Swine flu targets Island children WAYNE THIBODEAU The Guardian
The swine flu continues to target mainly children as it makes its way across P.E.I. while the potentially deadly virus almost ignores other age groups including the elderly.
To date, six people have been hospitalized on the Island with what is believed to be H1N1. Five of those have been hospitalized within the past week with lab-confirmed H1N1.
Four were between 21 months and 12 years old. The other was 22 years old.
None of them were sick enough to require specialized equipment to help them breathe and all have since been discharged from hospital.
The situation is much the same at flu assessment clinics and hospital emergency rooms.
Nearly 300 people were seen at flu assessment clinics over the weekend.
Flu-like symptoms sent another 72 people to the emergency room at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. Another 57 residents were treated for what is believed to be the swine flu at Prince County Hospital in Summerside.
There were 12 patients treated at Western Hospital in Alberton and another 28 treated at Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague.
The province no longer tests for H1N1 unless a person is admitted to hospital.
Chief Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says the virus is acting much like expected, targeting mainly young people. She said there has not been a single case of seniors — usually a target for the seasonal flu — getting H1N1.
“The under-20 group and certainly the under-30 group have seen the highest number of lab confirmed cases, particularly the age 10 to 19 have had a lot of lab-confirmed cases of H1N1 to date,” Morrison said.
Dr. Lamont Sweet, the deputy chief health officer and a doctor who has closely studied pandemics, said it appears those over the age of 50, and definitely those over the age of 65, have some sort of immunity to this latest bug.
“Following the usual pattern of what we’re seeing now, long-term care facilities are the safest place to be. It really is,” he said.
Geographically, the swine flu is most prevalent in central Prince Edward Island.
There are also high levels of flu activity being reported in western P.E.I.
Reports indicate that flu activity in eastern P.E.I. is not as high, but that is expected to change as the quickly spreading flu makes its way across the Island.
The province continues its vaccination program, focusing on high-risk groups. It will be Thursday before the province can roll out vaccination programs for elementary schools, focusing first on children in Grades 1-3.
Nationally, the death toll continues to climb.
Public Health officials in Ottawa can confirm 95 deaths, but that does not include deaths from Monday. P.E.I. is also bracing itself for deaths as more people get sick. About 30-35 per cent of Islanders are expected to get sick with the swine flu.
“Certainly, if you have that many people who are ill, and that many people who could potentially get complications, we are not unlike any other province or territory that may have deaths associated with this and that is going to be really, really hard,” Morrison warned.
The province is only receiving a portion of the vaccine it expected because of a national shortage. That means only about 2,500 doses will arrive Wednesday. Morrison said that’s put the province three days behind schedule.
Still, she is hopeful all Islanders can be vaccinated by early December. About 17 per cent of Islanders are now vaccinated.
“Our initial goal was that everyone would get their first vaccine somewhere by the middle of November,” said Morrison, adding the province expected the process to take four weeks.
“We’ve already experienced two weeks of shortages so assuming we can get up to speed within the next week, it will delay it by at least two weeks.”
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JD from PE writes: Yes and this is way the Ghiz Government chose to make sure all the inmates in the jails received their shots ahead or the children.
Why..because Inmates vote and children don't.
I wonder how many more children will get sick and how many could have been saved some sickness had the over 200 doses that went to the jail had went to say one school.
I wonder how many people will get sick because of the shots that went to the jail inmates. How many more people will be infected and how many people times 200 will be infected.
Just imagine the over 200 doses that the inmates got had went to school over 200 kids would be protected not to mention all the people they come in contact with. Their parents and friends and relatives.
But instead over 200 Jail Inmates who have next to NO contact with anyone are protected and the kids continue to get sick.
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line minder from PE writes: I am not one to criticize people for being cautious..however, all these school aged children (ages 18 and below) are now being riddled with the H1N1 flu...missing school and getting very sick. What does this show us? We KNEW that they were the targeted age group...they should have been vaccinated prior to the crowds in the lineups. Adults have a better hygenic conscience, one would hope, and children are not so good at washing their hands. That being said, I was at an elementary school just last week and I seen more children cough into their elbow than when I stood in a lineup at the grocery store watching a few adults who could learn a trick or two from the kids!! I went to the lineup at the local Public Health office and waited 3 hours to get myself and my family vaccinated. Everyone of us fell under the heightened categories, and now, I feel terrible for the parents who watch their children go off to school not knowing what they come into contact with before they get home. The media has absolutely shoved fear down our throats...my doctor has told me to get a flu shot every fall since I can remember, I never listened and I have been fine. But a new virus is on the go and everyone goes into hysterics because they hear about this one or that one dying so quickly after catching the flu. This has been happening your whole lives people!! People have died from the flu and other viral illnesses in much larger volumes...and nobody stood in line for the flu vaccine for hours afterwards. I get that the inmates are people too, but there are ways to keep that group safer than the rest of us! Could they not limit visitations to only lawyers and vaccinated guests? A couple of hundred teachers would have definetly benefited from the opportunity to be vaccinated ahead of a group of people who are supposed to be not exposed to the general public! These teachers are sitting in classrooms every day and being exposed to whatever comes through the door...but yet, when a parent is asked to keep their child home...they get all worked up and whine about missing work. I get it! Nobody gets paid to stay home and tend to a sick child...but the child sitting next to him/her in class may have an undiagnosed condition that would not be able to fight off this virus. So, please take a moment to look at your children and assess them before just sending them out the door to make sure they are not ill. You could be doing a class a favour and your son/daughter!
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joe blow from charlottetown, pei writes: Just a question from a concerned parent....if this is going exactly as you expected, mainly hitting school aged children the hardest, why are they still not vaccinated? Why did so many elderly people line up for flu shots and my children and most other school aged children are not able to receive them? Not impressed.... The children should have recieved their vaccinations in school the first Monday they were given out!
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sam patrick from summerside, pei writes: Despite this, the inmates receive the vaccine first!
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sean from pei writes: The head reads Swine flu targets island children and then the articles states its believed to be H1N1 so is it or not. that statement seems like you are say it is but not sure. That the problem with some media give the people the facts not a assumtion.
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Sickening from pei writes: It makes me sick to think Mr.Currie and Mr.ghiz would give shots to Inmates before our children-what kind of a province do we live in?
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worried mom from pei writes: I have one question I really would like an answer to.....Why were school kids not vaccinated first .Even before the high risk adults....most of the people that got their vaccines that first night were over 50... with what ever condition they were there with.They (public health) have know all along this was a kids disease for the most part.... and no one in the over 50 group has been getting ill.We have a real problem on our hands now with our kids now at high risk and they wont even take a stand and close the schools.Some of these kids in junior high and high school wont be vaccinated for weeks now.... how could this have happened after all the pandemic preparation the health officials bragged they had done.To me (just a mom) its seems like a no brainer that all those kids.... in all schools here SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE FIRST.I am so confused or am I missing something.So if we were all on a boat together and it was sinking fast the little kids and young adults would be watching the ship go down with them all still on it., while the 50 year old with arthritis is safe in the life boat...
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AMom from PEI writes: Will the young children who were supposed to get two doses still get their other one or has that also been put off? And if it has been I'm wondering if the onw they received will be enough or will they still be high risk like those of us who didn't one? And maybe next time they'll worry about our children in school before the inmates in jail!
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Way yoo much fear from capital City, pE Island writes: Thank god tis flu is not nearly the sever as the provincial and federal government have been alarming the population. Certainly people will die. but the numbers are way small. More will die from things like work place injuries. The idea that we are in this situation of near hysteria to get a rushed through flu shot is entirely do to the fear mongering by both levels of government. And now we see they cannot get the vaccine in time to be effective, as by the time they get people vaccinated, the flu season will be pretty well over. And then there are these clinics that basically - do nothing!!! The bottom line is 30 to 50 thousand islanders are likely to get this bug. The government has already failed. Now we have to take car not to catch the flu. Many of us do this every year. The thing really drops off after about 5-6 weeks. By Xmas this thing will have blown itself out. Thats the really good news. So take care and thank god that we will get through this even with the failure of governments and the hysteria of the local media!
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Sick with H1N1 in PEI from PE writes: Am I now understanding that people over the age of 50 are immune yet they are in the high risk category while children 6-12 years old or elementary school age are the ones that are getting sick (I know as I've been home with my son since Friday with fever, chills, aches etc.) yet they are not considered the high risk category?!
I urge the regulators to refocus their efforts and take a look at elementary school age children immediately!
Sick with H1N1 in PEI
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Kelly from PEI writes: I am not surprised by this. People on this Island SICKIN me! Nothing but a bunch of selfish ****s!
I am astounded with how idiotic health officials here are! They wait until the peak of H1N1 flu & then decide to sworn in the vaccinations?! Meanwhile they never follow their own rules.
I can guarantee 20-30% of the vaccinations thus far were giving to people who were not in the 'HIGH RISK' category. They are so unorganized with everything, and are just making a mass panic over all of this with their uncertainty!
I think everyone should be staying home AS MUCH AS they possibly can for the next couple of weeks period. We do not need the news or guardian to inform us of this.. it is COMMON SCENCE PEOPLE!
This H1N1 flu is extremely easy to pass along. School should be shut-down for a good 1-2 weeks, until people can be vaccinated & immune to this H1N1 flu. It is not doing anyone in the school system ANY good by #1 catching & spreading the flu. & #2 falling very far behind while they have to stay home! (mind you I'm speaking from the fact that there is large % of the population in some schools absent)
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BOB DOLE from PEI writes: I wonder how long it will be before someone blames Ghiz for starting H1N1? the Guardian said in the article that they are not testing for H1N1 unless they are hospitalized. so how do we know for sure they have H1N1. I feel bad for anyone who has it or their family that may have it, but blaming Ghiz is crazy, it's not like he said hmmm, lets immunize the prisoners so the kids get sick. i bet alot of these kids only have colds. so stop blaming the Gov't. you people make me sick
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Brian from PEI writes: See this is why i said we should vote for another government (NDP or Tories) at least they might try to help our chilrden(s) out as they are the future not these stupid inmates. Get rid of Ghiz's government and Currie because it's not fair that our children have to pay the price for their stupid selfishness.
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ALL PANIC from PE writes: Didn't anyone read the above article. There has only been SIX confirmed
cases on PEI. All six are now home getting better. Before you all start crying that the sky is falling read the facts.
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L GAllant from Charlottetown, PEI writes: Don't forget that if 200 doses went to inmate, that is 400 kids that did not get immunized! The Dept of Health could have ensured that 400 higher risk children were immunized instead. I get angry when I hear dept of health officials say that they expected more vaccines. In public health, you should always be prepared for the worst in order to prevent it. Vaccines should not have been expected until they were actually in PEI. That is just common sense! Obviously, public health should have been refusing to vaccinate all of those selfish people who were not at high risk and received vaccinations ahead of our children.
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m from pe writes: you people need to stop obsessing over the fact that inmates recieved vaccines.
people in hillsborough hospital recieved their vaccines. are you outraged by that too?
people living in close quarters 24 hours a day were deemed high risk. the vaccines went directly to them, because they weren't going to be going to wait in the line-ups.
it wasn't forseen that all these people not in the high risk categories were going to go jump in line because they were scared. in a perfect world where people waited their turn, the majority of the high risk top priority people would have been vaccinated.
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Mis-Managed Priorities Skewed from PEI writes: It is truly unbelievable how poorly managed and organized this Influenza Vaccination Program has been!! Especially given they had months to prepare for it. The Media was saturated with Swine Flu Reports since Mid June!
I truly emphasize with Island Parents. I didn't get the Vaccine and won't untill all children and those at greatest risk are vaccinated. And I have Chronic Health Problems.
What I find Most Disturbing is the Children most at risk were given the Least Priority with the first rounds of Vaccinations. And equally disturbing was the fact that thousands of Vaccine Doses were given out to those not on the Priority List INCLUDING INMATES.
Receiving enough Vaccine to do all Islanders by Mid December is absolutely Unacceptable! It will be too late to Vaccinate most by that time!
I know the Goverment can't do much about the Vaccine Company's Delay but I find it very hard to believe the GOV just found out about the Delay now! If so, it leaves me with questions about GlaskoKline Smith Co. if they knew their delays would put people at risk but still said nothing for weeks!
The bottom line is - we have no options at this point. We will have to take matters into our own hands and do whatever we feel will keep us most safe.
And regarding children, that means even keeping them home from school if it is felt the school is a risk to their health and well being.
In my opinion, the school boards should close the schools untill these Outbreaks lessen in numbers and children are not at as great a risk.
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Common sense from pei writes: When children in school get their vaccination, why not give the shot to their teacher the same time? This would help to ensure that there are enough teachers in the classroom and also prevent the teachers from booking a day off to get their shots putting more strain on the system. PS I'm not a teacher so this is not a self serving post.
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nitpicker from Charlottetown, PEI writes: you can change the government all you want. A new government still would be taking its advice from the same health authorities. So what changes? You think Doug Currie is making decisions on who gets vaccinated and when?
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A MOM OF THREE from PEI writes: STOP LOOKING FOR BLAME IN EVERYTHING. TRY USING THE BRAIN GOD GAVE YOU AND A DOSE OF GOOD OLD COMMON SENSE!!!
#1. WASH, WASH ,WASH YOUR HANDS.
#2.COUGH AND SNEEZE INTO YOUR SLEEVES.
#3.NEVER OPEN DOORS WITH YOUR BARE HANDS. USE YOUR SLEEVE FOR TURN TYPE DOORS AND EITHER PUSH THE OTHER TYPE WITH YOUR ARM OR YOUR BACKSIDE.ALOT OF DOORS HAVE WHEELCHAIR BOTTONS THAT CAN BE PUSHED WITH AN ELBOW OR COVERED HAND.
#4. STAY AWAY FROM HEAVILY POPULATED AREAS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IF ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY HAS FLU LIKE SYMPTONS STAY HOME!! BE RESPONSIBLE AND DON'T BE DRAGGING THESE SYMPTONS TO OTHERS..YOU MIGHT SAVE SOME ELSE FROM GETTING THE FLU OR WORSE. MISSING A FEW GAMES, OR CHURCH SERVICES, SCHOOL DAYS, OR WORK IS NOT THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN. A DEATH IS THE WORST AND WE CAN ALL HELP PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.
#5. THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT EACH OF US SHOULD DO FOR ANY FLU, NOT ONLY H1N1 BUT EVERY FLU SEASON.ITS CALLED BEING A RESPONIBLE HUMAN BEING.
#6. REMEMBER WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND TRYING TO ALL GET THROUGH THIS THE BEST WE CAN..SO GROW UP ,BE RESPONSILBLE AND REMEMBER IF YOU AREN'T PART OF THE SOLUTION YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.LETS BE THE CARING, COMPASSIONATE PEOPLE LOOKING OUT FOR OTHERS THAT WE AS ISLANDERS HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING.
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Darlene from P.E.I. writes: To All panic...maybe you should read the facts. Only 6 were hospitalized, it doesn't say that that's all that were confirmed. All of the cases that were confirmed, have not been hospitalized.
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Mr. Man from S'side, PE writes: Parents need to make the right decision for their children. If they feel that keeping their children home from school will keep them healthy, then so be it. Schools are not going to penalize students for being sick or for trying to avoid a pandemic. Be responsible, call the school and see if they're missing work, and keep them home.
HOWEVER.
If you are keeping your child home because you feel that he/she might catch something at school, then KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME. Don't send your kids out to the mall (schools are sanitizing things on a regular basis - how often are they cleaning the doors/chairs/clothes in the mall?) or to their friends' houses.
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BOB DOLE HATER from PE writes: I don't know about everyone else, but I sure am sick of seeing comments posted from this BOB DOLE character. BOB DOLE, if you don't have anything useful to say, don't say it all and do us all a favour!!!
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Amy Sillars from charlottetown, pe writes: I completely agree with mom of three from pei and i could not have said it any better than her !!!
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The recently completed study on the effectiveness of the new H1N1 vaccine reported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease found that 75% of small children below age 35 months received no protection from the H1N1 vaccine and that 65% of children between the ages of 3 years and 9 years received no protection from the vaccine.
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student from pei writes: Students living in residences in our universities should be at the top of the list for vaccinations!!! They are at the targeted age, and not only go to school with each other, but LIVE with each other!! Touch the same surfaces, eat in the same meal hall, HAVE ROOMATES that could very easily be infected!!! Not happy AT all with the federal govt's way of acting here - sure education and preparation were part of the wait - BUT they should have looked into this when H1N1 appeared in our country at the first of the year and spent more on PREVENTATIVE rather than looking at the money that can be made in the long run with CURATIVE.
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Disgusted! from PE writes: My daughter is home sick with an unconfirmed case. Unless they are hospitalized no one will confirm it is H1N1. They are not even swabbing anymore which was the reason I took her in, I asked ot have her swabbed and they said they are not doing it unless it is severe. We have been using mouth wash, hand washing, hand sanitizer and everything else recommended before she got sick. I will be keeping her home from school as I feel it is the responsible thing to do. The hospital told us almost everyone with the flu has h1n1, it just may not be extremely severe. Everyone needs to be considerate of everyone else and hope we all get thru it. whether or not a person decides to take the vaccine is a personal choice however the very fact that the criminals were taken care of before the children is disgusting. There was no confirmed cases within any of the jail walls and yet they were protected before the children? Who ever made that decision should be personally responsible if any child in the province looses their life.
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to worried mom from pei writes: Hey WORRIED MOM,
A lady in her early 50 s died in Niagara area from H1N1.
So contrary to your belief there are other age ranges falling prey to this disease.
Its awful if anyone gets it.
But if they keep kids away from school who will police if they stay out of malls etc? That is, if schools were to shut down?Answers?
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Andrew Marshall from Stratford, Prince Edward Island writes: So I call the 1-800 line to inquire about the status of the Non adjuvant vaccine for pregnant women at 8:30 am and 4½ hours later still no call back. So as another day passes, we decide to take the current H1N1 vaccine from the OBGyn.
Thanks again for all those who make the decisions on this for protecting our children and pregnant Moms.
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Read the Facts? from PEI writes: Well I think the major problem across PEI regarding the Facts is that they continually keep changing! So reading the multitude of reports in the Media does little in keeping us informed!
Maybe if we could actually be assured that the information we receive is indeed factual, Islanders wouldn't be so confused, misinformed and irate! But it seems, the so called Facts keep changing!
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Never Mind from pei writes: Never mind that our children are still at risk and haven't been vaccinated. At least our convicts will be alright. And so will all those lovely healthy people who pushed their way into the line ups last week. Never mind that they weren't supposed to be there. Bless them. They were only looking after themselves. And never mind that the staff administering the vaccinations blithely went ahead and injected anyone who showed up. Why embarass people by asking them awkward questions like Are you sure you are supposed to be here?
And never mind that now we have a shortage of vaccine those who were supposed to be at the front of the line up are still at risk.
Well, I do mind. But folks this is not a political issue. Ghiz isn't the one to blame. The people administering the roll out program, those implementing it and last but not least, our fellow inconsiderate islanders are to blame.
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Brett from PE writes: Inmates were vaccinated because they were in close quarters......what do they consider school classrooms to be?
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we'll all be OCD from PEI writes: I hope the teachers and custodial staff at the schools have been given antibacterial wipes, and instruction, on how and when to use them. Children should be wiping off their desks and chairs between classes. When children change classes, and desks all day, there is a higher probability of passing any bug to the next student sitting at that desk. Doorknobs should also be getting wiped down on a regular basis throughout the day. A child can go wash his/her hands regularly, but if the high traffic areas aren't wiped down regularly, it may not be effective. These techniques are used in hospitals on a regular basis. Children should not have to be expected to think of these things. This is very important in the schools where the students are not sitting at the same desk, and in the same classroom for the majority of the day. It's not paranoia, it's just good practice at this time. It would only take a few minutes at the end of each class. Wipe down the main areas on the desks and chairs where hands regularly touch. There's usually a short kill time, with antibacterial wipes. By the time the next student sat down, enough time would have passed, for an effective kill time.
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Andrew Marshall from Stratford, Prince Edward Island writes: Update - this vaccine will now be available on FRIDAY. Takes them 3 days to figure how to distribute 900 vials? Doesn't seem logical to me.
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to worried mom from PE writes: I doubt that the 50 yr olds that seem to bring negativity and disdain out in you all just have arthritis!
Ageism. Thats what disease you may have.
Whereas I dont begrudge anyone from getting the vaccination.
It should have been planned for better for sure.
And everyones life is of value and important and life doesnt end at 50 like you seem to think .
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joanne from pei writes: someone needs to step up and talk to people. there are children that are scared to go to school because if they get sick they will die. there must be someone on this island that cares enough to better explain what is going on.
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like, get over it already from PEI writes: Okay people, like seriously get over yourselves! This H1N1 thing has been blown WAY out of proportion and is basically just a huge media craze.
Each year thousands of people die from just regular influenza, let alone H1N1. Sure, it's a relief to be protected from a vaccination, but even if you or your children were to get vaccinated, it still takes about 10-14 days before the vaccine takes effect, leaving about a two week window for you or your children to become ill.
I had family members who had H1N1, and they recovered just fine. Lots of rest and proper sanitation did the trick. In my opinion, H1N1 is no different from the common flu which many people get each year. This time of year is flu season, and from my recollection, this time last year, people weren't freaking out trying to get their children and themselves vaccinated for the regular influenza.
Sure, H1N1 can lead to deaths, but so can driving in a car (And you don't see people freaking out about driving around).
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ed from PEI writes: Could we not just shut the country down for 12 DAYS and kill this off?
Similar to EI, the goverment pays everyone to stay home.
Have food stores open, and transport companies, but all people going out wear masks and gloves.
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RoBeRt G from PeI writes: The issue you don't understand is if a Inmate dies while in the care of the province. You have law suits.
All about Liability...
Has nothing to do with not wanting to help your kids. It's that we cannot have inmates die and sue us.
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Chipper from 'tatoland writes: Just throwing this out there - the regular flu kills more people a year (which is about 8000-ish) than swine flu has. It's a huge marketing ploy.
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Another View from PEI writes: I posted a comment at least three hours ago never appeared!
About Reading the facts. I would like to read the facts. However the so called facts continually change it seems on a daily and sometimes hourly basis! This causes confusion as one doesn't really know what is fact and what is not! But I'm sure there are many Islanders who would like to know!
To Robert G!
Well isn't it too bad we aren't all under the care of the Province and we'd all have our Vaccinations by now likely! What a great system for Inmates!
I think citizens should request to be under the same system! How come those breaking the law are protected but those abiding by the law and paying taxes to keep those breaking the law in a comfy, virus free institution have no protection?? If that doesn't qualify for the Boobie Prize nothing will!
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Blameless from pei writes: Don't waste too much time or effort on critizing Mr. Ghiz or Mr. Currie. Our elected representatives (MLA's and School Board members) are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. The fact that, to the best of my knowledge, not one elected representative has expressed any dissatisfaction with the manner in which this issue has been addressed would clearly indicate what their priorities are, and apparently they are not our children. There will be time in the future to concentrate on how this immunization has been handled, but now is the time to concentrate on what is best for your children and yourself, and that decision is yours to make.Let us hope that this will not be more disastrous than it already is.
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Idea from PE writes: why not give the shot to the CO's at the jail and then restrict visting like they did at the hospital? That way the only people that go in are CO's whom can't carry the virus because they are protected and people over 18 and set up hand wash stations and pass out masks to those who feel the need to use it. But insted they gave the shots to inmates insted of children who are getting sick from H1N1. I know four people who have it and one was hospitalized for 3 days.
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WEIRD SAYING from PE writes: cHIPPER................isnt that something!
Un less of course you are one of them.
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PEIer from PE writes: To: A MOM OF THREE from PEI
I am thinking you are raising great kids. Why am I thinking that? Because you are speaking common sense and rationally.
The anger and criticism on this issue is unbelievable.
People, if you are so disgusted with the government and the health care and think you can do better in the midst of new circumstances then GO FOR IT.
Run a campaign, go for that great role of, for the most part, thankless leadership and put up with all the foolishness of everyone who is a back seat driver and tells you how to do your job.
Better yet, go back to school and get another couple of degrees and become a doctor or a immunologist so that you can make the decisions that you think is best for the general population.
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Not Convinced Mom.. from Summerside writes: People need to give it up about this inmate thing... I think it's much worst that theres hundreds of people who stood in line and got the vaccine before they were even suposse to get it.. and to me that's worse...Aren't people realising this is becoming a ridiculous topic.. and things are going WAY over board!! With regards to the school absents... although I only have a 19 month old.. maybe friends have school aged children who have decided to keep them home just to be safe ...therefor increasing the number of children out.. and then panic in people seeing the number..chances are folks.. lots of those kids aren't even sick... and I know lots of parents who like to Play Sick as well... which probably trickles down to the children... so dont' judge just on reported absents at school.. chances are 99% of those kids are at home sittin in front of the TV...or playing one of their expensive video games... or out somwhere with friends....
Also, I think people need to realise the shot doesn't even take effect for 10-14 days I believe.. so honestly it wouldn't matter at this moment if the kids had it or not.. they still wouldn't be 100% protected and would still have a chance of catching this flu right now!
Once again I think people should stop worrying about prisoners who got this shot and start remembering allll those others who took it soo willingly when they weren't suposse to... blame yourselves for taking vaccines away from children....in a couple weeks there will be something else for everyone to worry about!
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gd1962 from PEI writes: My oldest child was sick on Saturday; I went to the emergency at queen hospital to seek help for my child. I was fortunate to find a doctor who help and advice a tomiflu for my child. My youngest child start to get sick on Sunday, at 8 PM I went to the emergency room again with my second child to meet a doctor just about midnight, after 4 hours waiting, he start by given me a lesson of how important to read the newspaper, listen to radio and to watch TV and surf the net so I may be educate myself enough to know that a child of 7 years old don’t need to take a tomiflu if he sick with flu which he admit it. My child went home upset and crying for the way the doctor spoke to us. Until now I am surfing the net to find out how to treat my child, thank you doc.
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