H1N1 (Swine Flu) Vaccine

Will you take the vaccine?

  • Yes, it's safe

    Votes: 9 45.0%
  • No, it's not safe

    Votes: 2 10.0%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 9 45.0%

  • Total voters
    20

jtwhite

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With the vaccine coming around in the world, will you take it? If you are, do you believe it's safe? Do you think there could be health concerns? Are we trying to inoculate people with this too soon?

Do you think your government will force inoculation?
 

adamparkzer

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I dunno if it's safe or not, but I'm probably not going to get the vaccination. I sort of think the entire H1N1 scare is a little exaggerated. I haven't gotten a normal flu shot for over half my life now, and I've never caught the flu before. I dunno why catching H1N1 is more likely than catching the regular flu (I actually think catching the regular flu would be more likely).

There was someone in a high school near my house that had H1N1. I haven't heard any further details about him or her, though.
 
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jtwhite

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I've never gotten a flu vaccine before and I've never had the flu. The only thing that makes me pay more attention is because it's wide spread in my school. I can't afford to get sick and miss school. My GPA cannot take a hit.

It's also scary to hear that 19 kids with no pre-existing health conditions died that last week from the Swine Flu... However, that doesn't sound like a lot when you compare it to the yearly death the regular flu causes.
 

Smith6612

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I haven't been down with the Flu since I was 8 years old. I'm not too worried as I'm not out in the public all too often. My area doesn't have many reports if that of Swine Flu so that makes me less concerned none the less. For the vaccine, I don't know how much testing it's gone under, but I'm not going to be getting it unless the time comes where I do need something.
 

jtwhite

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...I'm not going to be getting it unless the time comes where I do need something.

I like that idea. I probably won't get it unless it becomes widespread in the community as it is at school. I'm really skeptical about its safety right now.
 

Sharky

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I dunno if it's safe or not, but I'm probably not going to get the vaccination. I sort of think the entire H1N1 scare is a little exaggerated. I haven't gotten a normal flu shot for over half my life now, and I've never caught the flu before. I dunno why catching H1N1 is more likely than catching the regular flu (I actually think catching the regular flu would be more likely).

There was someone in a high school near my house that had H1N1. I haven't heard any further details about him or her, though.
Rumour has it, many people are catching it and naturally recovering from it without realising.
 

jtwhite

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Rumour has it, many people are catching it and naturally recovering from it without realising.

Without realizing they have the flu? Thinking it's just a bad cold or something? I've also heard that this is a much shorter flu, the symptoms are just more vigorous.
 

adamparkzer

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Rumour has it, many people are catching it and naturally recovering from it without realising.

That makes sense, as the symptoms for flu and cold are very similar. Who knows, I might have H1N1 right now (because it seems like I have a cold), but I'm doing fine. I've had a cough for a week or so already, but my dizziness, runny nose, sneezing, and other symptoms have gone away a while ago.
 

jtwhite

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That makes sense, as the symptoms for flu and cold are very similar. Who knows, I might have H1N1 right now (because it seems like I have a cold), but I'm doing fine. I've had a cough for a week or so already, but my dizziness, runny nose, sneezing, and other symptoms have gone away a while ago.

I hope that's how it end up for the majority of people. The only thing I'm worried about is it mutating and coming back next year.
 

fractalfeline

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The main reason people were making a hoopla about it was because it shared a certain amount of genetic commonality with the infamous Spanish Flu, and some people were concerned we'd have another epidemic like that. The main thing that made Spanish Flu different from regular flu was that it illicited an overwhelmingly over-the-top inflammatory reaction, and thus young adults tended to die from it. That's because their immune system is at its prime, and able to conjure a vigorous response.

I think people overestimated its real impact. Yes, the H1N1 has caused deaths, more than the usual flu (more young people also), but it doesn't seem like it will reach a point where it will be an epidemic death plague. My theory is that the population has already selected the people that have a lower response to that particular type of strain (I mean Natural Selection, the ones susceptible to Spanish Flu died off, the remainder are resistant and breed). Thus, you see a lot less people choking on their own phlegm. You have to realize... the regular flu tends to kill off a certain amount of the population anyway, typically people with immune dysfunctions, complications, and the like.

That being said, I'll probably get the vaccine, just because I spend a lot of time on public transportation and near hospitals. But for all I know, I got it already. I had a pretty nasty cold a couple weeks ago.
 

boris333

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The thing about the swine flu vaccine is that it is just as overblown as the disease itself.

1. The Swine Flu vaccine is made using the same proven methods that we've been using for decades to create flu (and other) vaccines.

2. One of the flu strains used to produce the normal seasonal flu vaccine is a different strain of H1N1. Had Swine Flu surfaced a few months earlier, it likely would have been the H1N1 strain put into the seasonal flu vaccine, and nobody would be any the wiser.

3. Regarding the theory that vaccinations like the seasonal and swine flu are responsible for autism, what a load of phooey. All current knowledge on that matter is that Autism is a pervasive genetic condition, passed on (usually) from the maternal side of the family, and it is not caused by vaccination exposure.

Overall, the vaccine is very safe, and is preferable than the disease, even if swine flu is statistically a very mild influenza.
 

fractalfeline

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The thing about the swine flu vaccine is that it is just as overblown as the disease itself.

1. The Swine Flu vaccine is made using the same proven methods that we've been using for decades to create flu (and other) vaccines.

2. One of the flu strains used to produce the normal seasonal flu vaccine is a different strain of H1N1. Had Swine Flu surfaced a few months earlier, it likely would have been the H1N1 strain put into the seasonal flu vaccine, and nobody would be any the wiser.

3. Regarding the theory that vaccinations like the seasonal and swine flu are responsible for autism, what a load of phooey. All current knowledge on that matter is that Autism is a pervasive genetic condition, passed on (usually) from the maternal side of the family, and it is not caused by vaccination exposure.

Overall, the vaccine is very safe, and is preferable than the disease, even if swine flu is statistically a very mild influenza.

Interesting that you bring this subject up. I've actually read a lot of the literature involved in the whole vaccination scare. These are the conclusions I came to:
1. The whole mess started with an article that leaked to the press and the press misinterpreted it. The original article was a case study that involved 11 boys and 1 girl who had autism. These 12 children also had some kind of gastrointestinal syndrome, and when their intestines were examined, it was found that there were fragments of DNA that had similarity to viral measles DNA. And surprise! They had recieved the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine as children (like most children do). There were no controls to compare the data to. It was hardly a proof of a link between autism and vaccines, simply a "huh, what a strange coincidence. I imagine this might be worth looking into!"

2. Sometime later, a couple of parents with an autistic child started looking around for someone to blame. Turns out, their child had a form of autism that was related to a very rare genetic disease involving mitochondria, and that the mercury compounds in the vaccine interacted with the mutant mitochondria to cause encephalitis, and permanent brain damage. It helps that they gave their child 5 vaccines at once! Knowing that the autism-vaccine scare was underway, they took advantage of it to get a wad of cash out of the vaccine company. A better approach here would be to advocate genetic testing for rare conditions that might interact with vaccines, rather than sue the company that made the vaccine for causing the autism. If I remember correctly, most vaccines come with a warning about the small percentage chance of causing rare side effects.

From what I've heard, there used to be dozens of companies that make vaccines, but the number has decreased to 3 worldwide since this lawsuit. These companies produce vaccines non-profit. It actually costs more to make the dose than they sell it for, and receive government money in order to produce sufficient quantities for the public and sell each dose for a fraction of the money it costs to produce it. As soon as making vaccines became a liability, most pharmaceutical companies dropped it like a hot potato.

3. A series of full blown studies have been launched since then to investigate the link between autism and vaccines. The entire population of Denmark born during a certain time period was investigated, and cross-referenced with the incidence of autism spectrum disorders and whether or not the children were vaccinated. They found no correlation between vaccination and autism. A similar study was launched in Britain. Again, no correlation. But you won't see the media saying "oops, my bad" anytime soon.

4. In regards to the mercury compounds in the vaccines. In 2002, they reduced the amount of mercury in the vaccines significantly. Since 2002, the incidence of autism in the public has not changed. If the mercury compounds were responsible, you'd expect a significant decline in autism rates.

5. I have heard that measles is on the rise again since parents have been refusing to vaccinate their children. Did you know that 10% of the children who get measles develop encephalitis, that could lead to permanent brain damage?

So the scare involving vaccines is kinda overblown, and a lot of misinformation is circulating. The best approach would be to educate people about the risks involved, and have children get genetic testing for rare diseases. Normal people without random conditions won't get autism from a vaccine.

And another thing. Certain types of autism are linked to maternal genetics. However, autism is not one single genetic disease, and part of the problem with it is that it has been linked to a lot of different genes. Autism is more like a symptom than a disease in of itself, and a bit of an umbrella term for a certain constellation of behaviors. And in the case of encephalitis induced autism, it's possible to develop autism via infection or inflammation.

Whoo, long post again.
 

callumacrae

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Without realizing they have the flu? Thinking it's just a bad cold or something? I've also heard that this is a much shorter flu, the symptoms are just more vigorous.

I might have had it. I thought it was just a really bad cold, but I spoke to some people and they reckoned it was swine flu. I didn't get the vaccine or tamiflu, it wasn't even that bad.

On the other hand, I had a friend who had it and was in bed for a week, and coughed so much they fainted.

I reckon the problem with threads about the vaccine is that you will always get one or two people who will pretend to know what they're on about and spread a lot of fear. Well, that's what happened to the one on linuxquestions. It just turned into a load of people arguing about science :)

I personally think the vaccine is perfectly safe. As with all vaccines it will obviously make you ill. And as with all vaccines one person will have a different disease and die and scare the whole world. But why would they release a vaccine that didn't do more good than bad?

~Callum
 

adamparkzer

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When I took my ACT today, the testing site that was closest to my school was a high school that had someone hospitalized because they got H1N1. I actually found this hilarious, but there were signs that said "Wash your hands!" "Stay home if you're sick!" "Cover your cough!" everywhere around the building. I don't see why they didn't have these signs up during the normal flu or cold season, seeing as people will be affected by influenza and common cold if they don't follow this advice anyway.
 

ferricadooza

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Will be getting the vaccine next week.

I am diabetic and have other health problems so in a priority queue (I'm in UK)

There are always risks associated with any vaccine. I'm willing to take the risk.

ferrica
 

wolflock

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Would not bother with the Vaccine. Flu never killed me. Swine flu will never kill me.
 
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like2program

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I have chosen to get the vaccination on account of the fact that I don't want to get sick in the coming months. It is most definitely been over hyped by the media as a fear factor. It's not worse than normal flu except in name alone. It might eventually become more dominant than normal flu, but I doubt it. The normal flu vaccine is a must because so many people end up getting normal flu, but swine flu vaccine is more of a precaution and almost unnecessary. If you know some people with swine flu, or it's going around your area, get it. Otherwise, don't. It's been going around my circle of friends, so it's worth it to me.
 

fractalfeline

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Alex J was born with a tinfoil hat on.

He predicts something like this every week.

It's like that Peter Cook sketch from way back see (youtube HERE)

He's up on that cold lonely mountain with the rest of the kooks.

Ferrica

:biggrin: I thought I saw some Monty Pythonites!

I never do quite understand how people take this crap seriously.
 
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