Will you have the HINI Vaccination?

[Quillan]

[quote user="Sprogster"]

Interestingly, only 17% of those catching Swine Flu are over the age of 64, which is the reverse of the normal seasonal flu pattern. Most serious illness is in younger adults and not everyone who gets Swine Flu seriously and requires hospitalisation had previous underlying health conditions.

AND

Although the incidence of Swine Flu in the UK seems to be moderating at the moment, apparently the concern is for the New Year when schools go back, bearing in mind January and February tend to be the worst months for flu like illness.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/ferguswalsh/

[/quote]

I think the reason for this is reasonably obvious. Young (to middle aged) adults and children either go to school or work. Many people working also work in air conditioned offices, great for circulating viruses. Older people, from 64/65 onwards are normally retired and don't come in to contact with so many people hence are less likely to catch it. Don't think for one minute that older people are more resilient to this virus as that is totally wrong.

I can see they don't want to cause hysteria amongst older, more vulnerable, people but neither should they lull them in to a false sense of security, "I don't need the jab as I am over 64 and we don't get the flu cause some bloke said so on a BBC blog" or words to that effect.

[kathyc]

None of this is any help to people over the age of 65 with pre existing conditions, which is why I tried to get an answer in my earlier post.

It may be that only 17%of those getting swine flu are in this age group but if you have very severe emphysema (lung capacity of less than 20%) then the outlook is likely to be very poor if you catch it.

[andyh4]

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="Sprogster"]

Interestingly, only 17% of those catching Swine Flu are over the age of 64, which is the reverse of the normal seasonal flu pattern. Most serious illness is in younger adults and not everyone who gets Swine Flu seriously and requires hospitalisation had previous underlying health conditions.

AND

Although the incidence of Swine Flu in the UK seems to be moderating at the moment, apparently the concern is for the New Year when schools go back, bearing in mind January and February tend to be the worst months for flu like illness.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/ferguswalsh/

[/quote]

I think the reason for this is reasonably obvious. Young (to middle aged) adults and children either go to school or work. Many people working also work in air conditioned offices, great for circulating viruses. Older people, from 64/65 onwards are normally retired and don't come in to contact with so many people hence are less likely to catch it. Don't think for one minute that older people are more resilient to this virus as that is totally wrong.

I can see they don't want to cause hysteria amongst older, more vulnerable, people but neither should they lull them in to a false sense of security, "I don't need the jab as I am over 64 and we don't get the flu cause some bloke said so on a BBC blog" or words to that effect.

[/quote]

 

Sorry Quillan but your analysis is quite false - unless you can explain the normal flu pattern when the elderly are most certainly one of the most affected groups.

[Quillan]

Theres a difference between what percentage of elderly people catch the flue and the effects it has on those that do. As sprogster pointed out a lower percentage of them as a group contract the flu however the effects of those that do are often far worse than those of a younger age that contract it. I am only pointing out that one of the contributory reasons why the percentage of that group catching the flu is smaller is because they don't come in to contact with so many people as say workers in offices etc.

[Gardengirl]

I think I'd assumed over 65s had some inbuilt immunity from H1N1.

My husband will have his jab on Saturday; he's over 65 and is one of those with underlying health conditions. I can't decide whether to have it or not; a bit more prevarication neded, I think. Of course, it may have been H1N1 I had in September in France; the doc said it was one or the other, but wasn't at all concerned about which. He also said my husband should avoid me because of his health conditions - difficult in a one-bedroom apartment!

[Quillan]

[quote user="kathyc"]None of this is any help to people over the age of 65 with pre existing conditions, which is why I tried to get an answer in my earlier post. It may be that only 17%of those getting swine flu are in this age group but if you have very severe emphysema (lung capacity of less than 20%) then the outlook is likely to be very poor if you catch it.[/quote]

I had thought somebody else answered but obviously they didn't.

The way it worked for me is that I didn't know that I was not receiving 100% cover for my heart condition, I assumed it was automatic. I had to ask my doctor to give me a form which I then sent off to CPAM. I get an A4 sized prescription, the top half is for 100% drugs and the bottom half for those covered at the 'normal' rate like my asthma drugs. My doctor always put the drugs for my heart on the top part but it does not automatically mean you 100% cover. In fact it was the Chemist that bought it to my attention, he asked my why my doctor kept putting the drugs in the top half when I didn't get 100% cover. Once I got it sorted out my Mutual actually went down because they no longer have to finance anything to do with my heart. When I was diagnosed with diabetes (as its covered 100%) last year he had to fill in another form that I then had to send that off.

Also, if you have a mutual, you won't be paying anything when you get your husbands drugs because it and the Carte Vital are linked. So just because you don't pay anything for the drugs and the drugs are written on the top half of the prescription does not automatically mean you have 100% cover if you see what I mean. Thats what confused me and led me to believe that I had 100% cover when I didn't, the mutal was paying the other 30%.

So whats the 100% got to do with anything you are probably thinking. Well its that (trying to keep it basic) which triggers the automatic letters being sent out. Basically if you have a long duration illness that entitles you to 100% treatment you should get a letter every year for your free flu jab (regardless of age) and this year you would have got a second letter for the H1N1 jab.

This is how it works in my area, we know from experience that it differs from one region/department to another. The best way to check is go to your chemist with your Carte Vital and get him/her to stick it in the machine and they will be able to tell you immediately if he has 100% cover for his illness. If you don't then you need to see the doctor to get a form (signed by him) and send it off and ask for the jab for your husband.

This year I also got a letter to have a prostrate cancer 'inspection'. Not too keen on that having been 'man handled' that way when I was in the RAF. It was the way he (I never got the really attractive female doctor) put the marigold gloves on then 'twanged' the rubber in front of me that did my head in. Still as its the number one killer (or so I am told) of men at a certain age I guess I will have to grin (or whince) and bear it.

[kathyc]

Hi Quillan, I feel awful after you went to so much trouble to give me all this information but it wasn't what I was posting about.I wonder if you've confused me with somebody else.

My husband has his ALD because of his lung condition so we're quite up on how it works. It's the fact that he isn't (yet?) eligible for a vaccination I was querying, particularly after you said in a recent post that anybody who hadn't had a letter yet wouldn't be getting one at all.

Thanks for taking the trouble.

[kathyc]

[quote user="gardengirl "]

I think I'd assumed over 65s had some inbuilt immunity from H1N1.

My husband will have his jab on Saturday; he's over 65 and is one of those with underlying health conditions. I can't decide whether to have it or not; a bit more prevarication neded, I think. Of course, it may have been H1N1 I had in September in France; the doc said it was one or the other, but wasn't at all concerned about which. He also said my husband should avoid me because of his health conditions - difficult in a one-bedroom apartment!

[/quote]

You sound as if you're husband's in a similar situation to mine so I wonder if you could tell me whether he was offered the vaccination normally or whether you had to make some particular effort to get it? There seems to be some confusion over the situation of over 65s with pre existing conditions.

[Quillan]

[quote user="kathyc"]Hi Quillan, I feel awful after you went to so much trouble to give me all this information but it wasn't what I was posting about.I wonder if you've confused me with somebody else. My husband has his ALD because of his lung condition so we're quite up on how it works. It's the fact that he isn't (yet?) eligible for a vaccination I was querying, particularly after you said in a recent post that anybody who hadn't had a letter yet wouldn't be getting one at all. Thanks for taking the trouble.[/quote]

OK so that leaves us with does CPAM know he has an ALD. The fact you know it, the doctor knows it, he puts the drugs in the top half of the prescription does not automatically mean CPAM knows he has an ALD. You see if you have a mutual you won't be paying anything for the drugs as the government pays 70% and the mutual the other 30% automatically yet there is nothing to tell you this is happening. You don't actually know who's paying what, you just collect the drugs and walk away. If CPAM knows he is on 100% because your doctor filled in the form which you sent them and you have checked that they have it then he should have received a letter several weeks back. If he hasn't had a letter its one of two things, he is not registered with CPAM as 100% for his ALD or the letter is lost in the post. Either way its probably better to pop in to CPAM and have a chat with them and they should be able to print off a letter there and then. It's them that issue the letter(s), its nothing to do with your doctor.

I'm not so good at explaining this in writing so I apologise in advance if it sounds complicated.

I think, unless anyone knows different, we are just about at the end of stage one as I am off to get my second jab (its a two part jab unless told otherwise) on the 10th.

[kathyc]

[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="kathyc"]Hi Quillan, I feel awful after you went to so much trouble to give me all this information but it wasn't what I was posting about.I wonder if you've confused me with somebody else. My husband has his ALD because of his lung condition so we're quite up on how it works. It's the fact that he isn't (yet?) eligible for a vaccination I was querying, particularly after you said in a recent post that anybody who hadn't had a letter yet wouldn't be getting one at all. Thanks for taking the trouble.[/quote]

OK so that leaves us with does CPAM know he has an ALD. The fact you know it, the doctor knows it, he puts the drugs in the top half of the prescription does not automatically mean CPAM knows he has an ALD. You see if you have a mutual you won't be paying anything for the drugs as the government pays 70% and the mutual the other 30% automatically yet there is nothing to tell you this is happening. You don't actually know who's paying what, you just collect the drugs and walk away. If CPAM knows he is on 100% because your doctor filled in the form which you sent them and you have checked that they have it then he should have received a letter several weeks back. If he hasn't had a letter its one of two things, he is not registered with CPAM as 100% for his ALD or the letter is lost in the post. Either way its probably better to pop in to CPAM and have a chat with them and they should be able to print off a letter there and then. It's them that issue the letter(s), its nothing to do with your doctor.

I'm not so good at explaining this in writing so I apologise in advance if it sounds complicated.

I think, unless anyone knows different, we are just about at the end of stage one as I am off to get my second jab (its a two part jab unless told otherwise) on the 10th.

[/quote]

[kathyc]

Sorry about the above, I seem to be having problems!

So, just to clarify - everyone with an ALD should have had a letter so, if my husband hasn't, it's because CPAM may not have him down for this, despite paying everything 100%? It could only happen in France, couldn't it?

I'll do as you suggest and pop into CPAM for a chat. The situation's complicated by the fact that our GP recommended that he didn't have it, without giving any good reason for this - I can see a second opinion coming on!

[Sprogster]

It is reported that over 80 million people in Europe have now had the Swine Flu vacination, so if there were any concerns about side effects they would have come to light by now.

As a Doctor friend told me, you don't want to be the first to have a new vacination, but you don't want to be the last!

The reason why people ver 65 seem to be less vunerable to Swine flu, is that an H1N1 flu variant was in circulation between 1918 & 1957, so many people of that vintage have a degree of acquired immunity.

[Hereford]

Our daughter tells us that in Germany at least one person (yes I realise that is not a lot..) has died of "shock" after receiving the jab and they are therefore cautious of giving it to people with multiple allergies. 

Mrs H

[Quillan]

Kathy - I was just reading the papers online as I do most mornings and found THIS article in The Independent and its something I didn't know anything about. I also don't know much about how the H1N1 vaccine works although normally a vaccine is a small dose designed to give your natural defence system a 'taste' of the thing you are vaccinating against so it can start producing the right antibodies or whatever. That being the case and your husbands condition (I think you that said your husband had only 20% lung capacity) it might be too dangerous to give him the vaccine (based on the article). If that is true then basically my other ideas are wrong. I think you might have to do a bit more research all be it quickly.

[pachapapa]

I was surprised, last night, on returning to Gaul, that cats can also catch Grippe A, H1N1!

[Sprogster]

Quillan, it is a commonly held fallacy that a vaccine works by giving you a small dose of the disease in question. In fact modern vaccines are totally inert and do not include any live virus whatsoever.

[mint]

Even so, Sprogster, when I had the vaccine, I was specifically asked whether I was allergic to eggs.  That tells me that the vaccine is cultivated in a medium that has eggs in its composition.

Therefore, the virus might be inert but your response to the vaccine could still be an extreme reaction.

[Sprogster]

You are correct sweet 17, in that like most vaccines, it is cultivated in Eggs and that is why you are asked before being given eggs if you are allergic to them. I cannot eat eggs,, but have no problem in eating them when they form part of a baked cake or other types of pastry! Therefore, I am not allergic as such and had no problem with the vaccine.

[kathyc]

Will isn't that typical? After all this wondering, my husband's bon came this morning. Now to start pondering the subject!

[Quillan]

Its really good that you don't have to worry about not having the letter.

In our centre, set up in the village hall, before I had my jab I had to answer a load of questions and fill in a medical history form.It does ask all sorts of questions about your health to ensure its safe for you to have the jab. There might be a chance that because of your husbands condition they might not let him have it. If they consider him safe then to be honest you have more chance of winning the lottery than anything going wrong. As for side effects it would seem that in general its the 'punch on the arm' effect and nothing more reading back through this thread. They give you a quite detailed list of possible effect to watch out for anyway. Anyway good luck.

[mint]

Quillan, as you are a man, you would not have been asked the question about whether you are pregnant.  I promise you that, when I went for my vaccine, ALL the women were asked this question.

I said it would have to be a medical miracle if I were but, laughter or not, every woman, regardless of age was asked this.

[cooperlola]

I guess age is less of a barrier to pregnancy than it once was - one reads of women having kids at extreme ages these days.

EDIT : I suppose you know also, Sweets, that under the new health regs all women (well the non-French EU pre-retired ones anyway) must have health insurance which covers maternity, don't you?[:-))]

[mint]

Bloody hell, Coops, please do NOT wish that on me![:-))]

[Quillan]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Quillan, as you are a man, you would not have been asked the question about whether you are pregnant.  I promise you that, when I went for my vaccine, ALL the women were asked this question.

I said it would have to be a medical miracle if I were but, laughter or not, every woman, regardless of age was asked this.

[/quote]

Funny enough when I got there they had a pre printed questionnaire with my name, address, dob and sex (yes please when I can get it - sorry ex RAF joke). I think the pregnancy question was about the third one down, thought it a bit odd at the time.

[Sprogster]

Apparently, next year's seasonal flu vaccine will include the swine flu vaccine. The seasonal flu vaccine has always been made up to prevent a combination of different flu strains that are anticipated to be prevalent the following Winter, but because of the lead in time to manufacture, it was not possible to include Swine Flu vaccine in this year's seasonal flu vaccine batch.