jenny cares 

With the H1N1 vaccine available in some areas, some of us are opting to be vaccinated.
This article invites participation in a Poll and Comments from readers. Unfortunately it doesn't provide the answers we're all seeking. However, the discussion might be helpful - go to About.com, Fibromyalgia and Chronic fatigue syndrome 
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The following has been adapted from the above-linked site.
The flu vaccine topic is always controversial among those of us with fibromyalgia -FMS- and chronic fatigue syndrome -CFS or ME/CFS.
The big fear with the regular seasonal flu vaccine is that it triggers *flare-ups in some of us, so the debate is whether a possible flare is worse than the illness -- adding to the mix that the flu typically hits us harder and longer than it does healthy people.
.So, on top of all this comes H1N1 -- a flu that's especially hard on people with neurological illnesses and those with weakened immune systems.
.Do we risk catching this one, or risk a vaccine-related flare?
Because we just don't have all the facts, each of us really has to answer these questions for ourselves and decide which risk to take.
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Related articles:
...Weathering the Flu With Fm & CFS 
...H1N1 Symptoms 
...The H1N1 Vaccine 
...What is fibromyalgia?
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*flare-ups definition: flare-up is a time when symptoms are more intense. Many people with fibromyalgia and CFS experience periodic flare-ups separated by remissions, when symptoms recede.
With work, many people with fibromyalgia and CFS can identify what triggers or intensifies their flare-ups and can use that information to lessen their symptoms. Sometimes, flare-ups are linked to a woman’s menstrual cycle, especially in fibromyalgia. aka: flares; alternate sp: flare up

Australia starts flu vaccine trial
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Scientists in Australia have begun the first human trials of an experimental vaccine for the H1N1 flu strain, hoping to introduce a working vaccine against a virus that has so far killed more than 700 people worldwide. The trials will be conducted on some 600 adult and child volunteers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia.
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Australia is among the countries worst-hit by the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, with more than 14,000 cases and 41 deaths linked to the disease. The virus first broke out in Mexico and was initially linked to a flu virus in pigs.
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In a statement the Australian pharmaceutical company conducting the trial said participants will be injected twice with the vaccine, three weeks apart, with a comparison between a standard and an increased dosage.  
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"We appreciate that new influenza strains like the swine flu can surprise us with properties that mean they might require higher dosing and two injections rather than one to provoke the desired level of immune response in humans," Dr Russell Basser, CSL Biotherapies' global director of clinical development, said.
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Doctors will be looking for the dosage at which volunteers develop an appropriate immune response, the company said, adding that trials will take about seven months to complete.
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Rising toll
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On Tuesday the World Health Organisation said the global death toll from the virus had shot up to more than 700, a sharp jump of some 40 per cent, since the start of the outbreak in March.

Australia has seen almost daily deaths linked to the H1N1 virus, with a 59-year-old woman with other health problems becoming the latest fatality late on Tuesday. Some 231 people have been hospitalised, including 96 in intensive care, across the country. The government has pre-ordered 21 million shots of the trial vaccine, and hopes to start distribution in October should the trials be proven to work.
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"As soon as I have confirmation that the vaccine is safe and effective, I will ensure it can be rolled out to the community," Nicola Roxon, the Australian health minister, said.
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As winter sets in scientists fear the virus, which has so far been reasonably mild, could mutate to a more deadly form in a reprise of the Spanish and Asian influenza pandemics of 1918 and 1958, and become resistant to drugs.
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Visit original news webpage:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/07/200972261134861739.html
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Related news:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/29/2611426.htm