I'm trying not to freak out about the fact that I can't get either vaccine from my doctors. I'm going to look into pharmacies and urgent cares.

Fay, that story is hysterical. I can't stop laughing.

Illness spreads like wildfire through schools.

This. What I do not miss about teaching: spending every day of every holiday in bed with a heavy cold. That's just how you want to spend your holidays.

Frisco had the flu two weeks ago and I'm certain it was H1N1, but he wasn't tested. I don't know if I should get him vaccinated or not. I hate to take someone else's vaccine, but I want him protected.

Stephanie, that link I gave above might be some help. It gives further information links after most of its Qs and As.

Trudy, I said symptoms strong enough to keep them from coming to work.

H1N1, for the most part, has presented in two ways - either it puts you in the hospital, or it's mild enough that you might mistake it for a cold. And most teachers don't have the luxury of taking sick days for colds.

It doesn't look like there is much contagion before symptomizing.

I seem to recall that the 24 hours before symptoms appear are when you're at your most contagious, at least for H1N1.

Also, students spend much of the day traveling from desk to desk in my school and are seldom more than three feet from each other. Schools also tend to be huggy, hive-fivey places with lots of intimate contact. Trust me on this. 14 years in the classroom.

I think teachers should be immunized primarily for the students protection, not their own. An adult with a strong immune system could easily be a carrier for influenza without experiencing symptoms strong enough to keep them from coming to work.

I don't think it works that way.

Wait, the CDC bit you quoted *does* say that's how it works. Basically, an infected person is contagious for close to a week. If the infected person comes to work even though their symptoms only qualify as "weak," or could be mistaken for cold symptoms, then they can spread the virus.

What baffles me is that daycare workers are considered a high-priority group, but teachers are not. Kids don't suddenly stop wiping their nose on every available surface just because they've hit kindergarten!

H1N1, for the most part, has presented in two ways - either it puts you in the hospital, or it's mild enough that you might mistake it for a cold. And most teachers don't have the luxury of taking sick days for colds.

Yes, but when they do they wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze. I don't think H1N1 is proving to be super-congateous.

And I'm not sure where you're getting your data on the "presented two ways". Is that an impression or is there a study? Because my impression has been otherwise -- healthy people can be good and sick for weeks without going to the hospital.

My co-worker's daughter has H1N1 and I called my OB just to make sure I was okay going into the office since he was still coming into work. She told me that you can only get the virus if you come into direct contact with someone with symptoms. So it was fine for me to go to work. They said to worry if the co-worker has symptoms. FWIW.