Swine Flu for Parents: Real World Answers

by Stefanie Zucker and Dr Kim

Flu Season has arrived and there is nothing worse than a sick child

Part I: On Tuesday October 6th, the very first doses of swine flu vaccine started to arrive in doctor's offices around the United States. These doses however will arrive in extremely limited quantities and initially are targeted for those considered to be "in high risk". Soon however, as supply becomes more readily available, there will be some very important decisions to be made by every individual - and more important to us here at Pediatric Safety - by every parent. Not surprising, there are some difficult questions that need to be answered for each parent to feel comfortable making these decisions. That's what our goal is…over the course of this post and the one following.  There's an incredible amount of information out there about the swine flu…along with a lot of mixed messages.  What we hope to do is pull together some of the best, most reliable information currently available from some of our best sources and provide you with some "real world" answers to some very important questions.  AND THEN…we will let you make your own decision about what's right for you and your child.  So to start us off…a little background…

What exactly is the "swine flu" and how is it different from the regular or "seasonal" flu?

CDC:  Swine flu is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new flu was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009.  It was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes were very similar to flu viruses that normally occur in pigs in North America (note:  that theory didn't actually pan out - but the name stuck). READ More on Swine Flu for Parents: Real World Answers