H1N1 Swine flu vaccination

[Anonym bruker]

I'm pregnant, in my 22 week. My fastlege says I shouldn't get any kind of swine flu vaccination during my pregnancy, but I'd like a second opinion.

What does your fastlege say?

How do we sign up for a shot (in Bergen) if our fastlege doesn't refer us?

Thanks for the advice!

[Anonym bruker]

hi, i think you should just contact youre doctor again...

if u really want the vaccine, let him know, and if you are told you shouldnt or cant, just contact another doctor in the area, tell why you are calling, whats the issue, and ask if you have the choise to choose youreself if you want it or not,

But anyway, i woudve listened to my doctor, i trust him, but if you dont, why not use antother doc! good luck ok :-)

[Anonym bruker]

where i live it's the local kommune that is responsible for distributing the vaccine, not the fastlege, which means my doctor won't be referring me, i just have to show up at the local helsestasjon. however, i know oslo for example has a different arrangement.

 

what arguments did your fastlege provide against the vaccine?

 

my fastlege says i should get the vaccine, but also says that he would not consider me stupid or reckless for refusing it. he admitted that the authorities are purely concerned with the mother's health: the baby would most likely escape unaffected (unless of course it would have to be delivered at a too early stage), whereas it is the mother who runs the risk of dying. no one has any idea of long term risks when it comes to exposing the unborn baby to this vaccine, and we have no way of finding out until it's too late. all we know is that the regular flu shot is considered safe, but then again that shot is not identical to the h1n1 shot, and anyway norway doesn't even recommend the regular flu shot to pregnant women to begin with! the choice doesn't get any easier when you know that pregnant women in a variety of countries will be offered an alternative vaccine without all the junk in it.

 

just for the record: i'm not normally opposed to vaccines. i believe all the supposed links between vaccines and autisme and gulf war syndrome are bullsh**t and down to shoddy science and bad journalism. i wouldn't hesitate if it wasn't for the fact that i'm pregnant.

 

yet when you're told repeatedly to avoid a million different things when you're pregnant, including mild pain killers, oily fish and regular flu shots, i find it hard to swallow that this vaccine should suddenly be perfectly fine. if it's ok for the second trimester baby in my belly, why isn't it ok in the first trimester or for babies under 12 months (or even three years, as some countries claim)? if it's ok for pregnant woman in norway, why isn't it so in france, new zealand, the uk, ireland and germany? if these countries can get hold of the alternative baxter vaccine, why not norway? FHI's argument that only countries that produce the baxter vaccine themselves have got hold of it does not hold water: i somehow doubt that small countries like nz and ireland are self-sufficient in the vaccine production stakes. someone needs to starte a petition!!!

 

according to my doctor, they're expecting the disease to peak in the next few weeks, and yet the vaccine still isn't available in my local community and probably won't be so for another couple of weeks. add to this the fact that it takes up to three weeks for it to kick in, this means that even if i get it, i won't be protected when it actually counts.

 

sorry to hijack your post like this, i just really needed to vent..

 

 

 

 

[Anonym bruker]

I agree with many of your concerns... why can't we get the same vaccine that other countries have managed to obtain? I would prefer to take nothing in this pregnancy, yet at the same time, I have asthma, and it can be scary to get the flu when you have asthma.

 

Also, I had extreme morning sickness and had to be in the hospital in my first trimester. I wasn't able to eat or drink, and they tried out all four the anti-nausea medications on me. None worked, so that was unfortunate, but those were heavy, serious mediccations that they don't normally recommend pregnant women take. I had no choice but to try and thankfully he baby seems fine. They basically cannot ethically test anything on pregnant women, so they'd rather recommend that pregnant women don't take anything. I don't think that all things are necessarily harmful to the baby, it's just that they have no way of recommending either way...

 

I would rather not vaccinate, but I would also like to avoid getting seriously ill. I have a family to think of, and as someone with asthma, it is a hard decision.