The way I heard it explained is that they are afraid it could mutate this winter, and individuals that have had H1N1 would not have total immunity from the mutated form.

I heard that too, that it might mutate. So if it mutates then how will the vaccine protect against the mutated form? Wouldn't they have had to develop a vaccine for a mutated form of the H1N1? Boy, this is confusing

My clinic has run out of the regular flu shot....so i have to keep checking to see if they have gotten another shipment....and the H1N1, they have no idea when those will be ready.....

If it mutates, then the current vaccine will probably be useless. Or, it might give you some protection, but not full protection...I've heard different theories on how the vaccine would work or not work if the virus mutates. If it mutates, they'll probably have to re-work the vaccine.

I personally believe that the government and the media are exaggerating just how bad this virus is. 1000 people in the U.S. dead so far? Ok, that's a lot, but 36,000 people die from the seasonal flu every year, and no president has ever declared an emergency for the seasonal flu before...so why the H1N1? I dont quite understand that, but since I'm not with the CDC or USAMRID (The United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases) I'll probably never know the reasoning behind the emergency declaration.

But, even with that being my personal opinion, I wont kvetch (complain) about people who want to get the H1N1 vaccine (I'm not getting it myself, but my dad has, and my mom will get one if we can find one)...that's their own choice. People want to protect themselves, and I think they should be allowed to do so if they think it'll help. (I'm not getting the vaccine because I think I'm sensitive or something to vaccines because of the MS, not because I believe in any of the conspiracy theories about the vaccine.) It is interesting from a historical perspective to watch a pandemic develop. (hopefully I wont have any personal experiences with the virus)

From what I read in our paper and from what I understand (correct me if I'm wrong!) the President also declared the emergency in preparation for what if. If there is a pandemic and there are more sick people than the hospital can handle, they will be able to set up "tents" to treat the patients outside of the hospital and still get paid (from the government I believe). If the tent is 300 feet away from the hospital, the hospitals will not be reimbursed for services unless he declares this emergency.

Personally I think the media and others are causing more of a panic than necessary and really scaring the crap out of a lot of people. I am just as concerned about the H1N1 flu as I am about the season flu every year. The schools here in my town have about 125 out of every 500 kids out sick. How many of them are just out because of regular colds and not even H1N1 is not known. Some may just have a sniffle but mom and dad don't want them to go to school and get sicker because of all of this. A woman who works in the office at one of the school sees the kids leaving that are sick but was told she is not to alert the parents to what is going on (I guess how many are out sick) which makes no sense to me. My DD found out how many were out at her school when a letter was sent home explaining to the parents when to keep their kids home. Because some parents have no clue to keep their sick kids with fevers home.

I wonder how many of those kids are out of school because they're using H1N1 as an excuse to play hooky? I can see that happening.

H1N1 may not be as bad as we feared for most people, but it's killing far too many children for my comfort.

My dad just found out that the vaccination he got last week that he thought was for H1N1 was for the regular flu shot. (he just looked at the paperwork they gave him, it says it was seasonal flu)

So, he's had two vaccinations for seasonal flu this month. I hope that's not a bad thing.

He said that he asked for the H1N1 shot when he went to the area the hospital set up to give out free H1N1 shots to their employees, but for some reason they gave him the seasonal shot.

He only found out when he was giving his boss the paper to prove that he'd been vaccinated for the H1N1. The boss went "this is for the seasonal...you NEED to get the H1N1". He has to have the H1N1 vaccine to keep his job. Now we've got to find some place that hasnt run out of it yet.

He's pretty ticked, because he says that he told the people doing the vaccinations a couple of times that he needed the H1N1 shot.

You never know. I'd rather think these kids are playing hookie than being sick! I think what's happening in my DD's school is parents are more concerned right now and maybe keeping their kids home over the simple sniffles?? Maybe they want to be sure it's nothing more serious or they don't want their kid to get sicker being at school with more germs?

While I was reading about your Dad getting a second seasonal flu shot I started to worry that is what happened to us. Then I remembered the sign that said if you want the season flu shot they were out but were supposed to get more in. I was wondering because everyone I have spoken with or talked with on line locally say their doctors' offices don't have it. Apparently our doctor's office is one of the few places that have it right now in our area.

About 300 students have been dx with H1N1 thus far (10,000 students). But they are saying about 25% of the students are sick (head colds, mono, strep, etc.) I am not sure how they came up with that stat. I just know that many of my students were coughing, sneezing, and sniffling today in class, but they said they did not have temperatures.