Two separate questions

Will you take the swine flu vaccine when it is available?

Do you consider sleep apnea alone to be a chronic medical condition?

For the H1N1 strain, the NFID recommended the following patient populations be vaccinated:

•People 6 months to 24 years old
•Pregnant women
•Healthcare personnel
•Adults 25 to 64 years old with chronic medical conditions
•People in close contact with infants younger than 6 months

rooster wrote:Two separate questions

Will you take the swine flu vaccine when it is available?

Do you consider sleep apnea alone to be a chronic medical condition?

For the H1N1 strain, the NFID recommended the following patient populations be vaccinated:

•People 6 months to 24 years old
•Pregnant women
•Healthcare personnel
•Adults 25 to 64 years old with chronic medical conditions
•People in close contact with infants younger than 6 months

Yes and Yes

My wife and I are both of the "older set" and therefore get a flu shot every year. We plan to get both types of flu shots this year.
And yes -- apnea is a chronic medical condition -- and thankfully is treatable.

CLW

1) no. never had a flu shot in my life. Don't plan on starting now.

2) yes.

1 ) Maybe but definitely not until it has been studied for the standard full 9 months. I don't want them to find out some bad side effect with it and then be at risk.

2) No, sleep apnea itself is not chronic but it nearly doubles the risk for several chronic diseases and premature death.

NO WAY!!! Vaccines are excitotoxins and my brain is already inflamed and not yet healed. No way I'd excite those microglial cells even more. I already take 4000 IU vitamin D/day, will have it tested again end of month to see if it's barely above normal as it's been since 12/08. I plan to take at least twice this if not more depending on the test results. Doc Oz on "The View" this morning suggested 1000 IU per day. Elsewhere I've read taking up to 100,000 IU if you've been exposed...works for me. This neuro-hormone is so mis-labeled thus de-valued as merely a vitamin; ck out the Vitamin D Council. At my bloodwk followup appt, I'll talk to my doc about getting an Rx for one of the anti-flu drugs just in case (apnea in my mind is a chronic 'disease' much like diabetes is, a manageable condition that can undermine overall health, esp the immune system). With my history of catching everything as a baby-toddler, I'm hoping the varient that most older folks got was in my early repertoire . Mom is in that 65+ age category that apparently got a varient yrs ago; she got everything so likely was exposed way back then; she's going to start the 1000 IU/day as she works downtown in the Fed Ctr. I'm glad I don't have kids and am not a younger adult where this is more of an issue. Atlanta already has it in the colleges/universities and in some public schools; most are isolating those kids to their dorm rooms/homes, 1 private school closed as the percentage of kids with flu was high. These are located downtown or southside, I'm 25 miles north of those affected areas.

No, I got the swine flu shot in '73, just after Pres. Ford got his and exhorted everyone to get theirs.
But, there was no outbreak then. I had just started college when the Asian flu hit in '57-58. Now there was flu.
Funny, I worked in the cafeteria as a dish washer and thought for sure I would get it. But I didn't.
I'm not very worried about this.

Sorry, that was '76. My memory is getting a little fuzzy.

1. No
2. No

Yes to both.

1) Maybe. I'd like to say yes, but there are always risks in being an early adopter of new vaccines.
2) Yes. If I could function without CPAP, then I wouldn't consider it a chronic medical condition. However, I can't function without it being treated, and treatment isn't 100% perfect either, so I'm inclined to say it's definitely a chronic medical condition.

1) Absolutely. I have other "chronic medical conditions" that make a flu shot every year an absolute must, and if they want to give me protection against one more strain/type, so much the better.

2) I suppose it is, since once you are diagnosed, you most likely need to use a CPAP machine for life. But, I don't think I would try to make the argument that I should get the swine flu vaccination based on my CPAP alone. JMHO.

1. No. Never took a flu shot, never intend to. My flu protection is the lions I work with. Ever since I started working with big cats, my incidence of colds and flu have dropped significantly. And when I do get an occasional cold, it is not as serious as they used to be. I consider the whol flu shot thing to be a big government 'fear factor' thing. I just love looking at the CDC's 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report' (and still have one of the few free paper subscriptions to it), and seeing 'Flu Pandemic' on the cover of evey other issue. The CDC needs to learn that a pandemic occurs when a substantial portion of the population has had it. What we have now would just barely qualify as an epidemic fifteen years ago.

2. Yes and no. OSA is unquestionably a 'chronic medical problem' as it persists for very long time periods (contrasted to 'acute', which would be a single, isolated illness or problem). But fir the purposes of this flu shot thing PROPERLY CONTROLLED xPAP treatment would render the OSA a 'non-problem' even though it is 'chronic', and possibly an indicator NOT to get the shot.

Caveat Emptor

1. Considering I have 2 conditions that can be considered chronic, and I have a 4-month old son, yes, definately, and so will my wife.
2. I consider it chronic, for the fact that it lasts quite a while. You can treat it, but it's difficult to cure w/out surgery and/or implants, medical equipment, etc. Same as my herniated cervical disks.

1. No.

2. Yes.

Have never got a flu shot, and I still don't see the need.