PITTSBURGH -- The H1N1 flu vaccine will soon arrive in Allegheny County, with the first doses going to those most at risk, like children ages 5 to 9.
A recent consumer reports poll showed 34 percent of American adults plan to get the vaccine and 35 percent of parents plan to have their kids get the shots.
Watch Michelle Wright's ReportAs worried as some are about the spread of H1N1, which is also known as swine flu, some people are just as worried about the safety of the vaccine.
"People have to make an individual decision as to whether they want to get their child vaccinated or whether they want to wait and see if the vaccine is without any risks," said Dr. Bruce Dixon of the Allegheny County Health Department.
Channel 4 Action News Michelle Wright asked Dixon if there are any risks to getting the vaccine.
"I don't think anybody knows what the answer to that is absolutely. So far in testing, there appears to be no risk," said Dixon.
However some people still remember when a swine flu vaccine in the 1970s caused some serious medical problems.
"A small number of patients -- but more than anticipated -- who received vaccine developed a neurologic illness called Guillain-Barre. We've really not seen that in subsequent years, and the virus dealing with now H1N1 2009 influenza is very different than the virus we developed the vaccine for back then," said Dr. Michael Green, of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Today's H1N1 strain is different and doctors say, more importantly, the way the vaccine is manufactured is also different.
The current vaccine went through the Food and Drug Administration's approval process.
"To my knowledge, this vaccine has been prepared in the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine is prepared on a yearly basis. We really don't have any information to suggest that this vaccine is any less safe than the vaccine that has been recommended to children on a yearly basis for the last decade or two," Green said.
The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, did a survey about vaccines as the H1N1 strain began showing up in this area.
"People are concerned about safety of the H1N1 vaccine. But the public needs to understand that even though the production of this seems very fast, it was the exact same approval process and process that's used for the seasonal flu vaccine," said Sandra Quinn of the Pitt School of Public Health.
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