First let’s give the pig farmers a break and call it H1N1 from here on out. As you may have guessed, we are opting NOT to get the H1N1 vaccine. When the topic comes up around this house, or when we’re trapped in the car with the radio glaring hysteria on repeat, our opinions get quite heated. Because I’d rather not come off as a the raving lunatic that I am to the public of blog readers, I am going to try to make this post short and sweet. And attempt to keep composed and limit the curse words and the capitalization.
This is why my well fed and healthy family are NOT getting our panties in a bunch over H1N1, and therefore are not lining up to line the pockets of Big Pharma. (GSK stands to make 1.6 BILLION off of H1N1 vaxes alone).
REASON NUMBER ONE: It’s just another flu.
Really, that’s it. That’s why we’re not getting the flu shot. Flu season happens every year. Starts around Halloween, comes again at Christmas, while we’re eating sugary indulgences that lower our immune system responses with every bite, and less fresh fruits and veggies. Every year, people get sick and fight their illness and the vast majority recover just fine and move forward with a new natural immunity to whatever particular strain of yuck that infected them in the first place. Every year lightening strikes down a few otherwise perfectly healthy people, and that plain sucks, but they don’t make the front page of the paper. People over 65 are less effected by H1N1, likely because they have some natural immunity to a similar strain they came in contact with before everyone was herded into their doctors offices for seasonal flu vaxes. Go figure.
We have white blood cells for a reason and we’re healthy people. We have soap and water and access to emergency healthcare if necessary. I don’t believe flu shots have a high efficacy rate (let’s all remember last years seasonal shot didn’t work at ALL), so I have no reason to believe this one which is touted as being “as safe and effective as the regular flu shot” will be any better, and nor would I plan on getting re-vaccinated every time a new strain mutated (an impossibility)… so the H1N1 vaccine is just not an option for us.
Yo. IT’S JUST ANOTHER FLU.
There are a gamut of other reasons, like what I perceive to be the extreme shenangians involving safety, testing and liability of the vaccine manufacturers. And the clusterfuck that is the vaccine roll-out campaign, the back pedaling, the fear mongering by our politicans and health authorities. If you want to hear me rant and rave about that stuff, get in touch I’ll happily oblige you with colourful language and much stomping of feet and comedic bulging of my eyes.
SO. I am not about to roll the dice with an injectable substance designed to eff with this highly important and perfectly good thing I have called an IMMUNE SYSTEM. I see safety in my bed, with apple juice and a nice piece of toast. I feel a rational course of action is to treat a problem when there is one. This is not to say I am anti-prevention: we’ll be taking our vitamins, our St.Francis Deep Immune Herbs and gargling with salt water. We’ll be washing our hands and coughing into our sleeves.
And looking forward for this gong show to pass.
EDIT TO ADD: Some sanity out of the CBC.
Yes! Thank you!
I got H1N1 (along with an entire bridal party) and we all made it through the reception, went home, slept it off for a few days, and went back to work. JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER FLU I’VE EVER HAD.
I hope it came AFTER the wedding!
I’ve stopped counting the number of people I know who have had H1N1 already this season. They’re all fine!
THANK YOU for the sanity. nothing gets me knotted up faster than the question, “you’re going to get the flu shot for the baby, right?” no-one hates the flu worse than me, and yet i’ve still never had a flu shot, and regardless of the hype, no-one in our family is getting one this year either.
Amen!
Also, here (North Carolina) docs have been diagnosing anyone who comes in sick with H1N1..talk about inflated stats!
Here here!
Thank goodness there is at least one other sane person out there, not buying into the H1N1 hype. I’ve been trying to formulate a blog about the topic myself, but I get sooooo flustered and I’m not sure I’d be able to censor my cursing as you’ve done
Yeah!! Well said. Not getting the shots in our house, either.
ditto!
well said.. I can barely speak about it anymore with out dropping the F bomb a couple hundred times… No flu shot here..or any other shot.. My middle son is in the high risk catergory (slight asthma) ..so we get a very strange kinda look when we say we will not get the shot… We have been building his immune system with tinctures and a healthy diet. Its not shocking to hear all the fear being puked on us by the media, thats what they do..whats troubling is all the people who are latching on to it without a second thought.
I love it when people make informed decisions about their family’s health! I only wish I had been wise enough to research the free cervical cancer vaccine before it was distributed in Oz. I have no history of cervical cancer in my family, have regular checks and one long term partner but my doctor still thought it was “in my best interest” to get it. I really regret not researching more before I gave in.
As for the flu shot – I completely agree with everyone. I’ve never received one and barely get sick. If I do, a couple of days rest and I’m back fighting fit.
i agree with what you said in this blog completely
OMG FINALLY someone else who opts out of getting the H1N1 shot and the reg. Flu shot. I got some flack from family members for not getting myself and my kids “vaccinated” with either shot. Even though I’ve explained that when my husband was a kid he got it and was sick for 4 MONTHS because of it! Now why would I want to run the risk of my kids having the SAME reaction? I would rather they get sick for a few days maybe a week with the flu and come out immune to whatever -as you put it- YUCK that infected them, then them be sick and miserable for 4 MONTHS! Sorry went off on a little rant… Here in the U.S. there are even Dr.s who are advising AGAINST getting the H1N1 shot because so many kids were getting sick FROM IT! Where is that in the media??? No where of course!
–I meant when my husband got the regular flu shot he was sick for 4 months. Not H1N1.
we’ve never had any type of flu shot either.
here is a very good article that i enjoyed on flu shots: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1
basically, the people that need protection the most (the elderly) do not mount suffiecient immune responses to vaccines anyway, and those who need it the least (the young/healthy) mount terrific responses when exposed to the real deal, hence the vaccine is kinda pointless.
Amen sister!!!!!!! My university is going crazy over H1N1 they have these bizarre posters in the bathrooms reminding people to wash their hands with slogans like “do you know where your hands have been” and “10 billion germs live on your key board how many are on your hands?” and they also have posters up telling you how to properly wash your hands. i am 22 fucking years old i think i know how to wash my hands and if i dont i need to go back to pre-school where they teach you to use soap hot water and lather. there is a huge H1N1 vaccine mass doll out next wednesday and i can already see people lined up around the campus and a riot breaking out when they run out. as my dad says, its all media, if there is no chaos there is nothing to fuel the news. perhaps if we worried about our dependance on foreign oil as much as the swine flu we would all be using wind power and riding our bikes to work for fuck sake. this whole thing really works me up and i am glad to see that not only are the Duncan’s rational thinking people but the followers of the blog are too.
keep up the normalcy people!!
ps. my mom started calling it the pork roll flu… for those who dont know what pork roll or also know as taylor ham is, it is this very queer pig byproduct like ham you eat with eggs in the united states. haha
or perhaps the pork roll flu is only funny if your from the united states. i’m not sure but i think its hysterical.
I concur.
Has North/America been bombarded by the ‘cervical cancer vaccine’ yet? Not liking the glazed over stares I get when I decline the ‘FREE shot’. Oh I’ll end up paying one way or another…
P.S. I did actually have H1N1, it sucked but it was just sniffles, coughing and fever, almost flu-like in fact!
Amen to that! I refuse to get vaccinated unless I was say going to Africa or something. I see no point in getting the flu shot (for H1N1 or otherwise) because it only covers certain strains. If I get sick, boo hoo! My mom and I were talking about it, and I reminded her that when the meningitis outbreak hit my town and I somehow ended up getting (not by the usual reported means) and was told that I could be dead in 48 hours and here I am some 12 years later fairly healthy. So screw it, if I can beat meningitis, then H1N1 ain’t got nothing on this girl!
The media likes to over-hype everything. All I hear about on the news is H1N1, the economy and God help me, when it starts to snow for real around here. That’s “breaking news” and people wonder why I don’t bother with television much?
Here in the UK we seem to have a far more rational approach (for once). You have the option to have tamiflu if you show symptoms. Personally the sideeffects of Tamiflu are far worse than the flu ( Gastric bleeding anyone? ) and will not be entering my house.
Front line workers will be offered the innoculation Again as a nurse I come in to this catagory and will not be getting it. I’m a young fit healthy person who has never been really ill in her life my famlily is the same, including my two year old.
When did we lose faith in our own bodies ability to cope?
Amen sister! Sidney has just recovered from what we assume was the dreaded flu and is no worse for wear. Like you said, lots of bed, juice and toast kicked that monster flu’s ass!
I’m not getting it either. I was already exposed taking care of two sickos with it and all I got was a cold. SO I figure I’ll be fine.
Anything the government is giving away I don’t want.
The Spencers are not getting the shot, not now, not ever!
Here is a great article written by our Straight Chiropractor. LOVES HIM.
FLU PANDEMIC OR FEAR PANDEMIC?
The H1N1 issue has become so prevalent that I thought it appropriate to share some factual perspective. I realize that factual perspective is neither newsworthy nor popular when people are in the midst of a mob mentality of fear but I’m willing to risk unpopularity in order to encourage people to be guided by science, reason, and logic.
Let’s start with the H1N1 flu virus itself. The FACT is that the type of illness associated with this virus in over 99.9% of CASES is mild to moderate flu symptoms which include fever, nausea which can include vomiting, and of course general malaise. Not very pleasant to be sure but is this any different than the symptoms associated with the flu viruses that have been the source of the seasonal flu for the past 50 years? No. Seriously uncomfortable – yes, seriously risky in terms of death or severe complications – no.
But what about the deaths from H1N1? We all must admit and understand that even the thought of a child dying is enough to send any parent into hysterics. So let me be clear. I am not suggesting that the threat of harm or death to any child is not something to fear. What I am suggesting is that we RATIONALLY assess the threat and then assess our fear level to see if it is appropriate.
In almost every death thus far, there has been identified pre existing medical conditions. However, even in the cases where an apparently “HEALTHY” person died, what definition of health are we using? Having no symptoms or a properly functioning body?
HEALTHY PEOPLE DO NOT GET SICK. PERIOD. Healthy people can develop an illness, which is really just the body attempting to save its own life. Whereas, SICKNESS (lowered cellular function) makes us unable to properly adapt. The higher your level of health, the better your body can make the necessary changes for survival in a timely manner. ITS CALLED AN IMMUNE SYSTEM!
Risk of death from H1N1? Statistically your chances of dying from H1N1 are, as of Oct 17th, 0.0002%. However, as with all previous seasonal flu viruses, the annual CDC published death rates for flu are NOT from confirmed deaths due to flu but in fact almost entirely from pneumonia. So, if you do not have an underlying illness your chance of dying from H1N1 is 1% of 0.0002%. Not exactly worthy of widespread panic.
The chances of dying in a car accident, airplane accident, a fall, from complications of air pollution, from complications from industrial toxins or from medical treatment are EXPONENTIALLY GREATER. You have more chance of dying in a car accident on your way to get an H1N1 vaccine than dying from H1N1. Statistically it could be concluded that it is an undue risk to get into a car and get the vaccine!
Is the vaccine safe and effective? I could not find any published peer-reviewed data to determine whether the H1N1 vaccine is safe or effective. In other words there is no available information that would be required for any other medical intervention that the H1N1 vaccine works or if it is safe. This does not mean it is not safe or effective, it just means we have no data which would be considered scientifically valid to utilize to form our opinions. Even if we assume the vaccine is safe and effective, statistically there is still more risk of death from the car ride to get the vaccine than from dying from H1N1!
So what is going on in my opinion? Well I think some very well intentioned people are allowing fear rather than science and data to guide public policy. I’m not alone in this opinion by the way.
My conclusion is that at this point it is a pandemic of fear and NOT a flu pandemic. The data available make it clear that we are experiencing an H1N1 seasonal flu BUT that to date this is not associated with significant risk of death or serious illness.
So what should we do; what is a scientific, logical and reasonable strategy?
1. Don’t panic. Fear causes a release of stress chemicals which actually down regulates your immune system.
2. If you do have flu like symptoms, use common sense. Listen to your body, rest, hydrate etc. USE MEDICAL CARE FOR IT’S APPROPRIATE PURPOSE – EMERGENCY CARE.
3. BE HEALTHY NOW. Don’t wait until you lose your health, live BY DESIGN.
a. Clear Nerve System
b. Daily Movement
c. Eat By Design: Protein, Nuts, Seeds, Fruits, Veges, Oils
d. Cod Liver Oil, Vit D supplementation
e. Be Happy
Thanks to Dr. James Chestnut for his contributions
Windsor seems to be infected with some sort of flu. The students at my kids school seem to be dropping like flies. However, of my three kids, the one who never got sick – the 10 year old with questionable cleanliness! Go figure. We all need to live like a kid – happy and dirty!
Im only getting the vaccine because I’m pregnant and work with nasty ass little kids. I cant risk getting sick right now. If i were not prego, i would not be worried whatsoever. I usually have a great immune system and I never get sick, but I’m not sure how much it has been compromised.
You are preachin to the choir sistah,
I absolutely refuse to allow this into my home, I have about 16 friends that have had H1N1 and said it was like any normal flu, the ones that are over it now have immunity that their own healthy bodies produced fighting it off like any other flu, because that is all it is. One of the people I know hat had it was even a 4 yer old child who is fit as a fiddle now.
Fear mongering always happens when there is money to be made by stearingthe masses directly to their local clinics for their shots> oh and how great is the fact they contain Thimerosal?
oh dude, tell me about it. a couple of months ago, we heard on the news and everyone going on on how crazy it was in london, like it was ectic and everyone was wearing masks and so on, really scary shit. just so happens, we had a trip planned to same london, same month, and guess what? no masks, no hysteria, not even a sign of the famous A-virus flu crap. funny how that works. in my opinion its really just a matter of separating sheep from the herd, seeing who follows and gets the shot right away. im not getting it, my kids are not getting it, mr ink is sooo not getting it. bring on the days in bed, the tea, the juices and the love. im with ya on this one. also, the supposedly medicine they’re using to “cure” it was one that was gonna go off the market in a couple months. happy coincidence? i think not. a couple of months ago it was the suine flu, nowadays you just hear its the A-flu and when you ask they just reply its just like that other flu but it spreads faster. right. yeah. okeh.
have a great weekend peeps from across the world. i should start a damn blog so you could drop by our (very) similar tattooed-double kid-farm life. ******
Yes, yes, yes. My entire family had it in July, the giveaway was getting flu in high summer, including my 80 year old grandmother who has weakened lungs from several bouts of pneumonia. It was flu, it was boring and irritating considering it was our only good week of weather but if anything it was less terrible than the last time I had plain old regular flu. Although that was probably due to me not being a chain smoking, drunk, teenager this time round.
Mass hysteria, you couldn’t pay me to get the shot, not this one, not the regular one.
Ugh, I’m still really uneasy about this. After posting my comment I went and researched a bit and I really dont know if this is best for my health. And is there a possiblity that the vaccine could hurt he baby in some way? I dont think they studied that. I don’t trust drugs but i really dont trust ones that they only test a little and crank out quickly. I dont know what to do.
Amen to all that. In the UK, the ‘swine flu crisis’ was deliberately blown out of proportion by the government in an attempt to draw public attention away from a parliamentary expenses scandal. When the alarmist statistics and talk of space being created for mass graves didn’t have the desired effect, they decided to send more troops to Iraq instead.
It’s nothing but scaremongering crap. For the record, my family GP says he isn’t having the vaccine because it simply isn’t necessary.
Sarah, there is no testing on pregnant women, there can’t be. They can’t tell you it’s “perfectly safe” because all vaccines carry risks and they have no idea what the long term implications are. (Other than the obvious, which is reduced natural immunity).
Pregnant women are at higher risk for illness because their immune systems are taxed. I would never personally take a vaccine while pregnant, but we all have to feel comfortable with our decisions. If this were any other year, or flu season, would you take a seasonal flu vaccine? You are at greater risk of catching (having complications from) seasonal flu than H1N1. Do you feel the statistical risk of complications from H1N1 outweighs the lack of testing and known & unknown risks related to vaccination? Only you know the answer to those questions.
Vaccine or no vaccine I would be very particular about diet, handwashing, and taking vitamins and echinacea… or even wear a mask to work if it makes you feel better. If I were you I would also make a habit of gargling with salt water mid day or at end of day to help kill any nasties you may have inhaled. There are lots of natural ways to prevent illness that pose NO risk your fetus.
Hospital stats around in my area clearly show that H1N1 intake peaked last week and are already declining. You could check numbers in your area for greater relevance.
No, I wouldn’t get a flu shot. I dont trust them either. I am very healthy and my pregnany is picture perfect. I eat well, I wash my hands 10 times an hour and I take vitamins. I know they ca’t test on pregnant women, which is why it makes me nervous because they dont know what the risks might be. From all I have heard and read, I think I will bypass the vaccine. I cant make myself believe that it is a good idea. Thanks for the info by the way.
The funny thing about this flu is that we have already seen it twice, once in the 60s and again in the 70s. I am a registered nurse and I don’t get flu vaccines. I remember the last year I did there were about 6 flus going around. I got a flu shot and ended up getting all 5 other flus. I was sick for almost 5 months. No thanks!
I have been telling all our Canadian relatives and friends that we had the same craze and panic her in the UK. Only we had it over the summer and Canada seems to be catching the flu fear now. All summer the media were running stories and people could talk about little else than the imminent doom of the entire country’s population at the hands of this flu. they were touting it as a certain death sentence. Spreading the panic saying that 10 thousand people a week in England would be catching it etc. Well, thousands and thousands of people did catch it, many of whom ran screaming to the ‘emergancy flu centres’ set up in each township, and now all those people are back to regular life. It has passed here making all those people who ran in circles screaming ‘the sky is falling!’ feel pretty foolish. It is interesting to watch how these things unfold in one country and then the next, with no one learning in the meantime. We have all this media at our disposal through which we can learn about what happens around the world. Yet when the story comes to our doorstep, the masses still run screaming into panic. With all the medications that are recalled 20-30 years later, having only just discovered horrible side effects that mutated in bodies over decades as a result, I don’t know how anyone could trust a synthetic chemical as a miraculous cure when it has been hypothesized, invented, ‘researched’ and implemented in a matter of months.
I got my first flu vaccine 7yrs ago when I was working in a Pediatric office. I still get the vaccine every year now that I work on a Cardiac step down unit in a hospital AND currently doing clinical rotations for nursing school. I feel like it is my responsibility to protect the patients I come in contact with. Im not worried about what they will give me (in terms of the flu) my body is healthy and immune system strong enough to recover. HOWEVER if I do get sick and come to work, even if it is at the first onset of mild symptoms I could give the flu to my patients. Their immune systems are compromised and I do not want to do anything to cause greater harm to the people I am supposed to be caring for. I know the regular flu shot doesnt cover all strains of the flu and blah blah but I have to be prudent and do what I can to protect them. Just like washing my hands, wearing gloves, gowns , masks its all as much for the patient as it is to protect me.
I havent made a decision yet about N1H1 vaccine, it has not even been offered to hospital employees here yet and by the time it is available peak flu season will probably be over.
Another “no” to the flu shot.
I haven’t had a flu shot since 1997, and I had that one because I was in the hospital. I’ve had the flu maybe TWICE since then; maybe it wasn’t even the flu one of those times.
I thought I was coming down with it the other day, as I felt feverish and achy, but it’s probably a sinus attack or some other virus.
(random person who reads your blog here *blush*)
I’ve never had a flu shot of any sort and I’ve never felt the inclination.
I only had the flu once in my life, when I was pregnant. It sucked but I was over it in about a week.
I feel I have a very good immune system. I rarely ever get sick.
Now that I have an 8 month old and there is this H1N1 hysteria, everyone in my husband’s family is calling us up and asking if/when she’s getting the shot and insisting that we have to get it too because if we get sick we can infect her.
I know that these loved ones are just trying to keep us safe, but I just can’t make myself be afraid of H1N1.
I am putting people off by telling them we will talk to her pediatrician at her next appointment in December, but really I don’t want to get her vaccinated for this.
My husband already HAD the flu a few weeks ago and now thinks it was H1N1. He felt terrible and slept for about 2 straight days. Baby got a cough and runny nose but no fever or anything, I was fine.
oops – forgot to put my info in my last post – I don’t trust anything the government is giving away…
My father asks me every few days if Im getting the shot, and it makes me furious at this point because he knows how I feel, and it’s definitely a personal decision. I dont believe things just because the government/media says so.
I’m 21 weeks pregnant and will NOT be getting the vaccine. I also have field placement with wee ones twice a week. Still not getting the ‘vaccine’. I do not get regular flu shots, either. I like to point out the “safe” anti-nausea medication that was handed out to many, many pregnant women in the 60′s (i think) that deformed fetuses. Safe..right.
As for those handwashing posters being everywhere – have you really watched people “wash” their hands?? It’s disturbing, because I’ve NEVER seen anyone properly wash their hands – 20+ seconds of SCRUBBING. This includes the child care centres I’ve worked at. I just wish people paid more attention to those posters.
I just got the shot on Friday. I have a 2 and a half year old and a 3 month old. My toddler already has chronic asthma due to a genetic predisposition and there is a fear that our 3 month old will have similar breathing issues. As we have no choice on whether or not to innoculate our 3 month old we decided that after reading the information available we would get the family done.
I have colleagues that have condemned me already for being vaccinated and my response to them has been to question whether they have kids or not. When they tell me NO I tell them to come back to me when they face the situation that I have. My well being is secondary to my 3 month old’s and anything that I may be able to do to counter the possibility of infection is worth it in my mind.
And in case you are wondering I get the seasonal flu vaccine every year because I work in a cubicle farm that is a disgusting breeding ground. No matter how much hand washing and purel is used a good portion of my 300 person office gets sick all at the same time and I generally don’t.
Jess – that anti-nausea medication birthed flipper babies. Tremendous deformities. You’re absolutely right about hand washing. People need an education in that regard!
Simon – We thankfully have no cubicle farm or asthma. I had asthma as a child, thankfully I outgrew it. I hope your toddler does the same.
I think it’s a testament to good hand washing that you generally avoid illness from your office. I don’t know where you live, but none of the strains in our seasonal flu vax hit the mark last year. Awareness and use of basic hygiene goes a LONG way!
Diane – that’s a great line for sure.
I was curious as to what your thought were on this. Figured it would be just like you wrote it.
We’re upping our vitamines, I’m washing Hannah like crazy when we go out in “the germy public” etc, ect.
Hope the fall is treating you well.
~Monica~
No flu shots here for us either. Although people in NH seem to be coming down with left right and centre I am pretty adamant that neither I or Adelaide will have it. I am currently going through a visa situation with the US government and am required to have a medical and part of it entails providing my entire vaccine history… which I have however I think that they might say its mandatory for me to have it. I have had previous flu shots when I lived in Europe, it was required by my work. I have never had the flu, with or without the specific shots and my family and I are in great health so I will fight my corner with this one is they drag their heels… unless they try and deport me1
It’s exactly what I keep telling everyone, but people can get so PARANOID and annoying about these things. Le sigh.
[...] not interested in “full weaning”: the benefits of breastmilk are outstanding and it is flu season after all). Maggie has fallen TO sleep (her first sleep stretch) without booby since she [...]