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Swine flu: are you at risk?
Some of us could become seriously ill if we get swine flu, which is why official advice is to have the jab
The Department of Health wants to raise awareness of the need to have a swine flu jab in people who are at risk. Unlike with the seasonal flu vaccine, just being older doesn’t put you at the front of the queue. People aged 65 and over who are otherwise healthy are not a priority group as they appear to have some natural immunity to the swine flu virus. Surveillance has shown fewer swine flu cases in people aged 65 and over than in younger people
However, says the DoH, you should seriously consider getting the jab if you are in an at-risk group. This includes those with long-term conditions such as
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- heart disease, such as heart failure
- kidney disease, such as kidney failure
- liver disease, such as chronic hepatitis
- neurological disease, such as Parkinson's disease
- diabetes requiring insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs.
By way of encouragement, they want to dispel come common myths about the jab:
Myth: Swine flu isn’t that serious so there’s no need to get vaccinated
Swine flu causes mild symptoms in most people, generally lasting for about a week, but people who are in at-risk groups are more likely to be seriously ill with swine flu. As well as those listed above, they include people with neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis, or those whose immune system is affected by a disease or treatment for a disease. In some cases, people may need to be treated in hospital for complications such as pneumonia or difficulty breathing, and in the very worst cases, may die.
Myth: The vaccine hasn’t been properly tested and isn’t safe
The vaccines have been licensed by the European authorities and would not have been if they were considered unsafe. In preparing for a pandemic, appropriate clinical trials to assess safety have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile. Scientific evidence from trials suggest the risk of a serious reaction is extremely small – and far outweighed by the risk of becoming seriously ill from the swine flu virus itself, especially if you have an underlying health condition.
Myth: The vaccine will give you swine flu
The vaccine does not carry a ‘live’ virus, so it cannot give you swine flu. You may experience mild symptoms like fever, headache and muscle aches as your immune system responds to the vaccine, but this is not flu and will usually disappear in one or two days without treatment.
Myth: There’s no need to have the vaccine if you think you’ve already had swine flu
Unless a case of swine flu has been confirmed by a laboratory test, most people cannot be certain that they have it, or that they will be protected if the virus mutates. People in the priority groups are therefore recommended to receive the vaccination unless they have had a positive test for swine flu.
Myth: If you have the seasonal flu jab, you don’t need the swine flu vaccine
The seasonal flu vaccination will not protect against swine flu. People in the at-risk groups for the swine flu vaccine should get both jabs.
Myth: If you don't usually catch the flu, you won't catch swine flu
Swine flu is caused by a new strain of the influenza virus called H1N1. Because it is a new type of flu virus, no one has immunity to it and everyone could be at risk of catching and spreading it.
Myth: You’ll need to stay at home after receiving the vaccine
No - you can return to your normal routine straight after the jab or in between doses if two are required. As the vaccines do not contain a live virus they do not make a person infectious.
Myth: There's no point getting the vaccine as it won't protect me if the swine flu virus mutates
While it is impossible to predict if or how the virus will change, experience with the similar vaccine for the bird flu (H5N1) strain suggests the swine flu vaccine would provide a high level of protection from closely related strains.
The swine flu pandemic is being closely monitored by the Department of Health. You can sign up for email alerts on the latest here: www.nhs.uk, or visit www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu for further information.
Reader comments
The NHS says one thing and does another. I am very angry when I read or hear all the adverts asking people to get the vaccine. My husband has a chronic long term health problem, so bad he is exempted from paying prescription charges. Last winter he nearly died of novovirus and his doctor agreed he was at risk. When the winter flu and swine flu vaccine programmes started he made enquiries and was told he did not meet the criteria. We made a fuss and we were both given the winter flu vaccine. However they still maintain he does not yet meet the criteria to get the swine flu vaccine. So we are living with the constant fear of him getting this awful illness. When deaths are reported they are always played down by the tag that the victim "had a previous medical condition". So that’s OK, these people were disposable? Ask their loved ones that.
Posted by: Susan Crisp | 08/12/2009 22:56:43
Your interesting article surprises me. I am the 83yr old lone carer of my insulin diabteic, autistic, asthmatic son, who has learning difficulties and suffers from hypertension. He lives with me, but when I took him for his Swine 'flu jab, he had it, but I was told I was not eligible because, though I have hypertension, etc. I am over 65 years of age.
Posted by: Barbara MacArthur | 05/12/2009 16:49:19
I get the impression that some GPs or some of the staff in their surgeries, what I sometimes call the " filters", are being a bit complaisant about who should, or who should not get the Swine flu jab.And here is a case in point.Two members of my family,one in the late seventies with Dementia,and Prostate Cancer, the other with COPD and a compromised immune system also in their late seventies are still waiting to be called for the injections.Meanwhile this writer and one other family member are the "carers" in the case, and by extension vulnerable to the infection in both directions. I have been to the surgery to enquire about timing of the injections only to be fobbed off that the jabs were still on the way or that the children were being injected first. Fair enough, but are not vulnerable pensioners a priority,or is it ageism, filterism or just plain incompetance?
Posted by: Grenville Jones | 05/12/2009 09:56:43
thank you so much for the article re Myths about swine flu. i'm over 70 and 5 years ago I lost my power of speech, which has mercifully returned. I've been sent for to have a SF jab and have had a flu-like 2 weeks, even though i've had the seasonal flu jab. I wondered whether it was safe to have it - now I know - thanks to you!
Posted by: Shirley Witcomb | 04/12/2009 20:48:48
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
