With a Swine Flu vaccine fast approaching the market, there's been a lot of publicity recently about who should or shouldn't be rolling up their sleeves to get a jab. Pregnant women are on the UK, US and Canadian lists for priority vaccines, alongside health care workers, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.
I won't be getting a vaccination.
Some might view a vaccine refusal as irresponsible, given the fact I'm 27 weeks pregnant and in a high-risk group because of the body's natural immunosuppression during pregnancy. I'm not a doctor, nor am I a medical professional by any stretch of the imagination. However, I feel that the current information about the use of adjuvants or mercury in seasonal and swine flu vaccines lacks the gravity to give me total confidence in giving myself and my developing fetus a vaccine.
I'm aware of the risks associated with both the seasonal flu and H1N1. I know that pregnant women have fallen seriously ill or died after catching swine flu. I know that I work in one of the largest cities in the world, and that there's not a lot one can do if someone sneezes over your head on a crowded Tube carriage (apart from shooting a disgustingly dirty look).
I still won't be getting the vaccine.
According to a document from Eli Lilly, exposure to thimerosal (the organomercury compound found in seasonal flu vaccine) could result in "fetal changes, decreased offspring survival and lung tissue changes" going on to say that exposing a fetus "may cause mild to severe mental retardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment." Even if it's a tiny chance, I'm not going to expose my child to a chemical which could lead to mild to severe disability. Yesterday, I refused the flu vaccine being given out at work for that reason; I will not receive a vaccine with more than four times the daily recommended limit of mercury, especially when pregnant women are advised to avoid mercury in the first place. Kind of contradictory, isn't it?
So, that's the seasonal flu vaccine. What about the H1N1 swine flu vaccine? Not going for that, either. Testing hasn't been as comprehensive because they're rushing to send a vaccine to market, and the only available vaccine in the UK contains adjuvants. Adjuvants carry a very minute risk but a risk nonetheless of the recipient contracting Guillain-Barré Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.
Adjuvants are chemical additions to vaccines that can boost the immune system's response to a vaccine. Adjuvants are also found in a lot of swine flu vaccines expected to hit hospitals across the developing world when we finally get the go-ahead to start vaccinating the population. The ratio of non-adjuvant vaccines to adjuvant vaccines is quite low. Canada only has a stockpile of 1 million for every pregnant woman and small child - it's very likely this is not enough. In the UK, the government does not offer an adjuvant-free vaccine; Pandemrix, recommended for use in pregnant women and small children by the EU, contains adjuvants. In the US, the CDC has advised for pregnant women not to be given an adjuvanted vaccine.
Although the risk is minute, why would a pregnant woman expose herself to the very distant possibility that she could be disabled for the rest of her life and suffer a miscarriage as a result of taking a "recommended" vaccine? No thanks.
I'm not anti-vaccines. I fully expect in the near future to be holding a screaming baby receiving it's first vaccine, and telling a toddler with a sore arm what a brave kid they've been. Still, I find myself in the majority of the pregnant population; perhaps driven by our desire to have the healthiest babies possible and expose them to as little harm as we can while we're still in total control of their daily surroundings. I'm also starting my maternity leave at the end of next week, and won't be exposing myself on a daily basis to the whims, sniffles and coughs of fellow passengers on the Tube. A swine flu vaccine is unlikely to become available in the seven working days I've got left, despite the NHS' promise that it will be available from tomorrow. Why take it when I likely won't need it?
Call it maternal instinct, call it intelligence, call it stupidity - I've chosen to take a calculated risk and not receive the vaccine. Good luck to everyone else struggling with the decision. It's not an easy one.
