Health Confusion

I am completely beside myself with confusion ... not so much confusion maybe, but unable to comprehend exactly the best choice for my family in regards to this H1N1 information.  I am very thankful for my girlfriend JB who is a physician and incredibly knowledgable.  Recently we were able to chat through all this H1N1 info, with my goal being clearer understanding. 

Up to this point, my understanding was that this was just another flu.  And I haven't had the seasonal flu shot for over 12 years and I am an educator at that - definitely the field for germs to quadruple!  So this year, I wasn't thinking about it either.  I couldn't understand the hype with the vaccine or the flu.  Every year thousands of people die from the flu.  Why was this one so 'hyped'? 

Here are some of the points that were made to me this past weekend and have caused me to think this through once again.

1. Seasonal flu is immenent each year, along with deaths.  Typically in the elderly, already ill or people with health issues
2. The Seasonal flu has taken more lives over the past year than the H1N1
3. H1N1 seems to attack a different target group of people - the young and healthy
4. H1N1 is a influenza, but a different virus than the seasonal flu  (This is where I needed a picture to understand ... I got 2 Oak trees with different trunks, but still Oak trees.  Make sense?)
5. Both flus will continue to mutate each year
6. The adjuvant in the vaccine is a 'kick start' for the immune system to recognize and respond to the vaccine
7. The studies that are lacking are for the adjuvant that has been added to the vaccine
8. Stats are that 1 in a million people could experience paralysis in a portion of their body, which may or may not be permanent due to the adjuvant (Adjuvant is also common in vaccines for Hep and Tetanus)
9. I am MORE unsure than ever

I think I have a clearer understanding now, but am still unsure of what this little family will do.  And then I hear about the healthy 13 year old boy who just died from what appears to be H1N1.  Do we make that step and line up for this fairly new and contriversial vaccine?  Or, as in every other year, pass on this flu shot and the seasonal flu shot?  This lady's mind has yet to find the answer one way or the other ... i-yie-yie!  How 'bout you?  Where do you stand on this one?