Diabetes and swine flu warning
Parents who have children with diabetes are being told not to delay getting help if they are worried they have swine flu.
Families have been contacted by the children's diabetes team at Leicester Royal Infirmary and by the Leicestershire parents' group of Diabetes UK.
They have been given advice on what symptoms to watch for and who to contact.
Around 300 diabetic children under 16 receive care from specialists at the infirmary.
Youngsters with the disease are more at risk from the virus as their immune system can struggle to fight off infections.
Infections can also affect blood sugar levels which must be kept stable to avoid complications and long term health problems.
Mum Michelle Palmer, from Birstall, said she was "scared to death" that her eight-year-old son Zak could catch swine flu.
Zak was 18 months old when he was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and his blood sugar levels are checked twice a day.
Mrs Palmer said: "It could affect him in a worse way as his immune system is quite run down. It is a little easier now he is not at school.
"Although I am worried we are carrying on with life."
She said it was reassuring to have support from the hospital diabetes team, the Leicestershire parents group and their family GP.
Diabetic Callum Johnston, from Beaumont Leys, has had the infection and said: "I felt really ill but I had the Tamiflu and am fine now.
"In a way, I am glad to have had it."
Dr Tim Davies, speaking for the NHS in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, said: "Swine flu is so far proving to be mild for the majority of people but those with health issues should be vigilant for symptoms and contact their GP immediately if they have any concerns."
2 Comments
by wearechange.net, Leicester
Thursday, August 06 2009, 10:50AM
“Ten things you're not supposed to know about the swine flu vaccine
(At least, not by anyone in authority...)
#1 - The vaccine production was "rushed" and the vaccine has never been tested on humans. Do you like to play guinea pig for Big Pharma? If so, line up for your swine flu vaccine this fall...
#2 - Swine flu vaccines contain dangerous adjuvants that cause an inflammatory response in the body. This is why they are suspected of causing autism and other neurological disorders.
#3 - The swine flu vaccine could actually increase your risk of death from swine flu by altering (or suppressing) your immune system response. There is zero evidence that even seasonal flu shots offer any meaningful protection for people who take the jabs. Vaccines are the snake oil of modern medicine.
#4 - Doctors still don't know why the 1976 swine flu vaccines paralyzed so many people. And that means they really have no clue whether the upcoming vaccine might cause the same devastating side effects. (And they're not testing it, either...)
#5 - Even if the swine flu vaccine kills you, the drug companies aren't responsible. The U.S. government has granted drug companies complete immunity against vaccine product liability. Thanks to that blanket immunity, drug companies have no incentive to make safe vaccines, because they only get paid based on quantity, not safety (zero liability).
#6 - No swine flu vaccine works as well as vitamin D to protect you from influenza. That's an inconvenient scientific fact that the U.S. government, the FDA and Big Pharma hope the people never realize.
#7 - Even if the swine flu vaccine actually works, mathematically speaking if everyone else around you gets the vaccine, you don't need one! (Because it can't spread through the population you hang with.) So even if you believe in the vaccine, all you need to do is encourage your friends to go get vaccinated...
#8 - Drug companies are making billions of dollars from the production of swine flu vaccines. That money comes out of your pocket -- even if you don't get the jab -- because it's all paid by the taxpayers.
#9 - When people start dying in larger numbers from the swine flu, rest assured that many of them will be the very people who got the swine flu vaccine. Doctors will explain this away with their typical Big Pharma logic: "The number saved is far greater than the number lost." Of course, the number "saved" is entirely fictional... imaginary... and exists only in their own warped heads.
#10 - The swine flu vaccine centers that will crop up all over the world in the coming months aren't completely useless: They will provide an easy way to identify large groups of really stupid people. (Too bad there isn't some sort of blue dye that we could tag 'em with for future reference...)”
by Jamie Bell, Leicester
Wednesday, August 05 2009, 1:34PM
“Swine Flu pandemic is over.... NOBODY CARES, NOBODY IS SCARED.... The govt and the media had lost in its battle to intimidate us! HA!”