If your kid goes to public school in South Florida, you probably received a peculiar permission slip in the past couple of weeks. It’s not for a field trip, but for a trip to the office to get a “free voluntary vaccine.” The vaccine in question is a shot or nasal mist designed to protect against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. 

Your child will only get the vaccine if you sign the consent form – so should you? I struggled with this question as I scoured the Internet for the latest information. I read the CDC’s info page, as well as blogs by various parent organizations and doctors.  

At one extreme, you have parents who are adamantly opposed to all vaccines, citing a possible link to autism. They are outraged that the H1N1 vaccine will be “tested” on schoolchildren. At the other extreme are doomsayers who predict a lethal epidemic – with the new vaccine being the only hope of protecting your child. 

Somewhere in the middle, I found many rational arguments for and against having your child vaccinated. The validity of both sides of this debate has made my decision difficult. 

Reasons to skip the H1N1 vaccine: 

-          Some experts say it was rushed to market quickly without the usual amount of safety testing. 

-          I don’t want my child to be one of the first to receive any new vaccine. 

-          Most kids who get the H1N1 flu will get better on their own without becoming seriously ill. 

Reasons to get the H1N1 vaccine: 

-           It’s not really “new.” The vaccine is a slightly modified version of the annual flu shots that have an excellent safety record.

-          Children seem especially vulnerable to the H1N1 flu.

-          Those who get a bad case can become critically ill. There have been cases of previously healthy kids developing severe pneumonia that is resistant to treatment.

-          Having my older child vaccinated will help protect his younger sister and cousins.

Processing all of this creates a dilemma for many moms. It would be awful to consent to the vaccine and then have your child suffer a severe reaction. It would be equally awful to sit at the side of your child’s hospital bed, knowing you could have preventing life-threatening pneumonia with a vaccine. 

Looking at the available statistics, both of these scenarios are highly unlikely. The question is which is less likely? It is it more risky to get the shot or skip it? 

I called our pediatrician for her recommendation. At first, she said only kids with diabetes or other chronic conditions should get the H1N1 vaccine. They have a higher risk of getting seriously ill from the virus, and that outweighs any potential risk from the vaccine. 

But last week, our pediatrician expanded her recommendation to cover all kids. She has been seeing a couple dozen cases of H1N1 per week – and it’s not even flu season yet. If the trend continues, a lot of kids could get sick this winter. So she is vaccinating her own children. 

In the end, I decided to trust that the CDC and our pediatrician know more about this than I do (despite my obsessive-compulsive googling). I signed the consent form in what felt oddly like an act of faith. 

Will your children be getting the H1N1 vaccine?  How did you make the decision?