Data from a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that, for those patients hospitalised as a consequence of Influenza A H1N1 ( "swine flu"), just over 30% had Asthma. Therefore, Asthmatic patients are high on the priority vaccination list, and rightly so. Other high risk factors associated with hospitalisation in this study were diabetes and a weakened immune system.
If you have Asthma, Babalicious, I would definitely recommend you follow your GPs advice and get the vaccine.
As of early December 2009 in the UK, some 1.6 million doses of Pandemrix have been given to front line healthcare workers and priority cases. Number of adverse reactions reported is roughly 1100, almost all of which are minor, the vast majority of reports exhibiting flu like symptoms for up to 24 hours or so.
There have been many websites predicting all sorts of overblown claims about the alleged dangers of this vaccine, ranging from the absurd conspiracy allegations through to the merely hysterical assertions over additives and adjuvants. These have all been comprehensively debunked, and the evidence gathered by the MHRA shows this vaccine is as safe as any other.