Swine Flu Vaccine Now Available to Students

The approaching winter months means three things, fewer daylight hours, holiday cheer, and the flu. This year will be an exceptional year for the Tissue and Kleenex companies because aside from the normal seasonal flu, the infamous swine flu will be present as well. But unlike the seasonal flu, which has a widely available vaccine to everyone, the production of the swine flu vaccine has been lagging in the prior months.

It may not be available to everyone yet, but the swine flu vaccine is coming to clinics in New York City and various other urban communities and is free for all primary and secondary school students.

The swine flu is already widespread amongst school-aged children. There were hundreds of accounts of swine flu in camps this previous summer and the pathogen has followed the children to school. If students are not vaccinated, the spread of the swine flu will only get worse.

There has been a lot of debate to whether the vaccine is safe for use in general. The swine flu for the most part is the same as the seasonal flu. The difference comes in the markers on the virus that invades the body. A flu vaccine mimics these markers but does not have the pathogenic effects of its specific virus. The body then responds to these markers and creates a defense against them so when the real thing comes along, the body has the tools to destroy it. This acclimation of the body to the markers is what causes the feelings of getting sick that very few people experience after getting a flu shot. The perception of getting sick in these people usually passes very quickly.

So is the swine flu vaccine safe? According to WebMD, the answer is yes and no. The vaccine is created in the same process as the seasonal flu vaccine except for the markers, and has not had any serious side effects in the hundreds of thousands of doses given so far, so it is safe to say that if you have had a flu shot before and have not gotten terribly sick, this one wont hurt you either. The only danger this vaccine poses is if you are allergic to eggs and egg products because the vaccine is cultured in eggs.

The availability of the vaccine to school-aged children is great news because they are the most susceptible to the worst symptoms besides the elderly. The opportunity to prevent the spread of this flu is available and it must be taken advantage of for the well being of everyone in our schools