Croup/Asthma and flu shot....

[babygrant]

My kids have never had a flu shot and I really don't want them to either.....but I've been having doubts about my oldest son.

Since he's been a baby he has always got croup during the winter months. Starting October and ending in March. Anytime he gets just the tiniest sniffle we know he's going to be waking up at night for the next 5 or 6 days in a full blow croup attack. Been in the hospital many many many times for very low oxygen saturation levels.

He's now 7. Yesterday he came home from school with a sniffle and surprise surprise, 4 am he woke up really struggling to breathe. DH gave him his inhaler before he left for work which was salbutamol and pulmacort. Took the edge off but he still had the strider and the indenting below the ribs. I couldn't get up because I was so nauseated (another thread), so I opened up my bedroom window because it's only 2 degrees out and brough DS in bed with me. He seemed to calm down a bit, but he was still really restless and having the strider.

He misses a LOT of school in the winter. There was no way I could wake him up at 7 am to get ready for school when he'd only slept for a few hours.

My kids doctor doesn't care that we don't do flu shots. He has no opinion one way or another. But he does question why we don't want to get one for ds since he gets so sick from the smallest little cold.

He gets a multivitamin, fish oils and extra vitamin C during the winter months.

Would you consider getting a flu shot for him if it was your child?

[ammiga]

From everything you've described, it doesn't sound like your ds gets the flu and then suffers from flu-related complications. So, no, I wouldn't even consider the flu shot. It doesn't prevent colds and cold complications, and will probably just tax his immune system even more.

[Sileree]

I don't know how prevalent H1N1 is now, but maybe this will help with your decision making process.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...3C5FBD1.d01t02

[ImaSophie]

My four year old is asthmatic he got H1N1 last year (they had flu clinics three times at his daycare center so kids where shedding since they had the up the nose variety) for him I was just aware of the symptoms and I knew to take him in if he showed signs of the flu. When he got sick they gave him the antivirals and by the time the nose swab test results came back a week later he was already on the mind.

He spends a large part of the winter/spring ill but we don't ever get the kids the flu shot.

[babygrant]

Oh and my husband had H1N1 last year but the kids and I didn't get it, so not sure if we would be immune.

[Naturalyst]

As an asthmatic myself (since infancy) and as a result of raising a child with asthma, I know you can't predict whether a cold or flu is apt to trigger a reaction. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn't.

No single measure is enough to thwart infection. But, we do what we can to avoid respiratory infections and that includes everything from hand-washing and avoiding the company of people who are ill, to getting a yearly flu vaccine.

My stepdaughter is not asthmatic and, so, we don't have the same concerns with her. We don't see that a flu vaccine is prudent in a healthy child, one without a respiratory "Achilles' heel".

I appreciate that you wrote briefly. But, from the frequency and severity of problems described, it makes me wonder if your child's asthma is being addressed preventatively. There are medications your child can take - if only during the problem months - to prevent asthma attacks. And, these preventative medications have fewer potential complications than those taken to treat an active attack. You might want to discuss options with your pediatrician if you've not already done so.

Whatever you decide, I hope you and yours will have an easy winter.

[13Sandals]

It doesn't sound like a flu shot will help his frequent bouts with croup. worth posting the conclusion to pp study regarding respiratory distress and H1N1:

Conclusion: H1N1 infection follows a mild course, even in the presence of severe underlying diseases. Abnormal respiratory findings and the presence of a chronic disease probably contributed to the decision to hospitalized patients.