Can anyone of you out there please tell me what your thoughts are on the H1N1 shot for pregnant women - did you get it? Do you know someone who did?
I got the flu shot as I mentioned before and now my OB says I have to have the H1N1 shot and its really not up for discussion but I am not pleased. I dont know enough about it and I dont feel comfortable injecting that into me where it has not really been tested a lot.....Im getting mixed reviews from people and Jack told me to call and get a second opinion which I will do tomorrow before I go get it but I want to know about all you pregnant women out there or those who are not pregnant that may not more about this vaccine than I do!
HELP!!!
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I am not a doctor and am not pregnant so take this opinion with a grain of salt, but you should absolutely get the shot. Pregnant women are one of the highest risk categories out there, and even healthy pregnant women with no other medical conditions have suffered serious complications. This is not to scare you or worry you, because you can do something to prevent this. From the CDC to the state public health commission to hospitals throughout the country, the message is the same: pregnant women should get the shot.
ReplyDeleteThe H1N1 shot is made the exact same way regular seasonal flu shots are--it's just made for a different strain. I get flu shots every year with no adverse side effects. And I will definitely get H1N1 once its available.
To give you a sense of how high a priority pregnant women are, my own hospital is not able to give me one yet b/c all their incoming doses are earmarked for pregnant women only. And I have a serious, progressive lung disease and face serious complications even from regular seasonal flu.
I really hope I am not coming across as bossy or know-it-all-ish, and definitely don't take this as medical advice. Talk to other doctors, locate credible scientific resources, etc, and make the decision you feel is best. But my two cents? Why take the risk when there is something you can do prevent it....
My Dr. highly encouraged that I get it. He told me that the risk of not getting it were much greater than the risk of actually getting the vaccine. I was and still am a little bit skeptical, but I would rather not end up in the hospital if at all possible until I am absolutely ready to have this baby.
ReplyDeleteMy Dr. informed me that pregnant women are so much more likely to be hospitalized if they contract H1N1 and that the mortality rate is like 1 in 6. That was enough to scare the crap out of me. So, I am going tomorrow to the clinic the health department is putting on and hoping that I do not have to stand in line for hours just to get it. It's been crazy around here trying to get one.
Well, good luck... :)
I was really hesitant about the idea of the H1N1 shot, for the same reasons as you - there hasn't been a whole lot of testing. I feel like they rushed this vaccine out the door. I still am not 100%, but am going to get the vaccine anyway, 1. because my OB and primary doctors are urging their pregnant patients to get it, and 2. I feel like actually getting this flu will be worse for me than any side effects I may get from the shot.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that still has me hung up, is that who knows what's going to happen several years down the road. Are they going to all of a sudden see patterns in our children, like developmental problems, etc, and then somehow link it back to the vaccine? That's what scares me about "new" medicines. On the other hand, they use pretty much the same process every year for the seasonal flu vaccine, and every year they guess which strains of the flu are going to manifest the most and make the vaccines based on their "educated guess". I do take some comfort in knowing that the process of producing these vaccines is not new, so they seem to know what they're doing in that department.
I keep hearing over and over that there have been X number of deaths from the H1N1 virus, and it's especially bad in pregnant women, but there have been no deaths from the vaccine. Although I haven't gotten the seasonal flu in several years (never got a flu shot til this year), I don't think I want to push my luck with H1N1. If I ended up getting sick from it and something happened to Marius because of my illness, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. So, I'm going to get the shot. Now I just have to wait for my doctor's office to actually get it.
They offered it to me at my OB clinic at my last appointment a few weeks ago (they only have a small number of doses for pregnant women) and I took it. There have been several people at my office who've had H1N1 and I've been through so much to get here. I didn't want to risk it. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI did type out a message but then my browser crashed.....
ReplyDeleteMy input is under pamplemousse in this thread
http://www.themommyplaybook.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173549
That's my ttc/pregnancy forum, lol.