MOD MOM: Hand sanitizer, flu shots and worry, worry, worry

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November 17, 2009

By LISA HURT KOZAROVICH The News and Tribune Tue Nov 17, 2009, 02:54 PM EST

I know the facts, the myths and the hype about the H1N1 virus and the vaccines to prevent it — but I still can’t decide what our family should do about the “swine flu.”

The only thing I’ve done so far is buy a lot of hand sanitizer, and worry.

Well that’s not all. I’ve also spent hours upon hours researching the topic while trying to determine whether our 2 1/2 year old, healthy daughter — as well as my husband and myself — should be vaccinated. It’s basically come down to a pro vs. con list, and the final decision is yet to be made.

Apparently, I’m not alone. A CBS News poll last week found that 59 percent of parents plan to get their children vaccinated, leaving another 40 percent less confident of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

Here’s some of what I’ll be considering as I search for the right decision (does such a thing exist in the parenting realm?):

• We are experiencing a flu pandemic, the first in 41 years. H1N1 is widespread in 48 states, including Indiana and Kentucky. Both states have had about 20 deaths. More than 6,000 deaths have occurred around the globe.

• President Barack Obama’s advisers on Science and Technology have predicted that the H1N1 flu virus could cause as many as 30,000 to 90,000 deaths, mainly among children and young adults. In a regular flu season, 30,000 to 40,0000 deaths occur, mostly among people over age 65.

• An estimated 30 to 50 percent of the population is at risk for getting H1N1.

• “The virus is virtually everywhere,” according to Dr. Anne Shuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. More than 99 percent of the flu viruses in the U.S. are H1N1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

• Those at greatest risk for complications of H1N1 are children under age 5, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions such as asthma, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disorders, blood disorders, cancer and HIV/AIDS.

• Like the seasonal flu, the H1N1 flu virus spreads rapidly and easily through contact with a person who has the virus. The virus can live for 20 minutes to two hours on an inanimate object. A sneeze can travel up to 8 feet spreading its germs. People with swine flu can be contagious and infect others before they even know they’re ill, from one day before showing symptoms to seven days after.

• According to the CDC, 99 percent of Americans who get the flu get better after a few days.

• There are two types of the vaccine available: the shot, an inactivated vaccine of killed influenza virus, and a nasal spray, which is made using a live flu virus (pregnant women, children age 2 and people with compromised immune systems cannot have the live virus nasal spray)

• Will the shots contain thimerosal? The CDC says some will, some won’t; you’ll have to ask that specific question to doctor or clinic administering the vaccine. The mercury-based preservative thimerosal is at the center of the debate about whether certain childhood immunizations, including flu shots, can lead to autism and other neurological disorders. Although the CDC says there’s no scientific evidence linking low levels of mercury found in shots to disorders, thimerosal has been removed from most childhood shots.

• Being vaccinated for swine flu in the 1970s will not make one immune to the H1N1 virus.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control, The World Health Organization, The American Academy of Pediatrics.

Lisa Hurt Kozarovich is a freelancer journalist of mother of one rambunctious 2-year-old.

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