I had quite a long in depth chat with my 3rd sons consultant on Monday about this as my 3rd son is just 5 and has Downs Syndrome, which amongst the learhing dificulties leaves him with a weakened immune system and respiratory/asthma type problems with a heavy cold. His consultant has been around donkeys years, but certainly moves with the times and does not have historic views, His opinion was that 'yes' we should have Jake, his 3 brothers and ourselves vaccinated. He said, as with all vaccinations there are some risks, however he explained we had both taken a risk that morning in travelling to our appointment by car, as 3000 are killed each year on the roads! He also explained that the best way for the vaccination to work would be for 'herd vaccination' entires families/communities taking the vaccination is the best way to obtain maximum protection for our kids. We were already in the mindset of having the vaccination as Jake has the seasonal flu jab and also because we do know the potential worst case scenario of swine flu and as we would not know if any of us were to be in that position until actually coming down with swine flu we figured it was not a risk worth taking. His consultant also expressed that we must continue to try to avoid catching swine flu in the first place.

It is a tricky one, as it's the unknown, but I think for us we will bite the bullet - I certainly would not have put myself/my children up as guineau pigs though - now that is scary!

The core of the vaccine is tha same as seasonal flu too.

The vaccination programme is due to be rolled out next week in hospitals and WEF 26 Oct in GP surgeries, those at risk groups should start getting letters over the coming wks.

Hope this helps, would love to hear others thoughts though.
Nat

Thank you so much for posting this, I'm going to talk to my gp about my son having it. He was put on steriods at the week as he couldn't breath and that was just with a normal cold.

Still really don't know what to do, i would want him to have it to help him not get it But then i'm worried about side effects and things.

why is being a parent so hard at times

Just a thought.....Is your son under a consultant at the asthma clinic? Maybe it might be worth a call to them for a little input. Personally I find GP's useless with regards to Jake and always refer to hus consultant.

It is scary and I think even more so because it's a new vaccine, we don't think twice about giving our kids any other vaccines do we.

Let me know what you decide.

Natx

Eeek!  I just got a letter in the post asking my son to come and get the swine flu vaccine.  He has a VSD (hole in his heart) but is otherwise fit and healthy and I'm not sure what to do, whether to have him vaccinated or not.  My mind is full of 'what ifs...' and it's such a hard decision to make.

Merith xxx