>As for the other girls at the school feeling ill, could easily have been a result of finding out that others were not feeling well.

Mass hysteria is very common among girls of a certain age.

We've even had a child go white and dizzy when the family dog had an injection! Quite often they have to wait in reception rather than go into the consulting room.

As for the other girls at the school feeling ill, could easily have been a result of finding out that others were not feeling well.

yes also like someone else on here said i to remember having the BCG and the Rebella jabs at school many many years ago,  and their were alot of girls fainting , being sick and shivering some got sent home looking back now i think it was mostly brought on by nerves and anxiety due to alot of scarmongering among alot of girls i remember being inline and being very worried myself because other girls were coming out after having it and were making such a big fuss about it, then when i went in a bundle of nerves i didnt even feel it,

Mass hysteria is very common among girls of a certain age.

yep you hit the nail on the head their Jean thats just what it was like when our year in school had the jabs,

> Mass hysteria is very common among girls of a certain age

And some slightly older 'girls' sometimes ....

Daisy

I faint if I see an injection my OH has to physically take me to the surgery for a jab! Mum held my children for their vaccines.

Now not having school age children but I do have one at risk - Asthma age 22. He has been having flu jabs for ever, and he is having the swine flu when available. Last count he had had pnemonia 6 times, the last time age 14 he went into heart failure and I almost lost him.

He has had pnuemonia jab as well. The risk of a bad case of flu could kill him, its a risk he will not take and I support him 100% if he were still at home we as a family would have one to protect him.

Re cervical cancer - I had cervical cancer and a hystorectomy. I would protect my daughters if I were lucky enough to have them, the risk of them being the one or two in 100,000.00 is better odds than developing cervical cancer!

Its my view, this or any other government would not rsik massive litigation by putting into the public domain a faulty vaccine IMO.
Tholidimide was years and years ago and we have learnt from that. Im lucky Im still here but rather a sore arm or a temprature than cervical cancer. There's risk in everything you do and I think its a risk worth taking.

I too remember the BCG jabs at school. Gossip flew round the school at the speed of light. It was the most painful thing on the planet.... it would make you faint.....it would make you really ill etc etc.  By the time 'orderly???' queues were formed outside the first aid room, there were girls fainting and screaming and that was before they even went in. I don't suppose times or girls have changed.

Although its not just girls, I remember being in school when the final jabs were given before leaving. Propped up against the gym wall looking like death were far more boys than girls :0

I had my seasonal flu jab 2 weeks ago, my pneumococcal jab yesterday and am getting my swine flu jab in 10 days   Has anyone else had their swine flu jab??

Jax - making sure I stay bug free this Winter (I wish)

Me, as a nurse (for the next week ) we have to have it and I feel yuk today....

Gabrielle

im a nurse and i dont have to have it and wont be!

Healthcare here too, we are advised to have it, but not compusary.

I'm insulin dependant diabetic, so have two injections a day, my husband is also scared of needles and passes out when he sees them, which is rather difficult, because if I have a hypo he needs to give me a glucose injection.....lol.

We've been together 32 years, married 22 years and he's only in the past year managed to watch when I do my injections

Husband -doctor - had the flu jab last week and Swine flu one this week.

Went to bed feeling yukkk and sore arm..but he is a man!

I'm having it when offered.    I have had a horrible wheez this year worse than others so I am having the SF one for sure.

My daughter who has CF had her seasonal flu jab yesterday and is booked in for her swine flu jab on the 5th dec, so hope she doesnt feel too yak after that !

I'll let you know how I get on Loucon.  I felt fine after the seasonal flu jab but a bit rough after the pneumococcal jab.

I am waiting for a letter for swine flu.....seasonal flu jab next week.

> we have to have it

No we don't and neither does anyone else - consent is required .

Actually on the Unit I work (neonates) as we currently have two babies with it, we are required to have it. For our sake and theirs...
Gabrielle

Mum (83) had swine flu twice recently ! the second time about 3 weeks later they gave her tamiflu which fortunately didn't give her much in the way of side effects. Last month she went to the doc's for the flu jab and 5 days later developed what she descbied as the flu again.and was in ded for  aweek and then quite weak after that
Doctor decided it couldn't have been the vaccine as you don't usually get any side effects (mmm) and certainly not 5days later and that  swine flu was mis diagnosed ! Doc called it a virus.. well that cover everything
Mum decided all would have been well if she had stayed away from the doctors surgery as it is full of sick people LOL
She hasn't decided what to do about the swine flu jab if it is offered to her

I must admit to be quite surprised at the 'myths' still being bandied about regards this vaccination.
  Comprehensive articles here in the New scientist Is the Swine Flu Vaccine safe? at the end of the article is a great '8 myths about Swine Flu' article too.
  Please don't be put off by the fact the info is in the NS, it's easy to read and most importantly evidenced in fact.

Hope this helps

I'm very glad that all my colleagues in Trauma medicine and the LAS crews, Nurses I work with and train are all quite happy to be vaccinated having satisfied themselves they are in possession of facts and perspective

Maybe your colleagues have been vaccinated...but ...I question why various doctors I know are not.

Karen

To be honest Karen, me and a Paramedic responded to a West end theatre 2 weeks ago where a member of the audience was experiencing 'Chest pains', when we arrived 2 GP's had the public access AED on him (responsive breathing casualty)
and could not understand why it wouldn't shock him!!!! twits!
  *Deep sigh*
It's all about education (but I would say that being an instructor!) but some folk think they know best Which is their right I guess, but unforgivable in my opinion when it impacts on others

Poloaussie all nurses etc. at the hospital that I'm at seem to have had it, I haven't though.

Doh!.....Just this year we had one here being transferred from one ward to another.....still wired but alert chatting etc....nurse escort went into a flap when AED started taliking and telling her to shock, she did!! So yup, twits all around in the so called trained medical proffesion.
However I am still not going ahead with jab as I feel the old addage'when in doubt, do nowt' is how I feel about it.
Karen

I have to say that due to personal experiences I wouldn't touch the swine flu vaccine with a barge pole-its not been tested thoroughly enough and there's too many things we don't know about it and the use of nanoparticles is controversial to say the least.

All six of us here have had the swine flu vaccination. I have an immune suppressed daughter and we were all given it to protect her.

The five of us who are healthy had no reaction at all other than a sore arm for a couple of days.

My daughter had the egg free vaccine to reduce the risk of reaction, but was still quite ill afterwards, but we expected that as she reacts to everything. She went on to have a second dose 3 weeks later and once again had a reaction, and had to spend 3 days in hospital. Despite all the difficulties, I feel it was it was well worth it, if it helps protect her from swine flu which could well kill her.

Interesting thread, which has brought back some interesting points.

The H1N1 vaccine was used in the USA in the late 1970s during the last swine flu epidemic in USA.   However, the vaccine often seemed to release another viral infection - known as Guillain Barre Syndrome, which causes paralysis of the nervous system.   There is no specific treatment, and recovery is slow, albeit complete, provided the patient is in hospital and can be put on heart/lung activity monitors.

In late 1979, my mother and father went on a holiday to Bermuda - a Christmas present from the family.  They had a wonderful time and came back just before Christmas.   In the January, my mother became ill, and was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome - which was caught in time - even though she had to have a tracheotomy and be tube fed, and she received wonderful treatment in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.  She recovered well enough to enjoy her 70th birthday, and a holiday in France later that year.   Sadly, she then succombed to cancer of the oesophogus - which we all attribute to her need of the tube feeding - and died some 18 months later.

We could never understand where she could have picked up this Guillain Barre Syndrome until we've read more about the H1N1 vaccine.  Now we can appreciate that our Christmas present, all those years ago, probably was the catalyst.

You are actually much more likely to contract GBS from the flu (any flu) itself than the flu jabs.  GBS is an autoimmune reaction - it is not a virus in itself.  Flu is not the only thing that can trigger GBS and as I understand it the root cause is not known.

<Flu is not the only thing that can trigger GBS and as I understand it the root cause is not known.>

May I refer you to this :-

http://www.disabled-world.com/health/influenza/swine-flu/h1n1-guillain-barre.php

It was not something that we were aware of until this summer.   There were no other cases of GBS in the Berks/Oxon area at the time that my mother was diagnosed - and it is only now that the connection has been made.

Our doctor said she wont be offering it unless asked  by the patient. She also said neither her or her family or the other members of the surgery were taking it.

I know many people who had both the annual flu and swine flu jab for work . The only complaint was that the injection site was more sore on the swine flu side and that they felt a bit 'thick headed' for a day . These are both common side effects for most vaccinations .
I have heard through work that they are watching out for a second wave hitting us .

Re the GBS - i read today that it has been very rarely associated with tetanus jabs .

Loki's Mum - thank you for the link, very interesting. I'm really sorry to hear about your mother.

I haven't been offered a swine flu jab but I was very ill just before Christmas with a bad viral infection. I was tested at the doctors for swine flu, meningitis etc but the doctor basically said my immune system was weak, I've now found out I have certain allergies which is slightly worrying as I was bitten badly by a dog a couple of years ago, I did ring the NHS at the time and they said my tetanus was in date but due again in 2009.

I had the tetanus just before Christmas and my arm was in so much pain that I couldn't even use my fork to eat my Christmas dinner, and it hurt to drive. To build my immune system up again I have been doing a lot of exercise and it's really paid off, I dont get the arm pain as much now  where I was bitten, and I've lost weight too! I think there's a lot of scaremongering going on about the whole swine flu thing (my father works for the NHS so I suppose I look at the whole thing differently) and a lot of people panicking due to media speculation. I'm a big wuss when it comes to injections (can't even look when my dogs have injections) but overall glad I had the tetanus. The BCG that we had at school didn't even leave a mark on my skin but some of my friends fainted, I remember it clearly

> they said my tetanus was in date but due again in 2009.
>

It is accepted now that as long as you have had your 5 tetanus jabs ( 3 as a baby , 1 as a pre-schooler and 1 as a schol leaver - or 5 in total ) you are covered for life . You do not need a booster every 10 years .  The only exception to this is if you have a very dirty gardening wound or possibly a dog bite .
it is said that the reason you have a bad reaction when you have more is because you are over-tetanised .

If you are ever in doubt ask your Practice receptionist or nurse to check what you have had against the vaccination schedule .