Are you confused by the swine flu advice?
Later this morning the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, will try to clarify swine flu advice to pregnant women and parents of young children after conflicting advice over the weekend caused confusion and concern. People's travel plans could also be thrown in doubt after British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they want to ban people with swine flu from flying but doctors say the policy won't work.
On the phone in from 9am we're asking whether you're confused by the advice being given on swine flu. Call 0500 909 693, text 85058, email breakfast@bbc.co.uk or post a message on the Breakfast facebook page. Or you can leave your reaction below here.
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It's Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report today - the last before the general election. Sources say Mr Darling will speak of the case for fairer taxes. He's already announced increases in the top rate of tax and national insurance and it is possible there may be a further rise today. The government's expected to increase taxes on bankers today. But is it time to ask for more from all the wealthy?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Am wondering if anyone can clear up a worry I have about swine flu. Am 6 weeks pregnant and for that reason have told no one but my husband, but am so worried that if I get swine flu I'll loose the baby. I work in a school and I wont be out the first trimester before starting back and so can not aviod contact with large crowds.
Is there a vaccination for pregnant woman? If you get any flu can you loose your baby? or am I just being paraniod?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated
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I heard the amazingly transparent anti-contraception lobby out in force, trying to persuade women that they will get swine flu if they take the pill.
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ironsuperten, it is not easy, but try not to worry. Make sure you wash your hands often, and try not touching your face. Not touching your face can be made more easy by wearing a mask, if you really want to (it is better for people actually ill with flu to be wearing the mask, since it reduces the germs they spread). But above all, know that it is scary to realise that you are pregnant at the best of times. If it wasn't swine flu, it would be something else. I'm not sure there is any getting round the worry.
I wish you the best of luck, and I think you will do just fine
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Thank you Linden30
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I'm neither anti-contraception nor part of any lobby group: it was a genuine query and search for information prompted by a discussion with several women friends. There are many unanswered questions and a fair degree of confusion around with regard to the effects of this virus over time on large populations. Honest attempts to gain clarity need not be characterised as attempts to make cheap points - this is far too important an issue for that.
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No, sorry, Elfie3, I'm not persuaded in the least. All medicines have side effects. So does something as powerful as the pill. However, immune suppression is *not* one of the oft-seen side effects of the pill. There are a lot of medicines that suppress the immune system. There are a lot of medicines that are predominantly used by women, a lot of health issues that women face. You only seem worried about the one that allows a woman to control her fertility. I am jumping to the conclusion (but it is not a big jump), that you are against the pill for other reasons, and want to start a bogus scare where none existed before.
Are you not concerned about women giving up the pill without adequate cover and falling unintentionally pregnant, which has *more* health consequences than the pill?
There are reasons why people try to create a scare around the pill in ways they wouldn't bother with, for other medicines. There *is* an anti-contraception bunch. Their motivations are social.
Goodness knows that medicine has an inglorious history of not taking women's concerns or pain seriously, of colluding against women, of treatments without consent. And, to some extent, it is still happening: where a prominent male midwife thinks women should buck up and not use pain relief during birth, because they will "bond better with their babies". Women do get bullied about their choices in contraception, pregnancy and childbirth.
So why add to it, Elfie3?
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Women are supposed to get pregnant and ,"give birth."
A little bit of pain and they don't stop whining.
It's men that have been opressed in this courntry for 40 years and more. SO STICK THAT UP YOUR LESBO-NAZIISM!
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...Aaand Peter1970 illustrates my point beautifully.
3 billion women in the world! How could they live without your words of wisdom for so long, Peter1970? How could they possibly decide what to do about their wombs?
The whole world is grateful.
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After Chernobyl, when a welter of contradictory information and bland reassurances made it difficult to see how best to respond, I eventually turned to Dr Alice Stewart, an extraordinarily generous and well-respected epidemiologist, for clarity. She was (as I expect you know) untiring in her work over many years to show the harmful effects of low-level radiation on pregnant women and their children, and was kind enough to spend some time with me to talk over the concerns raised by my family and friends, so that we could make more informed choices for our well-being. I am still immensely grateful for her clear-sightedness and inspiration.
Unfortunately, I can no longer turn to her for guidance and I have spent some time searching in vain for an answer to this troubling question: if pregnant women are particularly at risk from the effects of the swine flu virus, is it the high levels of hormones that affect their immune response, and, if so, do heightened levels of artificial hormones have the same effect on women who are not pregnant?
Perhaps it would have been better this morning if I'd voiced the question in those terms. I was nervous. But I am still convinced that it deserves an informed answer, hopefully from someone who believes as passionately as I do that women, men and children should never be intimidated into silence when they have asked to know more.
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I agree that everyone needs to be informed about their medical choices, and I do not wish to intimidate anyone in seeking out answers. However, I want to point out that Alice Steward's research took years to refine. She took up a cause in a neglected subject, worked tirelessly to prove her case, and was vindicated.
The pill has been around a long time. Flu has been around a long time. We know of conditions and situations where the pill should not be used. We can go on what we know about flu in general. This version of flu has *not* been around a long time (in humans). If it has some strange interaction with the pill that hasn't previously been seen with other versions of flu, we won't know yet. Nobody can answer your question for *this* flu strain. What we do know is we don't have an epidemic of women dying of seasonal flu due to their contraceptive use. Think of how many women use it at any one time.
What we do know is what happens with a pill scare, for example, the one in 1995. A lot of women had a lot of associated health issues due to interrupted contraceptive use. Rates of abortion rose for the first time after many years of decline. Advice on who should be prescribed what changed, and things settled down.
A similar situation with the vaccine/autism scare: a lot of suffering, a spike in disease, and a healthcare timebomb that doctors are trying to rectify by calling on parents to make up the vaccines their children have missed.
Am I saying "common" medical knowledge should never be questioned? Quite the opposite. But we need to be guided by evidence. And the evidence is that a lot of women (me included) are benefiting from the pill. Not all of them. Every woman has to decide for herself on the cost/benefit analysis of the pill. And every woman needs *accurate* information for her situation.
For every Alice Steward, there are ten Andrew Wakefields.
Before I listened in this morning, I'd heard *no* mention that the pill is a risk factor in swine flu. Perhaps you are the first person to suggest this! And forgive me if I jumped the gun on judging your intentions, but every time I try to be optimistic about people's motivations, a Peter1970 comes out of the woodwork and convinces me otherwise.
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Now that is a Cross Bencher - allegedly - I thought. On the day we hear abot Alan Milburn's report we hear one House of Lords occupant complaining about the newest member. Lord Sugar of Fulham?
I listened My First Lord of the Admirable but didn't quite understand. What is wrong with someone who has no political agenda - just the one perhaps? I am no particular fan of Lord Sugar but that is my problem. lol
And Carolyn Quinn - sigh - on the Ten O'clock news on Radio Four last night showed one legal firm doing its bit - to correct the allegedly inconsistencies found by Milburns report - that certain youngster have a distinct advantage when it comes to certain professions. Lawyers? lol
One firm could take a 100 work experience students at a time - or did I misunderstand? Whatever. Selling a mythical football team - but hey.
Way to go law firm but too late for some of us. They are seemingly still beating us away with a stick. Jon Stewart had a film of one USA farmer saying in effect "justice went to the highest bidder - who put the most dollars on those scales of Justice". The film was a specific slant on the food industry I think but then I do and wonder about British Justice System.
Subject: nick clegg is travelling to spain to stay with his in laws
Anagram: oliver twist hit - staying in law c kith songless - clag - pain
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I have four bookings with BA in the next month, including one long-haul return trip (actually our honeymoon). I'm coughing and sneezing from time to time as it's hay fever season. What's the risk of being denied boarding? Should I cancel my BA flights and book with a more reasonable company?
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