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Vaccination is key
Most of all, vaccination is the best way to stay healthy, Peacock says. The H1N1 vaccine is safe and effective, as it’s undergone the same type of development and the same level of testing as the annual seasonal flu vaccine.
“We don’t have any expectation that this H1N1 vaccine would be any different from seasonal flu vaccine and we have found that seasonal flu vaccine has been very safe,” she says.
Plus, parents worried about vaccine safety, can always request a preservative-free version of the H1N1 vaccine.
High-risk individuals, caregivers of children under 6 months and those ages 6 months to 24 years are first in line to receive the vaccine, which is currently being distributed across the country.
Peacock advises that children who are at high risk receive the injection version of the vaccine, rather than a nasal spray which includes a live strain of the virus. Both versions should be available beginning this week.
Where to get the vaccine will vary somewhat from state to state. “Most states are going to have it in different places – doctors offices, community health centers, maybe school-based clinics and drugstores – but each state is a little bit different,“ Peacock says.
Take precautions
Know the symptoms of H1N1:
• Fever
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Body aches
• Headaches
• Chills
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
Pay special attention to children who are at high risk and ask others who interact with the child to do the same.
Make sure you’re alerted if another child at school gets swine flu, for example, as it’s important to keep children who are at high risk separate from other kids who may have symptoms of the H1N1 virus, Peacock says.
If you do get the flu, here’s what to do
Get in touch with your doctor right away if you’re at high risk and develop symptoms of swine flu.
“We know that the medications that work against influenza, such as Tamiflu, they work better if they’re started within the first two days,” Peacock says.
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Any resources for flu shots for those of us allergic to egg whIte?
This article is incredibly flawed and incorrect. Other than the part about washing hands and covering your nose and mouth, everything is else is wrong. It really amazes me how effective drug companies are at manipulating the culture so that we allow them to sell toxic and ineffective vaccines in pharmacies, college campuses, grocery stores and countless other outlets, without taking into account medical history or doing any patient follow-up. The last thing that our children need is anything that can cause additional damage to them.
Study after study (those not unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry) has reached the same conclusion—that flu shots simply do not work as advertised. For example:
1.)Giving young children flu shots appeared to have no impact on flu-related doctor visits or hospitalizations during two recent flu seasons, according to a study published in the Oct. issue of Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.
2.)The flu vaccine is no more effective for children than a placebo, according to a large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
3.)A study published in the Lancet just found that influenza vaccination was NOT associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia in older people. Why is this important? Because 35,000 of the 36,000 “flu” deaths the government claims happen each year are actually caused by diseases like pneumonia, and NOT the flu.
4.)In a new study published in the journal Neurotoxicology last month, researchers found that primates injected with just ONE vaccine containing thimerosal suffered significant neurological impairment when compared with those who received a saline solution injection, or no injection at all. The monkeys received a weight-adjusted amount of the vaccine preservative thimerosal, so each dose included 2 mcg’s of ethyl mercury. A human infant dose of thimerosal-containing vaccine typically contains 12.5 mcg. However, flu vaccines as well as the swine flu vaccine will contain 25 mcg of mercury per adult dose. For that to be considered safe under government guidelines, the person receiving the vaccine would need to weigh at least 55 lbs!
Vaccines have been linked to autism, ADD, ADHD, Parkinsons, ALS and Alzheimers. And you recommend giving these to our children? Please do some research next time you write an article!
Both my daughter and I are high risk for H1N1 but the vaccine isn’t available yet where we live. My daughter has Down syndrome and had a bad cold last week so I kept her home from school all week because I was afraid that with her lowered immune system she might be more susceptible to the flu.
The H1N1 vaccine isn’t available here yet but we’ll get it as soon as it comes in.