H1N1 Vaccine safety

The H1N1 is a new vaccine so many people are concerned about the safety of the vaccine. With how quickly the vaccine was created, it has created even more of a debate on whether or not the vaccine is going to be safe for people to use. According to the CDC, the vaccine is just as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine, so it should be safe for most people to get.

No matter how safe the vaccine is that doesn't mean that it is safe for everyone to get. For example, if you have a severe allergy to anything that is included in the vaccine you should not get it. People who have a life-threatening allergy to eggs need to avoid the vaccine because it is grown inside chicken eggs, just as the seasonal flu vaccine is. If you do not know of any allergies that you have and have a severe allergic reaction to the H1N1 vaccine there has been a federal program created to help pay for specific expenses that are associated with the reaction, along with any medical care you need to seek.

The H1N1 vaccine in the shot form does not contain the live virus, so people who receive the shot are not in any danger of catching H1N1 from the vaccine itself. Although you cannot get H1N1 from the vaccine, you can suffer from some minor side effects. The most common side effects from the H1N1 vaccine are soreness, redness, or swelling at the injection site, a low grade fever, aches, and nausea. If you are going to experience any side effects from the H1N1 vaccine, they will show up shortly after you receive the vaccine and will typically last 1 to 2 days.

The nasal H1N1 flu vaccine is a live form of the virus, but it is in a weakened state so that you do not suffer any of the severe symptoms that are associated with the H1N1 virus. Like the short form of the vaccine, the nasal vaccine also has minor side effects, but the side effects are different for children and adults. Children under the age of two and people over the age of 49 cannot receive the nasal form of the virus, and only healthy people in this age range are eligible for the nasal form of the vaccine because of the live, but weakened form of the virus. Side effects in children can include runny nose, wheezing, headache, vomiting, muscle aches, and fevers. Side effects that are commonly seen in adults are runny nose, headache, sore throat, and cough.

With how new the H1N1 vaccine is both the CDC and the FDA are going to be closely monitoring the vaccine. The reason that they monitor all vaccines is that they want to make sure that any adverse side effects from the vaccine are reported immediately so that they can access whether or not there is a cause for public concern. Not everybody is going to react the same way to the vaccine so the CDC and the FDA have to gather the information needed to ensure that the vaccine is going to be safe for the majority of the population who is receiving the vaccine.

The CDC and FDA have also put limitations on the H1N1 vaccine forms because of safety factors. Not all vaccines are going to be safe for all people, some will contain thimerosal, and others will not. The CDC and FDA are using numerous systems to help monitor the safety of the H1N1 vaccine, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project