advice! should i get the kids swine flu jabs done?

[Guest]

hi all,

i am undecided on getting my 1 yr old and 2 yr olds swine flu jabs done, i've been to the doctors and spoken to a few friends but everyone seems 50/50.
have you or are you planning on having your children vaccinations done?
are you as confussed as me about the whole thing?

[princess pixie]

i think its really down to how you feel about your kids getting it, my 11 year old has had it and my 4 year old is getting his this afternoon, i looked into this fully before i said yes and found majority of people were recommending kids go if they have an underlying condition or are under 5.

The arm does get a bit tender where the needle goes in but that doesnt last long, that was the case with my 11 year old.

[joshmadty]

i asked this very question a couple of weeks ago.

all my kids have had all their jabs and i have always thought it was the right thing to do. not had any side effects and all ok. but after getting a letter inviting the youngest two to get it - something just didn't seem right about it to me and also the fact my older child who is only 6 would not be allowed it. so i started asking around about it.

having read various posts since, and spoke to friends and thought long and hard about it - i decided not to get my youngest two children jabbed.

i still don't really have an exact reason why not, i just don't feel its necessary at this moment.
maybe i will change my mind later on - who knows!

[Guest]

i think what made me even more confussed was when i went to the doctors and she told me that her own daughter wasn't getting her grandson done!
i asked her for her honest opionion and she said that it is her job to advice me to get the children done, and if her children were younger she would have them done but only to set a good example! ?

it really made me come out of there in a more confussed state than going in.

what you've said made sense and i can understand why you have had your children vaccinated.
to be honest i don't know much about it, but i would feel dreadful if the children got ill because they hadn't had the jab!

[xXxSammi88xXx]

I didn't know wat to do either but in the end decided not to give her it.I just feel it hasn't been tested enough.

[Guest]

amanda i feel exactley the same, i didn't like the thought of getting my youngest 2 done. i don't see why they are only offering it to under 5's either! my son is 7.

to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if me and my family have already had swine flu back in october half term! we all were so ill all had once, worsed flu me and my partner ever had. kids didn't seem as bad as us.

[RachelM]

We have decided not go get rebecca done. Although a few parents were talking about at nursery this morning and it does seem to be 50/50 split.

[Rachel1]

Try to find the thread from a couple of weeks ago, it tries to explain the issues (as GP's should be doing).

It is a tried and tested vaccination- its the same as the seasonal flu vaccination that they change every year depending on the flu types that are/have been around. This one has the H1N1 flu in it that's all. Also, Austrailia started their programme of vaccination much earlier than here, so its been well used.

The reason for under 5's is that unlike older groups, children under 5 WITHOUT other health issues are more likely to get seriously ill (and hospitalised and worse) if they get swine flu. This is why its been targetted at under 5's generally and not just those with underlying health conditions. This is different than people 5 and over, where is has been those WITH other health needs who are more at risk.

Hope this makes sense and helps- its still a personal decision.

[Guest]

I posted asking much the same a week or so back! We decided not to get it done at this particular time. I wasn't say no, just not at the moment. My DD is in good health and has no underlying health problems, so I wasn't sure whether the benefits outweighed the risks.

As you say, many GP's aren't having their children done, which speaks volumes doesn't it!

[Guest]

Well my kids do have underlying health issues but I guess I was as unsure as the rest of you when we got the letters to take them for thier swine flu vaccine. I checked with my sons consultant just to make sure and he was all for him having it. So we went ahead and took them the monday before Xmas. My eldest son (14) had a sore arm for a day or so, nothing major though and I think this was aggravated by his 24 hour blood pressure monitoring he had the same day. My youngest (11) didn't have any discomfort at all.