In our small community, just within the last 2 weeks, I’ve personally known two separate un-related previously healthy kids (one 5 and one 6 yrs old) who came down with flu symptoms (likely H1N1), and 5-7 days later developed 105-106 degree fevers, which quickly morphed into complicated pneumonia and landed both kids in the hospital in dire situations. This follows the typical path of H1N1. One of the kids is a child of a pediatrician who had been vaccinated 10 days earlier but hadn’t yet gotten his booster dose because the waiting period between doses is several weeks.
Both of these kids were kind of touch and go for a day or so before the hospital could get their fever and symptoms under control. Neither one was responding to the major antibiotics and other meds given to them until the 2nd or 3rd day of trying and let me tell you, it was very hairy for everyone, especially the parents.
I’m a skeptical person, too, but I followed the scientific community on this one and got my kids vaccinated, and I’m very glad I did. H1N1 is hitting young kids in an extreme way that seems much more severe than other flus and so you can’t really just brush this off by telling yourself that having the flu always presents a risk and that this is no different – this flu is different, especially for the young ones. At this point, there is no scientific, evidence-based reason for kids NOT to get the vaccine, and many compelling reasons for them TO get the vaccine, so why wouldn’t you?
Scarlett, hopefully by now you’ve found the vaccine.
