Swine Flu: To Vaccinate, or Not To Vaccinate: That is the Question

I have three children.  They fit into the age group demographic of who should get the H1N1 vaccination.  They are not obese.  They are not prone to respiratory illness.  They are in excellent health.  (Am knocking on wood).

This swine flu vaccination scares me.  I’ve heard too much:  “It hasn’t been properly tested”  “It was rushed to market”   and on the flip-side: “If the strain had been detected earlier it would have been included in the ‘normal’ flu vaccine anyway”  “It is 100% effective” 

Whoa.  My head is spinning.

Do I have my children get it-- and risk a future side effect?

Do I not get it-- and risk my athletic, sports-loving boys lives??

I just read an article in The Washington Post.  This stood out to me:

About two-thirds of the deaths occurred in children who had other health problems. Ninety-two percent of those children had illnesses involving the nervous system, such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and 59 percent had more than one such complication. Eight deaths, however, occurred among children older than 5 who had no high-risk medical conditions. Two of those children were obese.

That, right there?  That SCARED ME.  Because I know, in the grand scheme of things, there are millions of people who get it and don’t die.  But can you imagine?  Your otherwise healthy rambunctious child gets the flu... fever... under the weather... then hospitalization... then death??

I feel sick just thinking about it.

I won’t be lying awake at night all winter hoping that my children will avoid the swine flu.

I will rest secure in the knowledge that they are protected against it. 

I will be vaccinating my children. 

How about you?

Surviving,

TechnoMom