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Four Perspectives on the H1N1 Virus and Vaccine
Healthy Child
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Healthy Child Healthy World doesn’t typically address the vaccination debate, but we know it’s important to our audience of parents. And, it’s become especially important with the pandemic spread of the H1N1 virus. Parents are scared and we want to help. We don’t have a recommendation for whether you should vaccinate or not, but we do believe you should have easy access to expert insights that can help you make an informed decision. Here are four perspectives you should take into consideration.
Dr. Sears’ position on the issue is emblematic of the entire discussion. He states that in general, he doesn’t “have a recommendation one way or another.” He acknowledges H1N1 to be a serious illness that is potentially life-threatening, noting that “seasonal flu in the U.S. causes about 20 infant and 100 total pediatric deaths each year. The swine flu has so far caused 112 pediatric deaths.” In light of the 36,000 Americans who die of the flu every year, he believes that “the shot helps protect against the flu and lowers this risk.” But he also acknowledges the risk inherent, stating that “there hasn’t been a lot of research on safety and efficacy of flu shots”.
Though that fact is less than a comfort to both patients and physicians, Dr. Sears doesn’t “see any reason to doubt that our immune systems won’t respond to this vaccine the same way they respond to regular flu shots.” He also covers potential side effects, which he doesn’t predict to be any different from those experienced from regular flu shots.
So what really concerns Dr. Sears then?
“(W)hat I DO worry about is that infants will be getting FOUR (count them, FOUR) flu vaccines this year – two doses of the regular one, and two doses of the swine flu vaccine. That’s unprecedented. We’ve never given anyone four doses of a flu vaccine in one year.
There is no way to predict what the side effects might be.” His other major concern is that despite a complete lack of testing to determine if there is any harm to fetuses or young babies, both the regular flu and H1N1 vaccines are recommended unequivocally for pregnant and nursing mothers.
He advises getting the shots alone, as far apart as you can from any other shots. And he urges parents “to delay any vaccines for diseases that don’t pose an immediate danger to a baby’s or child’s life and catch up on those vaccines in February or March, a couple months after finishing the flu vaccines.” Consult your physician for which diseases pose an immediate risk and which can be delayed.
Dr. Gordon seeks to quell the widespread alarm about H1N1 and discourage a knee-jerk impulse to vaccinate. He advises that winter flues are unavoidable, and integral to strengthening proper long-term immunity. “Children, in particular,” he says, “must suffer through a lot of winter illnesses because their immune systems are so inexperienced. New viruses get more people sick than older ones and this year the H1N1 virus is the newest common infection.”
Dr. Gordon believes the media are responsible for creating more anxiety about winter illness than at any time in recent memory. They are taking advantage of this situation to drive up TV viewership, increase web page visits, and sell more newspapers, he says, citing the SARS scare, the Bird Flu scare, and the West Nile Virus scare as examples.
He also includes the potential mortality risk as part of a broader scare tactic:
“The CDC released fatality data this past week and were quite clear in their assessment of this relatively non-virulent strain of influenza: 75-80% of the 76 children had significant or severe underlying medical problems.
Any child's death creates an extremely difficult public discussion but of the 300,000,000 Americans there are 45,000,000 children and teens and there have been 76 deaths of younger people. About 15 of these deaths occurred in seemingly healthy children and teens.
Please put all of these numbers in the proper perspective and realize that there are many important lifesaving topics for the media to publicize but none which sell papers and create TV viewership quite as well as this new flu…the science is terrible but the publicity is geared towards increasing fear, selling vaccines and Tamiflu and keeping us all on edge.”
He does not predict disaster from this year's pair of flu vaccines, but doesn’t think that they're a good use of our health care dollars, saying, “They are definitely not worth the amount of media and medical attention they've received and continue to receive.”
Jackie Lombardo, Sierra Club National Toxics Committee and SafeMinds.org:
Ms. Lombardo brings up questions about levels of mercury in the vaccine, and the contentious use of the preservative thimerosal. She provides a comprehensive breakdown of all of the ingredients used in the four different manufactured versions of the vaccine, and confirms that some do contain thimerosal, which is 49% mercury by weight.
The dangers, especially the risk of brain damage, associated with mercury are well established in scientific literature. So concerns over mercury exposure for infants, children, and pregnant women are no small matter. She points out that, “reviews in the medical journal The Lancet found a lack of health benefit of the seasonal flu vaccine for children under two and significantly increased rates of vaccine related adverse events in children.”
She recommends reading the package inserts very carefully, paying special attention to risks and safety studies, and insisting on a mercury-free version if you decide to get the shot. Refer to her complete list of ingredients before getting vaccinated.
Dr. Greene:
Dr. Greene emphasizes how little we know about the potential severity of the H1N1 flu, but he does believe it’s likely to be several times worse than usual flu season illness, with children, college and grad-school age adults and pregnant women most vulnerable. Interestingly, he points out that boys who catch H1N1 seem to get a lot sicker than the regular flu.
Overall he feels positively about the prognosis for the vaccine, though he admits that we don’t know the whole story. Though no serious side effects have been noted so far, he warns, “I expect we'll see some side effects emerge when larger populations are immunized. After all, if we gave enough people bananas or spinach we would see a few serious side effects and allergic reactions.” But he does feel that the benefits outweigh any risks.
He also quells a persistent rumor: that people will get the flu from the H1N1 vaccine. Not true, he says: “Unlike some other vaccines, this one is not a live virus; it's bits and pieces that recombine in the body and then prompt it later recognize and attack the flu virus.”
He prefers the versions with no added mercury as a preservative (the ones that come in single dose vials), and he reminds parents that no infants under 6 months should get the vaccine.
What You Can Do:
1. Carefully consider all of the perspectives we’ve presented here. Consider your child’s unique risks (e.g. children in day care are more at risk for catching H1N1 than children who are at home most of the time). Make an informed choice for your child. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that you’re taking a risk either way.
2. Stay as healthy as possible during flu season. Use our 10 Tips for Flu Season Super Defense, and practice vigilant but common sense prevention.
3. If you’re feeling ill, use Microsoft Health Vault's at-home tool designed to help people decide whether their symptoms indicate heading to a clinic or hospital or staying home in bed. This may help alleviate the strain on hospital emergency departments and help limit the number of people exposed to this life-threatening illness.
4. Use the Vaccine Ingredients Calculator to break down the contents of any vaccine you're considering for yourself or your family.
5. Still have more unanswered questions? The New York Times recently ran a comprehensive Q&A that covers more obscure concerns.
Editor's Note: Dr. Greene's quote says that the vaccine does not contain a live virus. This is true for the shot, but not for the nasal mist - which does contain the live virus.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy Child.
Posted by nosesmaller on 08/19/2010 at 10:39 PM
Here is the interesting part. Everyone has been worrying and theorizing about how these brand new vaccines are going to be made and what new and dangerous ingredients they might contain. Well, what has ended up happening is that these four companies have made their “swine” flu vaccines using the exact same process and ingredients that they’ve used for their regular flu vaccines. All they’ve changed is the strain of the flu germs that go into the vaccine.
Posted by AmandaP33 on 04/07/2010 at 02:21 AM
I can’t actually understand those parents who are not giving h1h1 flu shots to their children. Wake up people, this virus can be deadly and what will you do then? I can’t believe that you don’t want to help your child. They are too small to understand something by themselves. All important decisions must be done by yourselves. The price doesn’t matter at all when we are talking about safety of our children.
I had faced some situations related with swine flu virus this winter. My friend had suffered from it. Thank God everything went all right, however the end could be not so pretty at all. And all these problems were because she didn’t take a swine flu shot. That’s the problem and we must understand it. If you feel some strep throat symptoms or runny nose or other ones, immediately visit the hospital and see is it h1h1 or not. Of course if you are immunized you can be absolutely calm because it won’t be h1n1 for sure. In other words everyone have their own opinion on this question but we must think about our children. Because they are our future. Thanks for the interesting and useful article here. Keep writing other nice ones in the future too.
Posted by Susan on 11/07/2009 at 12:01 AM
Thank you for your response, Toni.
My daughter’s pediatrician is getting the injectable vaccine next week and I am going to discuss this more with him before proceeding. I have read that children under 10 years old need two doses spread about a month apart. If this is true, will there even be enough vaccine available in a month for the second dose? If not, then is it a waste of time to vaccinate half-way?
I totally understand the decision not to vaccinate an otherwise healthy individual since the exposure and developed immunities resulting from having the virus will outweigh the 2-10 days of being sick if there are no complications. BUT for those of us with children who have underlying health issues, the concern about more serious complications is something I can’t stop thinking about. I am not entirely convinced that vaccinations didn’t cause my daughter’s juvenile arthritis to present itself (from what I understand, many people can be pre-disposed, but something triggers the arthritis to present itself in certain people. What that trigger was for my daughter is unknown.). So at the other end of this issue - I’m also worried that the vaccine will trigger something in my daughter.
So frustrating…
Posted by juju on 11/06/2009 at 06:23 PM
The facts are not all in the article. For instance, if you or your children have an egg allergy, the flu vaccine whether for seasonal flu or H1N1 is not an option because the vaccine has some egg in it. Plus, I was told by our pediatrician that my twins once vaccinated would really not be covered for almost 9 days as it takes that long to build up immunity. My twins have now been exposed to a child who has the flu and the ped. doc says it is probably swine flu as season flu season has not really started so they cannot take the flu mist - they run the risk of getting even sicker than normal because the flu mist has a live virus in it.
It is questionable how effective an injection will be now that they are exposed. Their immune symptoms may fight it and an injection could weaken them enough to get the flu. I have read that there are NO adjuvants present in any of the vaccines being given in the US. Can someone PLEASE clear this up? Are there adjuvants like thermisol or squalane in these vaccines and which manufacture is using adjuvants and which adjuvants are being used if any???
Plus, the WHO released an article about 3 weeks ago that said healthy teenagers are getting very sick and/or dying and the the numbers of this group are rising. as to the quote that stated that “the relationship of viral replication in a vaccine…” etc. do you mean just with the flu and the flu vaccine? Because the live polio vaccine is stil being given int he world and it can pass to individuals and give them polio if the individual has not had a polio vaccination. why isn’t is so, for the H1N1 flu - , the flu mist which DOES contain the live virus can get people sick…?
Posted by Kennedy on 11/06/2009 at 02:50 PM
Cassandra could you please supply the article name on the www.nvic.org website? I attempted to locate it but was unable to . I found the Transmission Study listed on http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/vaccines/approvedproducts/ucm182406.pdf
which says “The relationship of viral replication in a vaccine recipient and transmission of vaccine viruses to other individuals has not been established.”
I am concerned because they administered the mist at my husbands job, he opted not to get, but everyone that received it was sneezing afterwards.
Posted by Dr. C on 11/06/2009 at 09:45 AM
The H1N1 vaccines were studied 7 days (on children) before they were presumed “safe.” 7 days. Children (and adults) acquiring this or any virus, may or may not become ill (symptomatic) but they will have life-long protection. No vaccine can offer life-long protection.
Posted by Cassandra on 11/05/2009 at 07:34 PM
After reading the flu mist package insert, it is highly likely that the spread of the flu can be from the vaccine itself. It leaves you contagious for 2-4 weeks.
Educate Before You Vaccinate
www.nvic.org
Posted by Toni on 11/05/2009 at 02:12 PM
I was posting this in response to Susan’s comment. Susan I have asthma, and I was just vaccinated on Monday. I was debating what to do and I am still not sure what I will do with my daughter who is just about 10 months old. She does not have asthma. In any event I was told that people with asthma have an increased risk of complications due to mucus that is present in their bronchial tubes. My asthma is mild, however, my allergist informed me that there is no way to tell how much mucus is in your bronchial tubes. She then went on to inform me that when you get the flu you are more prone to getting a secondary infection, such as pneumonia, because of the moist environment in your bronchial tubes, which is ideal for the growth of bacteria. For these reasons, I decided to get the vaccine. I hope this information helps you.
Posted by Monica on 11/05/2009 at 12:28 PM
Do you have this information in Spanish?. If you do please send it to me.
Thank you
M. Chavez
Posted by Alex on 11/05/2009 at 10:22 AM
My daughter may have the virus- so the vaccine may not be our issue any more- Thanks so much for this great article- I will forward it to my friends and family.
I heard about the vitamin D yesterday as well. Another great suggestion.
Keep our heads people :)
Alex
Posted by Susan on 11/05/2009 at 10:17 AM
“The CDC released fatality data this past week and were quite clear in their assessment of this relatively non-virulent strain of influenza: 75-80% of the 76 children had significant or severe underlying medical problems. “
So does this mean if I have a child who has underlying medical problems then I SHOULD vaccinate? I understand that the press exaggerates things, but I also know that my daughter is on immunosuppressive medications for juvenile arthritis and she has asthma. I would prefer that she not be vaccinated, but given the possibility of complications should she get h1n1, I feel like I’m not a good mom if I don’t get her vaccinated.
Posted by christopher gavigan on 10/16/2009 at 10:04 AM
We have been hearing this question a few times: Does the H1N1 pediatric mist spray have thimerisol?
Jackie Lombardo answers it here: “It does not contain thimerosal (49% ethylmercury) but it does contain the live virus. In addition, it includes monosodium glutamate, potassium phosphate, pig gelatin, arginine, sucrose, and an antibiotic. For a list of H1N1 vaccine ingredients by manufacturer and type, please see http://nontoxicchildhood.blogspot.com/.”
ctg
Posted by Chelsea on 10/15/2009 at 04:39 PM
We can keep ourselves healthy enough not to contract ANY flu with herbs….why do these companies not tell you this??? Because they can’t patent nature!! One of the first preventatives for the flu is making sure you take vitamin D every day! 90% of Americans have a vitamin D deficiency.
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Posted by Pink Ring on 10/24/2010 at 10:46 AM
Boy, that whole H1N1 thing got way overblown didn’t it?
I guess there is always still the threat of a pandemic, but you know that the media took it a bit too far…milking it for all that it was worth.
Of course, some of the practices mentioned in this article are always valid, such as maintaining proper health. That might be the most important thing.