Some doctor out there please settle this: (HINI)

[jasi2006]

If you contract H1N1 virus do you need to get the vaccine?

[Taverner]

1. Yes - I want to know this too

Since I have had the first, but not the vaccine...

[Chemisse]

2. Why on earth would you need the vaccine if you had already had the real thing?!

I'm not a doctor though.

[SallyMander]

3. If you've had the flu and recovered, you'll have the antibodies

No need for the vaccine in that case, which is just meant to prompt your body to make the antibodies to prevent infection.

I'm a PhD doc, not an MD doc, but this is how the immune system works. :)

[Avalux]

4. No - if you've had H1N1 you do not need the vaccine.

Being infected with the virus causes the immune system to develop antibodies so you can't get it again. The vaccine works in the same manner (without infection - it's made with viral particles). Don't need both.

HOWEVER - are you sure you had H1N1, confirmed by lab test or contracted from someone with a confirmed case? If not, then get the vaccine. :hi:

[MissMarple]

5. Many areas are not testing for H1N1. Colorado isn't.

Since it is too early for the regular flu, if you have the requisite symptoms it is assumed that you have H1N1. I suppose it is a cost and an availability issue.

[Warpy]

6. If you get the flu the vaccine won't do anything

that simply surviving the illness won't do.

You'll have a lifetime immunity to this strain of H1N1 after you are well and until you die.

If you get the vaccine while you are sick, it won't do anything at all.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

7. Not if it was positively Novel Influenza A H1N1 2009.

[hlthe2b]

9. Most people will not have been tested. It will not hurt to receive

the vaccine regardless. Please see the official statement from CDC below. It won't hurt to be vaccinated, even if you might have immunity. Conversely, to not be vaccinated, thinking you had H1N1 when you really had seasonal flu or some other respiratory infection, does pose a potential tisk.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. I agree.

[hlthe2b]

8. CDC says "YES" unless you were specifically tested + for H1N1

Should I get vaccinated against 2009 H1N1 if I have had flu-like illness since the Spring of 2009?
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination_qa_pub.htm

The symptoms of influenza (flu-like illnesses) are similar to those caused by many other viruses. Even when influenza viruses are causing large numbers of people to get sick, other viruses are also causing illnesses. Specific testing, called “RT-PCR test,” is needed in order to tell if an illness is caused by a specific influenza strain or by some other virus. This test is different from rapid flu tests that doctors can do in their offices. Since most people with flu-like illnesses will not be tested with RT-PCR this season, the majority will not know whether they have been infected with 2009 H1N1 flu or a different virus.

Therefore, if you were ill but do not know if you had 2009 H1N1 infection, you should get vaccinated, if your doctor recommends it. So, most people recommended for 2009 H1N1 vaccination should be vaccinated with the 2009 H1N1 vaccine regardless of whether they had a flu-like illness earlier in the year. If you have had 2009 H1N1 flu, as confirmed by an RT-PCR test, you should have some immunity against 2009 H1N1 flu and can choose not to get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine. However, vaccination of a person with some existing immunity to the 2009 H1N1 virus will not be harmful. For more information on flu tests, see Influenza Diagnostic Testing During the 2009-2010 Flu Season.

Any immunity from 2009 H1N1 influenza infection or vaccination will not provide protection against seasonal influenza. All people who want protection from seasonal flu should still get their seasonal influenza vaccine.

[grantcart]

10. Bill Maher advises

"If you get H1N1 get some great Thai weed, 30 year old Whiskey and check your black book for somebody that is willing to spend the next 4 days in bed with you."

[Capn Sunshine]

11. You won't , but we can manufacture the vaccine using your blood

how much can you spare? About 3 gallons would be sufficient.
:hide:

[kestrel91316]

12. If you have been confirmed to have H1N1 flu through more than

just the simple screening test for Influenza A, then no, there would be no point to getting the vaccine, since infection confers immunity. The trouble is, most people have not been actually CONFIRMED to have it, and are merely suspected of having it.

[jasi2006]

14. Isn't this dangerous? How difficul is the test to perform?

Would it not be better to have some kind of testing of people who have been merely "suspected" of having the H1N1 confirmed? I was told by my pediatrician that random sampling of those suspected of having the flu revealed that 95% the random sample had H1N1 and that was the reason that no testing was being done.