Earl Hoffman
Houston, TX
H1N1 influenza vaccine study participant
Transcript: I'm here today because I've learned of this study about H1N1 flu vaccine. I think it's a very important issue -- a public heath issue -- and when I learned that the NIH was sponsoring this study and Baylor College of Medicine was one of the participating institutions, I investigated it through their website. I thought that it sounded like the right thing to do and I'm glad that I've done it. I got my two injections this morning, absolutely painless, no ill effects, and look forward to continuing with the study.
The participants don't know which particular vaccine they're getting on any particular day. It is all coded and then they observe the reaction, whether there's any fever, soreness. So far it's as mild, or as regular as getting the vaccine as it would be if you were just getting the regular seasonal flu shot.
I'll be filling out a questionnaire, a memory diary that tracks how I feel, whether there's any unusual soreness, any change in my general health, record that. And if there's anything unusual, I call back here to Baylor College of Medicine to the clinical trial. Otherwise, I'll be coming back on the 20th of August for my next series of shots.
My wife and I have a son and daughter, both in their 20s. I think young people most likely are going to be more susceptible to the swine flu and consequently, I'm very interested in making sure about the vaccine they've come up with and how it's administered, in addition to the regular seasonal flu vaccine. I think its very important that we can learn just as much about that as possible.
My wife was a little uncertain why I was committing so much time to doing this and I explained that I really thought it was important. The more she thought about it the more she realized it is important not only for older people but also for younger people. As I understand it, they're still recruiting volunteers 18 down to 6 months old.
For parents with younger children, I hope everyone seriously considers going to the Baylor College of Medicine website. There's lots of information there, there are links. Investigate this, decide whether you think it's important or not, and certainly for parents, it is important. All children potentially are at risk so we need to make sure that we're doing everything that we can.
This isn't the normal seasonal flu and this could be a very significant public health issue not only in North America but also around the world. It's now spread and they classify it as pandemic, consequently the public shouldn't be taking this lightly. I think that for anyone considering volunteering for this study program, now is the time to do it. Let's learn as much about this as we possibly can.