One of the ways that the flu mutates (the primary way) - is that the flu genome is in like 8 different cassettes... When you have one person infected with multiple flus, those flus can intermix their genome/cassettes to form new flus.

I think they're pushing so hard for the normal flu vaccine in addition to the swine flu in an attempt to minimize how much the swine flu can pick up genes from the usual flus... or vice versa... and to prevent other strains from being done.

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times that vaccination with the regular flu shot increases your susceptibility to the swine flu - and I don't understand that statement... how does it do that?

I don't think there's any reason to avoid the swine flu vaccine if you're not one that avoids the normal flu vaccine - same process, different antigens.

My sister's daughter came down with the swine flu last Sunday. She's in 3rd grade and has diabetes type I, so her immune system is somewhat compromised to begin with, and her blood sugar goes out of control during infections. Apparently the Thursday beforehand, 7 kids had been dismissed from her class from being sick & the teacher got sick, on the Friday afterwards, another 9 kids were sent home - the following MOnday there were 7kids in the class, 3 of which had to go home early. My sister & her husband both caught it. My sister's daughter had been complaining of her kidneys hurting and her sugar was bizarrely high, so when she developed a fever - my sister took her to the emergency room, and the 3 of them got tamiflu and her daughter got iv fluids and the rest of that to stabilize her sugar.

I got the regular flu shot a month or so back, and will get the swine one whenever it's possible - mostly to protect some sickly people that I come into contact regularly. I don't want to be the one carrying something that could be life threatening for them.