I am so angry right now I can’t think straight. I am also so upset and sad right now I can’t stop crying. I am so disappointed right now in the different Canadian health authorities. I am so disappointed in those who’s jobs it is to protect families like mine. I am so disappointed in a government that is normally so pro vaccine and even has ad campaigns promoting immunization. They have dropped the ball. They are now causing fear and panic over a supposed research paper they even haven’t read yet because the authors claim they cannot release it as they have submitted it to some science journal and have to wait until publication in said journal before the results can be released.
What this report is claiming is that getting the normal flu vaccine is dangerous and it increases your risks of getting the H1N1 virus. Now other countries have done the same studies and their published findings say that there is no increased risk. But what does our government do? It decided to hold off on the flu vaccine despite the fact THEY HAVE SEEN NO PROOF that the flu vaccine increased the risk of getting H1N1. 5 different provinces have now changed their normal fall flu vaccine campaign based on alleged findings. Does this seem logical to you? No it is not! What this will do is make those who are antivax scream louder and say “HA we told you so! Vaccines are dangerous, m’kay?”
Now why does this have me so upset that I cannot stop crying? Because unlike you normal healthy people, this can kill me. This fear and ignorance is a threat to my life. I rely on others to be vaccinated from things as simple as “just the flu” to keep me alive. This means that this Winter I will probably get to enjoy at least 2 months in reverse quarantine because something as simple as the flu can kill me. I have Lupus and there is no such thing as a simple virus to me.
And people wonder why I get so upset when people are so ignorant when it comes to doing their part to keep everyone safe and healthy. I do not want to ever have to hear Kid1 ask me “mom are you going to die… and don’t lie” again. Now if the flu or cold can kill me, what do you think the other things that vaccinations help prevent will do to me?
I am not the only one who has to worry about things as simple as the flu either. There are millions more like me. And a lot of us cannot be vaccinated because it is contraindicated for health reasons. Another example of why this has me in tears at the moment is this. There is a little boy at Kid2′s school that had to have a heart transplant when he was a baby. He is on immuno-suppressants for the rest of his life, like me, so that his heart does not get rejected. He also relies on other people to be responsible when it comes to health.
When I had H1N1, even so Kid2 was fine, the health authority had to go into their school and remove every piece of furniture from Kid2′s room and the other boy’s room and completely disinfect everything. A notice has gone home to all the parents stating that there are two families with chronic health problems where something as simple as the cold poses a serious health risk. If your child is showing any symptoms of illness, please keep them home until they are symptom free for 24 hours. Kid2 had a cold and I of course kept him home as I understand the seriousness of this situation better than anyone else. But do you think other parents are going to do the same? Somehow I doubt it.
I am so angry and upset right now. I cannot believe those who are in charge of keeping the general population healthy, of protecting babies and the elderly, of protecting those of us with compromised immune systems are doing this. Do they not understand how much fear and panic this has the potential to cause? Do they not understand how much louder people who say, “I never got the flu until I got my flu shot” are going to claim that flu shot is bad and people should have listened? Do they just don’t care?
Think before giving into fear. My life and millions of others literally depend on it.
