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Monday, November 23, 2009
To H1N1 Vaccinate or Not To H1N1 Vaccinate
Like many families across the country, we are debating whether or not to vaccinate our children with the H1N1 vaccine. The Hubs is a strong believer in preventative health care through vaccination, while I prefer the holistic approach. Although, we conflict on this issue, I do understand his point of view.For him vaccines save lives, HIS life. He receives a vaccine (I don't remember it's name) every 5 years to boost his immune system. He was born with 2 livers, I believe. Don't quote me on the medical abnormality, but I believe I'm correct. When he was a baby the extra organ was removed. When he turned 20 he was in a horrendous car accident that seriously should have taken his life and his liver was badly damaged. Long story short, since that accident he has had to take these shots to help him fight off illnesses.
The green, crunchy side of me makes me reluctant to have our children vaccinated. However, because the Hubs so strongly believes in them, we've had to compromise on this issue. This compromise lead us down the path of a delayed vaccination schedule. Tar has never received more than 2 vaccines at a time at each of his scheduled appointment. Depending on the vaccine, we would only allow him to be vaccinated if he was completely healthy. I handled vaccines the same way with Tiger too.
The debate over the H1N1 is a little different in my mind than with regular vaccines. We are dealing with a new vaccine with a very short research period. The fact that pro-government propaganda say that we are in an swine flu epidemic certainly doesn't help in decision making.
What makes the decision is even more difficult is the fact that Tar is in the risk group that could contract the virus, according to the Center for Disease Control. He is a child. He goes to daycare and he seems to have low resistance to sinus issues. But does that mean giving him the vaccine is the right decision? I'm not so quick to think so. Say that we give him the vaccine and he gets a cold as a result of the vaccine? Then what? He tends to get very sick when he catches a cold. It leads to ear infections, weight loss, diarhea, vomiting etc. I honestly don't know if I want to take that risk. On the other hand, as the Hubs says, if we don't give him the vaccine and he contracts the swine flu virus then we are dealing with a greater risk. Decisions. Decisions.
Anyway, I've been on a quest to find ways to help our family stay healthier this flu season and I came upon an interesting article. According to the article, Flu Prevention Tips: Keep from Getting Sick During Cold and Flu Season strengthening your immune system and your body's defense mechanism is the way to avoid getting sick. Of course, this isn't new information to any of us. However, the article suggests using essential oils as one of the 6 methods it gives to ward off the flu and cold. The article stated that essential oils like peppermint, tea tree oil and lavender with a little bit of olive oil can provide a temporary barrier from the flu virus if applied to the outside of your ear, nose and the sides of your throats. Per this article these essential oils contain antiviral and antibacterial components. I got a little chuckle after reading the article, because I imaged my family walking around smelling like peppermint candy or freshly washed clothes. Honestly, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Peppermint, tea tree oil and lavender all have pleasant scents. Plus, if they keep my family healthier, I think it's worth a try.
Feel free to share what methods you are using to help your family stay healthier this year.
The debate over the H1N1 vaccine isn't over in our household. However, one thing both the Hubs and I agree on is that we should take measures to minimize the risks, irrespective of the vaccine.
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10 comments:
sounds like we've both been thinking about the same thing today. : )
My husband received the h1n1 mist months ago because he works in the emergency medical field. I debated for a long time on whether I would receive it as I'm pregnant.
I decided to not get it, at least for now as my baby is still developing. I can see a lot of good reasons why it's good to get it, though too.
My kiddos have both been really sick with flu and extremely high fevers. The swine flu has me freaked out, but I refuse to let my hysteria take over. Although, we did take our son to urgent care when his fever reached 103.
Now, I'm on the fence. On one hand I think, "okay, it's all good now because their immune system is up due to their recent bout' then on the other hand I think," Maybe this is just the beginning of things to come?" So much to mull over and I'm just not sure!
ps. I'm retiring Rest of Yesterday as of Dec 1st.
My children will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine. We did allow the youngers (19 months) to get a flu shot but that's it. My kid are also on amodified vaccination schedule and never get more than 2 shots at a time. I personally have never had a flu shot in my life...lol My husband is forced to get one by the army along with a host of all kinds of god knows what shots and he is ALWAYS sick.
It's a really hard decision, and like you, the vaccine hasn't proven itself to be safe yet. I'm probably skipping it this year.
Tough decision. My hubs is Santa, and the Santas of this country are asking for the H1N1 shot simply to keep from giving the bug to all the kids they come in contact with. I think Hubs is going to get the shot-he would hate to put a child at risk. I probably won't get it. Some years I do, some I don't-no rhyme or reason, maybe just not liking virus injected deliberately into my body.
Very interesting debate indeed. We did not get the H1N1 vaccine although my husband and I did get the regular flu shot. I am asthmatic with a history of severe bronchitis. My daughter (3) also has asthma and has battled numerous attacks and pneumonia that led to hospitalization at a little over a year. She was also a preemie.
However, she is homeschooled and I no longer teach HS English (which was at the root of much of our family illness). Since I stopped teaching two years ago I have had the flu once and Mya has had bad cold and croup (1 time).
The problem is that I can't control other people's children. They don't wash their hands and parents don't keep them home from school when they are sick. That bothers me. If I were working I would have probably gotten it myself in order to ensure that I did not pass it to Mya.
We spent Thanksgiving without my inlaws because my MIL had swine flue and my niece who lives with her got a very bad flue as well. Her mother doesn't really follow through on the meds and half the time writes off the illness as allergies. I refused to let them in my house because I did not want to expose Mya to anything,
Make a conscious objection...Anyone considering taking any vaccine (esp with infants and children)...should research the growing evidence that vaccines can cause asthma, food allergies, and other chronic illness.
The pharmaceutical companies want to convince the public vaccines are safe. They work with the CDC or hold board member position with CDC as well as being stock holders, manufacturers, and patent holders for vaccines!!! Do you really trust people who are profiting from vaccines to make decision that these "made rush overnight" vaccines are safe? Hmmm...there's a serious conflict of interest...
The media uses fear tactics to scare people into taking unnecessary vaccines. What are the odds of dying from the flu? They are very very very slim...most people who die from flu because they already have a compromised immune system...or live in countries with poor sanitation standards. If you want your stay healthy...significantly reduce refine sugars and junk foods from your diet. Replace sodas with sparkling 100% juice in moderation. Drink plenty of WATER (NOT TAP OR MADE FROM COCA-COLA) Avoid all products with High Fructose Corn Syrup...refined sugars lead to to lower immunity, food addictions, diabetes, etc.. Avoid processed food and meat containing antibiotics and hormones. Avoid fast food like the plague....its just not good for you AT ALL! Eat healthy fruits and vegetables EVERYDAY...Support organic farming and products..Why would anyone want to eat food with chemicals?
Hmmm...we need rethink our whole perspective on health and stop putting our "blind" faith in the medical industry and doctors. People are so LAZY...they buy into the "quick fixes" for health sold by the drug companies. History reviles that they have been tragically wrong so many times in the past! Honestly how many people do you know that actually READ the contains of these vaccines? They just go by what the doctor says...This is SCARY and SAD to me. Vaccines do not just contain "dead traces of virus" They also contain many toxic substance in which there is no conclusive evidence that they are entirely safe. Look for your self.
Vaccines contain ingredients such as MSG, antifreeze, phenol (used as a disinfectant), formaldehyde (cancer causing and used to embalm), aluminum (associated with alzheimer’s disease and seizures), glycerin (toxic to the kidney, liver, can cause lung damage, gastrointestinal damage and death), lead, cadmium, sulfates, yeast proteins, antibiotics, acetone (used in nail polish remover), neomycin and streptomycin. And the ingredient making the press is thimerosol (more toxic than mercury, a preservative still used in many vaccines, not easily eliminated, can cause severe neurological damage as well as other life threatening autoimmune disease). These vaccines are grown and strained through animal or human tissue, like monkey and dog kidney tissue, chick embryo, calf serum, human diploid cells (the dissected organs of aborted fetuses), pig blood, horse blood and rabbit brain.
We do vaccinate, but my children have to be healthy and I don't mind doing delayed vaccination.
However we do not vaccinate for the flu.
Not even the h1n1. We feel that it's best to use preventative measures than getting every single vaccine that comes out to scare the masses.
We do try to eat healthy and exercise and wash hands etc etc etc, and we can only do so much.
My sons are 14 and 12 and have never taken the flu shot. I try hard to practice prevention through foods and we also drink a soy vitamin daily.