Pneumonia Vaccine to Survive BF?

YES - GET IT NOW!!!

This is the single most important precaution that can be taken.  If your Dr. will not give it to you, get it from a walk-in clinic, a corner "urgent care" place, or the county health department.  Lie, cheat, do whatever it takes but get this important vaccine for you and your family.  Yes it's really THAT BIG a deal.

Mister Dog- the vaccine will protect you from bacterial pneumonia, which you could get after you've recovered from the flu.  your immune system will not be as strong because you had the flu, therefore you have greater odds of getting bacterial pneumonia.  bacterial pneumonia is what most people get when they say they have pneumonia. so the vaccine is still something you should get, if you can get it for this reason. 

Basically if you get H5N1 and survive, you don't want to get bacterial pneumonia afterwards. 

I highly recommend talking to your doctor about viral/bacterial pneumonia and the pneumonia vaccine so you will have a really good understanding of it all.

What Willow is saying is that the avian flu virus causes chest congestion, cytokine storm etc. that affects breathing, hence "viral pneumonia". This vaccine (Pneumovax 23) does not have anything to do with flu-caused pneumonia. That's correct. The chest infection of flu virus CAN be fatal in and of itself because it compromises your ability to breathe.  Not much can be done about that except tamiflu.

I'm sorry - I didn't elaborate in my earlier post because I thought the information was out there enough that most were already informed regarding bacterial pneumonia.

Super strains of influenza weaken the protective lining of the lungs.

The weakened linings have greatly compromised resistance to normal "everyday" bacteria, such as pneumonia bacteria.

Many people who survived the 1918 influenza, died of (we presume bacterial) pneumonia up to two weeks after having fully recovered from the flu (see The Great Influenza by John M. Barry for details).  This appeared in most cases to have been a separate, secondary infection. It is estimated that up to 75% of the people who died in the influenza outbreak in 1918 actually died of pneumonia rather than of the influenza virus itself.

If I can take a shot that reduces my risk of death by 75%, I consider that a whopping good investment.  Yes, this shot offers no protection against viral pneumonia, specifically that caused by the avian influenza virus, but it does cover 23 strains of bacterial pneumonia.  I'm convinced that there's no bigger bang for your prepping dollar than obtaining this important vaccination.

bruss01 wrote: If I can take a shot that reduces my risk of death by 75%, I consider that a whopping good investment.  Yes, this shot offers no protection against viral pneumonia, specifically that caused by the avian influenza virus, but it does cover 23 strains of bacterial pneumonia.  I'm convinced that there's no bigger bang for your prepping dollar than obtaining this important vaccination.

Thanks for those words, Bruss. We (23yr. old, 14 yr. old and I ) got our shots today.  THEY are doing FINE, I feel like all heck!

Got a  headache, arm hurts like all heck,  and feel feverish.  I was questioning the wisdom of this vaccine, and wishing I hadn't gotten one........till I read your post.  I'll deal with the sore arm, fever and headache . After reading what you wrote, I guess feeling like this is a small price.

BTW, I had to LIE my backside off to get the State Health Dept. to give it to us, and then had to wait a week for the vaccines to come in as they didn't have any on hand.   They were free, though......which was great as I've read some people have to pay alot to get them.

Hubby has insurance (we dont) and is getting his from his Doctor in two weeks.

flick wrote: Marzinn: I have one family member who does not have his pnuemovax yet and I'm getting the run around because he is perfectly healthy. What's the right dialogue to get the dr. to cough up a vaccine?

Flick,

                                   To be honest......I lied.  Our state's health center wouldn't give it to us either. So, I made up illnesses. Luckily they didn't ask for verification. Now, my hubby really does have chronic bronchitis, so his doc is giving him his in two weeks, but my son, who REALLY does have ashtma, didn't even qualify, per the CDC guidelines, for this shot.........so, I "gave" him Lyme disease. (Asthma is "excepted" in the CDC guidelines  though some places will accept it as a "risk" group for this shot...).  Here in Pennsylvania Lyme is quite prevalent, so it seemed like a likely choice.  After talking the nurse into giving us the shot at the state health center, I asked how much it cost, prepared to pay an arm and a leg if need be.......she said the shots were free.  I am so grateful  that we were able to get this shot, the fact that they were free was an added blessing.

BTW, yesterday I felt SO awful, and was wishing i hadn't gotten the shot...but today I feel WONDERFUL.  Arm doesn't hurt at all, and the nausea and headache are gone.  I only felt bad for less than a day, as I got the shot at 2pm yesterday, felt awful the whole night, and woke up this morning feeling great.   It was a small price to pay.   My 23 yr. old's arm still hurts a bit, but she was able to go to work this morning. My 14 yr. old son, had a panic attack yesterday due to his fear of needles ( suffered through a traumatic illness as a small child and had to have blood taken weekly), but once I calmed him down, all he had was a sore arm that was relieved by Tylenol and no fever to speak of. This morning he says he feels very very little soreness. Seems I got the worst of it.

Still, the shot is worth it. I encourage all to get it if they can. Even if BF never  pans out, pneumonia kills!!! A few of the people who died of pneumonia in BF infected regions later turned out negative, they just had penumonia. Also, viral vs. bacterial pneumonia - NOT BF related - clearly shows bacterial pneumonia is deadly, whereas viral pneumonia (not BF related) often resolves without treatment  or in severe cases, with only supportive treatment (i.e. iv fluids).  

thanks for all the input you guys. I am going to try the local walk in and see what happens. after that it's the health department.

In reality my dad has alzheimers and we do go to the nursing home so maybe this will push the envelope. thanks!!!

Flick,

                                Best of luck to you.  Like Albert, I would encourage all to get it. It won't save you from every pathogen, but at least it knocks 23 types of bacterial pneumonia, pneumococcal blood poisoning & pneumococcal meningitis off our HUGE list of things to worry about. And like Bruss mentioned, a GREAT number of people in the 1918 pandemic died after they got better. I do NOT want to think I recovered from the BF and be walking around on cloud nine, only to drop dead a week later!

We had ours thursday afternoon, and here it is Saturday evening....The "reaction" for me and my two kids was for them only a sore arm, I felt kind of sick, sore and feverish for the first 24 hours, but it passed quickly. We can all lift our arms without a slightest twinge now.