To Bernard When I see a comment like yours about swine flu Vaccine I can only shake my head and wonder in what country and what ICU you have been working. Your comments sound as though you have been indoctrinated by some weird cult and have no place in contemporary medicine. Most of the so called research that has come out against vaccination has been found to be seriously flawed and some has been recently withdrawn by the authors. You are entitled to your beliefs of course, but please make sure your research is accurate, legitimate and published by well recognised authorities.

swine fu I read these posts with curiosity and some disbelief.
I asume that most of us, nurses, are giving injections/medications every day, so where do you draw the line? Drugs are all made in a lab, all sold to the health system/public at, I assume, over-inflated prices.They are not all evil drugs,some may help people and their symtoms (not all, and some certainly may do harm)>
I have friends who only use/practice alternative remedies: Personally, I think some of these are great and some are nuts, but I do go to those practitioners more often than Drs...so I empathise with nurses who don't trust every doctor, all medications, chemicals etc, but professionals (alternate and otherwise) who don't read extensively, think what they are doing/saying are not being fair to their clients/patients.
I agree the swine flu has been a media party but guess what would have happened if no vaccines had been made available -wouldn't there be an outrage now? The same for polio, hepatitis, tetanus etc. We have the choice, as professionals , to explore the options through well validated research.
I had the vaccine and did not like it! I had it because I saw very sick people in Europe with swine flu. I also work in aged care. I made the best choice I could.
This year,I will watch the data and make another informed choice, and offer people as much information about it as possible. This is my duty of care, so that they can then decide.

Hmmm.....to vaccine or not to vaccine? Well I chose "yes", and let me tell you why....
I work in a busy transplant unit where all the patients are immunocompromised to some degree. Staff have been asked to have the Fluvax for a number of years due to the toll that community respiratory viruses can have on our patient population - let's just say dying from the 'flu is very real to these patients. When the H1N1 vaccine came out we were among the first in the hospital to be given the opportunity for it, for the same reasons. Yes, we did see H1N1 come into the unit - from the outside! - and it could have been extremely devastating but infection control measures stopped the spread within our ward. There were also a number of staff who were suspected of being infected prior to the vaccine, and this resulted in them having quite a lot of time off work. To my knowledge, none of those vaccinated within our unit became sick with flu-like symptoms. I was certainly quite well after it.
As to the hygeine of the general public....you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) the amount of visitors (and staff) who knowingly try and flaunt the strict infection control measures we have set up. People downright refuse to wash their hands, they try and come to visit their sick loved ones with colds and 'flus, people just don't seem to care very much what happens to anyone else but them! Even staff have been seen to exit the bathrooms without washing their hands....and this amongst all we now profess to know about how these sorts of infections and bugs spread! It's also pretty laughable the amount of visitors wandering around the hospital during the H1N1 "outbreak" wearing a mask which came down below their nose, so effectively having no effect yet not wanting to be corrected as to how to wear it!
So yes, I have had the H1N1 vaccine and I'm fine. I am happy to do this for the benefit of the people we are here for - our family and our patients!
Oh, and some of these comments reek of 'conspiracy theories'!!!

swine flue H1N1 So added to all the info I do hope u all read the Business Secton in this mornings dailytelegraph!!

$ $ $ That is waht this is all about! the drug company behind the shot is to get a 'shot in the arm' to the tune of..Yep ..$ 160 mil and here you will see a guy,sleve rolled up..pic taken and named photographer..Who took this..he is based in Melb..Ha Ha and the dailytele just "lifted it" so I was told by them...So just lets say u can'r believe what is in print..the clinical person holding the injection :( :( :( haas yet again no gloves on..:( :( :( utter shame for them to depict such a very bad pic.

This is 100% wrong as we all know,,however it is in print all over N S W ! ! So why do we use gloves @ work costing millions of $$$'s?

Just where are the standards at now? Care to comment anyone? NSW Dept of Health?? NSWNR Board? NSWNA? Just who will take this up? Sooner the better as the Govt is making a great issue and push to get H1N1 shots..it's free..line up and poision yourself..go on//be a sheep!!

Getting in touch with hcrowley Hi hcrowley,

Hi hcrowley,

I am the Online Communications Director at the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.

We are very interested in getting in contact with you regarding your son's swine flu experience.

I would appreciate if you could contact me via email: craig.thomler (at) health.gov.au

Best regards,

Craig Thomler

on the other hand.... I have just started work with SSWAHS and as part of my orientation I had to visit staff health. SSWAHS is very proactive and thorough with regard to staff immunisation status.
Now, according to a NSW Health Directive all staff (working with children) have to provide evidence of immunisation status for Hep B, tetanus, pertussis, diptheria, chicken pox, measles , mumps, rubella and mantoux status.
Staff have to either have their vaccinations or sign a stat-dec stating that in accord with the NSW Health Directive if an outbreak of any of these diseases occurs they could be restricted from working, have to stay home etc. This is important for SSWAHS staff as the area has the highest proportion of CALD and refugee people in Sydney. Immunisation is a very important health prevention strategy.
I have been fully immunised against Hep B but I didn't sero-convert. So, I had a choice between re-vaccinating for Hep B or signing the stat-dec. I chose to be re-vaccinated, because I am the primary wage-earner in my family and I can't afford to be stood down from work.
As for the H1N1 Fluvax I thought very carefully about this and even after I have had initial doubts about H1N1 vaccination I agreed to have this as well. For anyone interested, I have not experienced any side-effects to the H1N1 vaccination.
I was also told that H1N1 will be included in the 2010 Fluvax and that anyone who has had the first H1N1 vaccination is still able to have the 2010 Fluvax.
In the meantime, I always have a Fluvax because for me they are very worthwhile. Since I was an infant I have had either bronchitis and/or pneumonia every year. If it wasn't for antibiotics I would have been an infant mortality statistic. Since I have been having the Fluvax every year I haven't had one episode of bronchitis or pneumonia! It's a relief.
I guess reading all the NU "scare posts" about H1N1 and the "evils of vaccination" got me thinking and I have to say it began to irritate me! We as nurses have a very important role in the prevention of communicable diseases. I believe we have a duty of care to our patients, and if there's a chance that I might spread some terrible very preventable disease to a vulnerable client, then I believe I should do all in my power to avoid that.
I think we should think very carefully about vaccination and our responsibilities towards our clients health. I think you can believe what you like about all this stuff, but our clients rely on us to give them evidence-based and balanced information so they can make their own individual choice. Conspiracy and scare theories just don't cut it.

Say NO! to swine flu vaccine! I work in intensive care, and looked after numerous cases during the "pandemic". Almost all the patients were obese or morbidly so. Others tended to be smokers. Who knows what their general diet and exercise regime was!
More died of the "Normal Flu' during the "swine flu" episode ( by a factor of thousands!) than from the swine flu. The whole "Fear campaign" is started by the drug companies, to sell their crap. Last week I again cared for a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome . She is virtually paralysed,- is it Guillain-barre? Is it Polio? She fights to escape a respirator, and to escape the hospital! She was Healthy before this medical condition! She had the swine flu vaccine one week before she became ill! I worked in nursing homes, where they routinely vaccinate people with Flu vacc ( many get sick, some die). I joked at the time that those who had both the Fluvax as well as the PneumoVax shots all 'seemed to die". That was years ago, but then I read up on the effect of drugs, chemicals etc on us, and of the increasing incidence of forcing everyone to take these chemicals. Our food is now saturated with poison, and only a healthy and nutritious body, that is also taking antioxidants, actually will survive the poisoning. Is it deliberate? Of course it is, as this is what makes the best profits, since a diseased body must buy the drugs from the drug companies. We don't have to always pay ourselves - let the government subsidise the cost! Did you know that the Latin word "Vaccinum" has an interesting English translation? - It's "blueberry" !! These are nature's natural vaccines, without side effects!

Check out the articles

Common painkillers like aspirin kill 400% more people each year than swine flu has? But cigarettes kill 10,000% more people than swine flu? The statistical fact is that swine flu isn't very dangerous to the population. But the vaccine industry is touting swine flu deaths in order to scare more people into lining up for vaccine injections.
Read all about risk assessment of the swine flu vaccine hoax in this article:
http://www.naturalnews.com/027548_swine_flu_vaccines_death_risk.html

Flu vaccine propaganda has reached a level of stupidity. Now, they're claiming that when preganant women receive flu shots, the babies have higher birth weights and premature birth is prevented! Why not just claim the flu shot eliminates wrinkles and bad breath, too? Read more in this story about the absurdity of flu shot hype:
http://www.naturalnews.com/027365_flu_shot_clinical_trials_shots.html

Recently-published research reveals some amazing facts about how vitamin D activates your immune system to respond to influenza (including the swine flu). Yet, at the same time, vitamin D also balances your immune response to avoid a dangerous inflammatory response.
In fact, as you'll read in today's story, scientists are now claiming that the genes activated by v

Yuk Yuk Yuk!

MrNetNurse wrote:

Doesn't any one have any feedback re the general publics' lack of hand washing after toilet stops?

Rich

The only response I have to this is......... Yuk, Puke, disgusting, vile and unfortunately out of our control. It is a well known fact. Did you know the 3 most contaminated places from lack of handwashing are:- 1) the peanut bowl at the pub ( has more germs and e-coli than in the pub toilets!) think of how many men and women go to the toilet and then go to the peanut bowl for a hand full of free nuts ( I bet you will never eat the free nuts at the pub again lol, 2) movie cinema seats, 3) shopping trolly handles. I saw this on the program Whats Good for You, they did a swab of these areas and a few more places and compared them with the samples they collected from various toilets.
You would be surprised how many Dr's forget to wsh their hands too.

Good Debate but did you wash your hands? It is good to see responses from both sides of the Swine Flu Vaccine debate.

I can appreciate where hcrowley is coming from as with her son it was very close to home. I still choose to rely on my own immune system especially as it has not turned into the pandemic we were all fearful of. I love the fact that we get to choose, that’s what makes a democracy great.

I am a little skeptical like kbw and agree that we should all be able to think for ourselves and make informed decisions about matters relating to our health BUT I can NOT agree with the fanatical argument put forward in www.theshotheardroundtheworld.info where that person believes it is all a conspiracy and the Govt is trying to secretly depopulate the world....?!?

Doesn't any one have any feedback re the general publics' lack of hand washing after toilet stops?

Rich

I never I never ever get the flu shot. Everyone around me gets it and I have to say they ALL get sick with in days of it. They get the worst flu ( aching muscles, sore throats, rhinitis, temperatures etc) I refuse to have it ( as I am a needle phobe) and I very rarely get the flu or even a cold in that matter. I know they say that it is not live virus and you can't get sick from the flu shot but I know what I see and I see everyone around me get sick every year!! So it's a big fat NO for me to the H1N1 shot or any other flu shot.

do not get H1N1 shots pls @ last others are listening! I posted info on this very diverse/vexing topic. GP's are totally spilt on it. Multinationals want to sell it.
It is man made, escaped from labs, just like HIV did, however they will not admit it. If ever anyone came near me with a needle they better ahve a good Lawyer. Get the facts and listen to World leaders; citizens@theshotheardroundtheworld.info

It is sad the above person ended up in the medical condition he did. As for MRSA?? Was this community or hospital aquired? Pls let us all know! Your son @ 36 may have had a very poor immune system? What other family health related problems exist? Did he smoke or drink? What was his BMI? Blood Sugar Levels?
Every person has their own body to manage. Everyone's awareness is different, so comparisons are worthless.

However not too investigate, listen, gain as much cross-sectional data and international information is not a good thing I suggest. We all have legitimate needs. As nurses we have professional needs and one is to question what is projected on us.
Did you know W H O has the power to take ove an country, take over the Police, Army and Govt after they decide such a place is in a 'condition of pandemic'? Check it out. Search and widen your minds please.

So I strongly suggest; 'NO H1N1 SHOTS'
Why is Thalidamide off the shelf now?mmm..it was Govt approved, lab tested in the same way as H1N1 is; think about any vaccinations.It is your body and do not get emotional about it. Stand back;look;study and think for yourself I suggest.
When are we all going to stop being sheep!!!??

Swine Flu When I see a comment such as yours i feel compelled to bg you to reconsider. Let me tell you why. Last June my 36 year old son, who was strong, healthy, hard-working, with NO pre-existing conditions came home to his wife one Saturday morning from work and said he felt like he had the flu. By the Monday he could hardly breathe and started coughing up blood, went to the Dr , had an x-ray and found to have double Pneumonia. To cut a long tragic story short he was admitted to ICU where he remained on life support for 7 weeks and where twice his condition became so critical they told us to "expect the worse". Miraculously he has survived - lung fibrosis, renal failure, pancreatic failure, some hypoxic brain damage myocardial infarction and whole body muscle loss, MRSA, aspergillosis, pseudomonas he woke up from the coma as if he was a paraplegic. All because he has contracted Swine flu! He was only one of many but the toll it has taken on him and his family is horrendous. He is recovering slowly now in rehab. But it will be 2 years before he can work again. Please reconsider. It is only a vaccination and it might save you from this. His life will now never be the same. Don't take the chance. Please.

how long does swine flu vaccine last? Just wondering if the vaccine is just for a season or if it is supposed to provide longer protection.

Swine Flu When I see a comment such as yours i feel compelled to bg you to reconsider. Let me tell you why. Last June my 36 year old son, who was strong, healthy, hard-workink, with NO pre-existing conditions came home to his wife one Saturday morning from workand saidhe felt like he had the flu. By the Monday he could hardly breathe and started coughing up blood, went to the Dr , had an x-ray and found to have double Pneumonia. To cut a long tragic story short he was admitted to ICU where he remained on life support for 7 weeks and where twice his condition became so critical they told us to "expect the worse". Miraculously he has survived - lung fibrosis, renal failure, pancreatic failure, some hypoxic brain damage myocardial infarction and whole body muscle loss, MRSA, aspergillosis, pseudomonas he woke up from the coma as if he was a paraplegic. All because he has contracted Swine flu! He was only one of many but the toll it has taken on him and his family is horrendous. He is recovering slowly now in rehab. But it will be 2 years before he can work again. Please reconsider. It is only a vaccination and it might save you from this. His life will now never be the same. Don't take the chance. Please.