swine Flu (obviously most of them feel ill but not seriously so) there is the odd one or two who react badly and I don't want to take that chance. They probably won't give it to you unless you get pg (unless you have underlying health problems) but I would advise you to have it as it can be really nasty if you're pg.

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Friday, January 7th 2011, 1:29pm

I have two flu patients at home at the moment, DD who is nearly 2 and DH who should be old enough to look after himself. They are both properly ill and its horrible to see. Having seen it first hand now if I could go back I would have found somewhere to give DD the vaccine privately. You should easily find somewhere to get it privately for yourself Verve - getting it for a child privately seems to be harder but does seem to be doable in some places.

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Friday, January 7th 2011, 2:29pm

Thanks Bubble. I am going to have a phone around.

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Wednesday, March 2nd 2011, 2:02pm

One of my DDs has just spent 11 days in hospital with broncholitis caused by a mild form of flu. The type of flu she had (paraflu-3) is normally harmless but can cause problems in those who are susceptible. My DD was born 7 weeks early, had to be ventilated after birth and has suspected asthma so she is in that category. Having seen the damage that such a mild flu caused, I will not hesitate to have both DDs vaccinated next year. That said, the seasonal vaccine does not include paraflu, so would not have helped avoid this episode, but I hate to think of the damage that a more aggresive flu could have caused.

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swine flu vaccine for children age 6 months - 5 yrs....to have or not to have?

swine flu vaccine for children age 6 months - 5 yrs....to have or not to have?

Quoted

Quoted from "bubble"