Not enough H1N1 to go around

Interesting article here about those needing the shot the most, declining it due to "side effects." Bascially to get the H1N1 shot at this point in time you need to be under 24, pregnant, or have a compromised immunse system.

The H1N1 Debate

I just read this great post on a Daddy Blogger's site about why you should get your child the H1N1 vaccine. Read it here. I particularly liked these quotes from his post:

• The evidence in favour of the flu vaccine (much as with routine childhood vaccinations) is so overwhelming and clear that getting the vaccine -- and making sure your children get it -- seems about as clear and straightforward as buckling up before you go for a drive.

• Basically every medical expert -- from public health officers down to family doctors -- is saying people should get the vaccine. So why isn't that good enough for you? Or is it only when it comes to preventative medicine that you think you're smarter than someone with a medical degree?

I'm a strong believer in shots. Claire got the flu shot when she was 6 months and the booster that same winter. She has all of her shots done now until she goes to Kindergarten. I have also gotten the flu shot every year since I was 18 and never gotten "the flu" -- coincidence or not, I'd like to think it helps. We've already gotten our regular flu shots this year (at the start of Sept!) and I've been calling the OB and Peds office to see if they have them in yet. The Peds office has a message saying they are not in. My family doctor that I go to said they do not have any and will not be getting any. So it might not even be an option for us to get them, but if and when they become available, I will definitely be getting them for Claire and I. Josh isn't eligible.

We travel a lot and actually venture into the world so I think we need vaccines. Going to get groceries even...who knows what you could pick up there. If you actually think about the variety of products and where everything came from as far as types of fruits, veggies, and meats...as well as boxes and cans and all sorts of products that have been touched by several sets of hands to just end up on the shelf...not to mention all the shoppers who touch stuff...you are exposed to lots of germs just walking into any store. I guess the fear factor is in place with me. I'd be scared not to have my child vaccinated. I guess some people have a stronger faith that their kid will not wind up sick. I'm just a big chicken!

I have talked in length with my mom and cousin Kami about the shots. I guess since they are both nurses, they have seen and cared for the sickest of the sick with this. Kami was telling me about a male Josh's age who also works in an office on computers who thought he was getting a cold and ended up on her floor for almost 2 months. It's definitely not an illness I feel comfortable with me or my family getting if I could've prevented it. On the other hand, I also respect those people that don't want to get shots for their family for whatever reason. My logic is, however, at some point, they will have to show shot records for something...school, living in a dorm at college, being a teacher, or working in a medical field...what do you think?

What is the biggest fear out there? From what I've read on other blogs and facebook...the non-professional stuff...it seems like the biggest concern are the additives. Well, we don't eat organic. I tried that for about 3 weeks in Jan. and decided it was not possible living in the Midwest unless we wanted to spend about 5 times as much on food. We don't buy all organic clothes, bedding, and toys. We are probably still breathing in highly "toxic" fumes from the paint, wood, and carpet in our house that was built just over 4 years ago. Ha. You're damned either way on the house thing...if you live in an old house you'll have lead paint and other toxic things! I'm sure we bathe in toxic soap and wash our hair with poisons. I even read something awhile back about how "toxic" different cars were. You know that great "new car" smell. Yeah...TOXIC! CHEMICALS!!!!!! Everything has some sort of side effect. I guess the only truly safe thing would to be to move to the middle of nowhere and live in a tent. You'd have to live in entirely clean air and drink water completely untouched by chemicals. And if you think drinking bottled water is safer than tap...you've got the plastic bottle to worry about. HA. So anyways, my point is just that any preservative or additive in a shot is probably a lot less harmful than some sugar or caffeine which people readily and eagerly dump into their bodies. Seriously...they are not out to get us...they are not trying to kill us all or force injections.

I think it's great that the offer shots in schools again. Why should a parent have to take off work, have the kid miss school and go to a doctor's office...usually full of sick people to get a shot that takes all of one minute/person to administer. It drives me nuts when people say they get sick from getting the flu shot. WRONG. You get sick because you probably sat in a germ-filled doctor's office and picked up some creepy-crawlies there! They have to get permission slips signed, so don't freak out they are going to jab your kid if you don't want them to be jabbed. Heck, at Ben Davis, they not only brought a mobile doctor for schooly physicals, but a mobile dentist to school! I think shots are a little less invasive than those more lengthy procedures. Yes, I understand food enters your body differently than shots do, but really...it's all gonna mix around eventually.

I think another big concern was the way shots were made. Yeah...think about any consumable product. Have you read My Year of Meats or The Jungle which are excellent books on the meat industry. It will keep you away from steak for a few weeks after you finish reading it. They are along the same line as Fast Food Nation ... if you look into anything too much, IT WILL DRIVE YOU NUTS AND SCARE YOU! NOTHING IS 100% SAFE! I mean if you pick apart water or H2O you have HYDROGEN! AHH! IT'S A FLAMMABLE GAS. But whatever, I'm done with this post...so tell me if I shouldn't get the shot...leave a really long detailed comment with lots of links, but make sure to read that first post by the daddy blogger as he does address the comments from Dr. Sears who say "maybe" to the H1N1. I really am interested in reading both sides pros/cons.

But telling me the shot contains monkey brains or something won't scare me. I enjoy eating liver paste and have tried cow tongue and brains. :) I've also eaten raw hamburger and goose lard...delicacies in Germany! And I still eat meat after reading those meat books I mentioned!

19 months already!

Here is the first video footage of Claire at 19 months! She got her shots earlier the morning this was taken. She has always done amazing at her shot appointments, just crying while getting stabbed with the needles and settling as soon as I stand back up with her and tell her it's all done! We had a really busy time at the Health Dept. I asked if it was their busiest time or something? The lady laughed at me and said, if you think this is bad, don't come in August. Why August? Kids getting shots needed to start school, and especially Kindergartners that have been put off. We were a little late getting her 18 month shots done, but I guess that happens as each appointment you wait a few days more to make the appointment...So I was thinking about this and wondering if private schools require all the same shot stuff as to the public schools??????????

12-Month Shots

Here Claire is reading the Alumni update for ISU. She is an avid reader already.

Today Claire had her 12 month shots. She did great. They let me hold her and even leave her in her front carrier. She cried while getting stuck 4 times, but as soon as I stood up and started swaying, she was fine! I was really surprised! They offered her a sucker, but she wasn't very interested. So I ate it. It was good. :) Haha!

I love our Health Department. Not only are all the shots free (cough, ahem, already paid for by our tax dollars), but they (the people) are really nice! They recommended a lead-check screening at 12 and 24 months. So we made an appt. to go and get her tested for lead, which is just a finger-prick test. The results will take about 1 week.

I know a lot of people are uneasy about shots. Rightfully so, I think. I love Dr. Sears and all of his great advice when it comes to co-sleeping, breastfeeding, and baby-wearing. I have not read his new book called THE VACCINE BOOK, but it's on my to-read list. Not because I will change my mind to not get shots, but because I think it's interesting to see what other people read and keep up on things. http://www.askdrsears.com/ I love the Dr. Sears site and his newsletters.

I am very pro-shots. I feel like there is enough out there that can go wrong without adding previously eradicated diseases to the list. As I've heard before, diseases are only a plane ride away. And that doesn't mean that baby is flying somewhere, but someone is flying in from someplace. Since we go to church and a lot of people go on Mission Trips to Third World Countries, I feel like not vaccinating, would be leaving Claire open to exposure. I think it would be like not putting sunscreen on her when we plan to be in the sun for awhile. She might not get burned, but she might. And I don't want to get burned when it's not necessary.

Also, I know we are a very "international" family. And of course when you travel internationally, you have to have all your shots up to date. I figure why delay and mess around with anything. All of the clinical trials for the shots were developed on a certain schedule, so why mess around and do it "later?"

I've gotten the flu shot yearly since I lived in the dorms in college at 18. Hello...communal living/sharing restrooms/yuck. I know that now colleges are requiring more shots than ever to live on-campus. I think that's great. I think in general campuses, like our government wants people to be healthy. NOBODY wants a Pandemic on their hands!

Today Claire got her MMR (measles, mumps, & rubella), the Chickenpox, the HEP A, and the Pneumococcal shots. The office is of course full of propaganda for getting all your shots on time. A sickly, blotchy 4-month-old baby with meningitis on the bulletin board looked so horrible. I didn't even know NOT getting shots was an option until Claire was probably about 4 months old. I am just glad that shots have been developed. I had the chicken pox. AND it was HORRIBLE. If I can spare her pain and suffering with a tiny needle stick I will. I had it in my throat and in my privates. It was by far the sickest I have every been.

I know some people are concerned about the preservatives in shots, like thermisol because it could cause "autism." Right. They used to think Ultra-sounds caused autism. It is nice though for parents to have something to blame for an otherwise unexplainable thing. Autism is not caused by shots.

Josh also works at a company where there are a lot of people traveling domestically. Josh is a software engineer at http://www.greatcdltraining.com/ So since we actually leave our house to go the store, etc...I feel like not getting shots is not an option for us. I guess I trust Western Medicine. And in general I do trust the government. They put a lot of time, money, and effort into disease prevention. If only they would put that effort into public education...

There is a reason we have not had a plague in the past 3/4 century. I asked my mom, about not getting shots. Ultimately, she said it's my decision, but to review all of the diseases and see if I would be comfortable with Claire coming down with them. Smart lady.

Then I saw this ad over and over in magazines called DO IT FOR YOUR BABY. http://doitforyourbaby.com/ Basically, it's encouraging moms and dads to get up-to-date on their shots. Josh and I were able to get free flu shots and our TDAP (tetanus, diptheria, pertussis) boosters this year from the Health Dept. W00T! I listened to the Whooping Cough baby. How sad. I would not feel comfortable with Claire getting that. I am sure that she would agree.

Well, I guess the schools have things figured out. I asked today about exemptions from shots. They said, there is no philosophical exemption from shots. So you can't just say that shots "could be" bad and not get them and still get enrolled. And the only way you can get a Doctor's exemption is if the child has had a shot, had a severe reaction to it, and is essentially allergic to it. Many kids get rashes and fevers from the chickenpox and MMR, which is normal and not a sign of allergies. And the only other exemption: Religion. I think it's the Christian Science "cult" that thinks that shots are evil and bad. And of course, they don't like to use antibiotics either. I guess it's what Darwin would call: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Remember, from Biology class? It's where the weak die out on their own.

State and local laws also require cats and dogs to be vaccinated for a reason. You can't even take your animal to be groomed without current shots. If everyone were innoculated, the diseases would get wiped out. It's really sad to see this pockets of smallpox and other things breakout.

I looked at some Amazon reviews of the new Vaccine book. http://www.amazon.com/Vaccine-Book-Decision-Parenting-Library/dp/0316017507/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219802693&sr=8-1 I thought the 2nd comment was hilarious as the commentator wrote, "Dr. Sears is the darling of LLL." I love LLL and breastfeeding, but I think for me personally, I would not feel comfortable with the decision not to vaccinate. Claire has gotten all of her shots on the public-health prescribed, on-time schedule.

I asked Josh about his stance. He is also for shots. He said, if a baby is going to die, it will be in the first three years. You need to immunize as soon as possible to prevent issues. I also have worked with several autistic students and read a lot about autism. It is such a spectrum disorder, and I have enough to write about that for a whole new posting.

I am not trying to judge any other parents for their decisions, as I think parenting in general is a tough job full of tough decisions. I think what is important is that a parent has read about it and made an educated choice. And I think, like one gal on a delayed schedule said, she feels comfy with her choice, and I think that's what is important when it comes to all parenting choices. I feel comfy with this choice.