As A child I attented a neighbors chicken pox "party" and got my virus shed "goodie" bag so I could play with all the children at my apartment building and get the virus over with before I got any older.....crazy, right? Probably one of the only circumstances that it is o.k. I now have lifetime immunity compared to those who had a vaccine and now will need boosters as an adult to prevent becoming infected as adults when the virus can cause severe damage, even death. Now talk about the Flu and these parties and you really are crazy! Any one with flu needs to stay home and not leave for like a whole week! Call anyone you know to drop off food for you at your door and tell them to run. You don't know how it is going to affect you and there is a possibility that there are more than one strain to reinfect you so if you think a party will knock it off your radar, think again, and start boosting your immunity now for a quick recovery should you happen upon it. !

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Faith - what do you mean "exposes her child to the flu"? Could you clarify please? Thanks.

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Any mother who exposes her child to this flu should be charged with child abuse. It's mainly children who are dying from it. What non-sense.

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Choice.... hmmmm - I agree completely, but the controlling powers have other ideas - get to the virus to the highest "pandemic" level and then bring in the compulsory vaccination program across the board. This is the BIG concern, and the one that needs the most public awareness and resistance in my opinion.
It's our Birthright to decide what goes into our own bodies, no?

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whatever you choose to do its a personal choice.. the only real problem swine flu presents is if people keep freaking out about it. people just have to be aware that everything has underlying reasons and not everything is as it seems. use common sense and follow your instinct, and youll probably be fine.

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(continued) Since the people that have died from the swine flu were a majority of those with underlying health conditions, for one I am avoiding getting sick, like I do, with hand washing, hand sanitizers, avoiding those who appear ill, like coughing, sneezing, or appear to be running fever, especially in a doctors office, pharmacy, etc. We also try to eat right, take our vitamins, get our sleep, etc. but even at that for me my autoimmune system is worn down from Lupus, Sjogren's, Raynaud's, and Fibromyalgia, plus the medications I need for those problems, also can cause my immune system to be worn down also.

Thus as I said in my post before this one, I feel since those who are dying from the H1N1 for the most part had other health conditions that probably caused them to develop complications such as pneumonia etc and die from those.

Unless my pharmacist and doctor advise me NOT to take it, or I see something else online or in the news that gives me an indication not to take the vaccine, I feel that I should. My husband agrees, and he feels he needs to get one also, one due to scar tissue in his lungs from a pulmonary embolism from years back, plus so he does not risk getting the H1N1, and then giving it to me. The one main thing I have gotten from all I have read, families tend to quickly give it to one another. Since he works from home, and we are closed in the house together, it seems a greater chance of spreading it between us.

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I am amazed at how controversial this entire subject about the H1N1 flu, vaccine, health risks, and how many think it is some kind of wild "conspiracy" by our government to "off" Americans. I have never been against any type of immunization. From Polio, Tetanus, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis, Shingles, the regular flu, the pneumonia vaccine... it always has sounded feasible that these immunizations work to protect millions of children and adults that otherwise my die from the diseases we are vaccinated for. Look at the vaccine for small pox. After years of everyone being vaccinated, small pox, which was deadly has now been eradicated and we no longer even have to get an immunization for it. That tells me it worked. Now, does that mean there may be a tiny percent of the population have some type of adverse reaction to one of them? OF course, like anything else, even taking an aspirin, there are those that could be "allergic" or have some type of underlying medical issue, and might get very ill, or even die just from taking an aspirin. I feel we must ask our doctors about the in's and out's of getting the vaccine or not. If, like myself, I have a very compromised immune system due to Lupus, plus my medications for Lupus, so I feel unless my doctor says NO, I really should get the vaccine. (will finish on next post)

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I am catching up on my reading and am late weighing in on this.

When my now 17 year old was 3, I took her to visit someone who had chicken pox (On purpose). My daughter came down with it right on schedule. In anticipation, I had geared down on work so that I could be home. I think it is much better to be exposed to a virus and to allow your body to build up antibodies than to stick a load of the virus into the body all at once via a vaccine. She now has immunity, no boosters required.
When I was young, "measle parties" were very common.

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I don't get the premise of these "parties".... whether you intentionally expose yourself to the illness or get it by accident, you still don't have any real control over it. Just because it affected one person mildly doesn't mean it couldn't prove fatal to you.
Count me out.

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to Ott D.

I've gone to workshops and heard from public health officials on the subject of H1N1. Everyone always speaks with the greatest compassion. If it becomes pandemic in U.S, high risk people will not be turned away because of money. But there will need to be rationing based on risk.

Plus, I'm all for making money. Making money doesn't necessarily mean you're greedy. In fact, I'm in a mlm / network marketing organization devoted to going green. And I hope and expect my passion and commitment to make me a lot of money!

GoGreenNoble aka Sandra Noble
http://GoFreeGoGreen.com/SandraNoble

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