By Clodel Remy
“I’ve never felt worse than I did for those past two weeks; I felt things I never felt before.” Catherine Gallardo is just now getting over her recent battle with theH1N1 virus also known as the Swine Flu.
She is a 51 year old devout Christian and New Yorker who is now witnessing her two kids going through the same ordeal, which she sees as a plague on her family. Interestingly enough, Catherine Gallardo is taking Tami flu while at the same time rejecting another form of medication.
“I don’t believe in vaccines. I just don’t like them,” said. “I will not get my kids vaccinated.”
There are parents all over the country who see little benefit in vaccinating their kids, especially a vaccine which they believe has been too hastily prepared and not fully tested. According to a survey of 1200 done by USA News Poll and ABC, over 50 percent of people say they wouldn’t get the swine flu vaccine or weren’t sure if they would get it.
One man was quoted saying that it is “unnecessary” and that his body “would take care of anything that was wrong”.
Children and young adults, pregnant women, adults with health conditions such as asthma, health care workers, and caregivers of infants younger than six months cannot be inoculated.
At this point when it comes to the vaccination, the question for most parents is whether the risk is low enough to place the future health of their kids in jeopardy. In the U.S., H1N1 death toll tops 1,000 while sending 20,000 to the hospital. No one knows how long this will last and what the overall impact will be.
Of the overall numbers, 95 have been children, and these numbers have continued to increase during the last two months.
H1N1 flu is an influenza virus normally found in pigs, and these types of viruses rarely infect humans. H1N1 09 is new type of swine flu that has evolved and now infects humans and can be passed on from person to person. It is also important to know that this virus is not transmitted from pigs to humans, or from eating items with pork.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are two kinds of 2009 H1N1 Vaccines being circulated. There is the 2009 H1N1 flu shot that is given with a needle and the 2009 H1N1 nasal spray vaccine. There is also a criterion to determine who gets what of the two forms of vaccine; the CDC advises that it is safer for a pregnant woman to be given the shot instead of the nasal spray, which has not been approved.
The CDC also says that contrary to the beliefs of many misinformed parents, it benefits the child when the mother gets a flu shot. Babies born to mothers who have gotten a flu shot are less likely to get sick in the future, according to the CDC.
It is also interesting that for all the people who voice concerns about the vaccine that there is a legitimate concern from hospitals; there will not be enough vaccinations to take care of everyone who wants it. Hospitals have been turning people away due to lack of medication, while empty hospital beds continue to dwindle.
President Barack Obama recently declared the H1N1 epidemic a national emergency. There are those who see it as a legitimate threat, but also the government overreacting and spending money where it is not necessary.
As Catherine Gallardo, and so many others have said, “my body will take care of itself. ”
