(UPDATED) H1N1 – Swine Flu Shots…

SwineFlu

UPDATE: There are diverse opinions being shared in the comment section of this post.  Thanks to many of you who are weighing in on this one.  We’ve decided to form a poll to track your decisions regarding the vaccination.  You can continue to share your personal thoughts in the comment forum, and cast your ballot in the poll located on the right sidebar. Unfortunately, there was a homicide that takes precedence over our story running this evening.  We’ll update you when we have a new air time. 

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So Jen and I are in a little dilemma here.  What do we do about this nasty little flu bug known as the Swine Flu?  We were right in the middle of a discussion about this very topic this week when out of the blue, the Fox affiliate here in town contacted us to get our opinion about this very topic.  There are apparently some folks outside the US preying on people who are scared of this illness, selling fake Tamiflu and other flu fighting drugs online.  Fox is doing a story about this problem and what parents are doing about the H1N1 virus.  Jen was out of the house when they called, but I agreed to do an interview and give our perspective on this difficult situation.

On one hand it is scary to think about our boys contracting a virus that has so little history in human beings.  But on the other, the vaccine that has been created to fight this pandemic has had very little testing, and we are a little unsure about letting it enter the family bloodstream.  Then there are the risks associated with the nasal mist vaccine, which we have heard is one of the only options available right now.  There are apparently risks with the mist on people groups who are susceptible to respiratory infections, which our boys would fit into.

This is something we plan to call our doctor to discuss this week.  We really need to cut through the hype and figure out what is best for Isaac, Brooks, Clark, and Henry.  And, for that matter, we also need to figure out what Jen and I will do. 

Please leave Jen and I a comment and let us know what you plan to do. 

Do we get the vaccine at all? 

Are the risks involved with vaccines in general greater than the risk that H1N1 poses?

Do we get the regular flu vaccine AND the H1N1 vaccine at the same time?  Spread them out?

Do we get one and not the other?

Lot’s of scary decisions, please let us know what you think!  Stay tuned, we will let you know what we decided.

~ Quatro Papa