Would you do a flu vax?

[WhiteHorse]

I see many posts here saying they would not do a flu vax. This year I am seriously considering it for my 4 yo. He has been through the flu last year and the year before. He has serious asthma (although strangely his asthma was not triggered by the flu the last 2 times). But more concerning is he is very very skinny, any illness that would kill his almost non-existent appetite is something we want to avoid. His weight is always a concern and if he can't "catch up" they will do a feeding tube. The other thing is I have an infant and he will NOT leave her alone (cover his sneezes, etc) so when he gets it, she will have it too and she is too young to vax. So, I guess I am asking WHY are so many people more apt to avoid the flu vaccine?  Would you consider it given my sons circumstances? I am not asking for a green light, I just like to have some reasons to chew on. Thanks

[katelove]

Here is the link for the Cochrane review on Flu vax for children. I would probably seriously consider it for your older child if I could get the nasal mist one. You don't mention how old your youngest child is. If he is younger than 2 years then I almost certainly would not get it for him. Partly because of the lack of evidence to support it and partly because I would be confident that breastfeeding would provide at least some protection.

[LisaSedai]

isnt flu mist contraindicated for asthmatics?

[katelove]

Originally Posted by LisaSedai 

isnt flu mist contraindicated for asthmatics?

It's a relative contraindication rather than an absolute.

[emmy526]

[Jugs]

Baby and I got the shot, while my older two children will get the mist next month.

We got them for the first time this year, not because I find the flu to particularly dangerous, but its still worth avoiding. The last time I had the flu I couldn't take care of my family for a good week, and my milk nearly dried up. Just when I was getting better, my then 10-month-old got it. Hers was a milder case, but I didn't get to properly recover, so I came down with pneumonia and was sick for a couple more weeks and lost about 5 pounds (which is a lot for my small frame). Then my oldest caught it and missed two weeks of ABA therapy, and was severely dehydrated becasue he couldn't keep any liquids down.

We've always used natural methods of prevention, with varying degrees of success, but now with my oldest in school (aka The Petri Dish) and more likely to bring the flu home with him, I'm upping the ante. Plus I hate hate hate taking care of sick people, especially sick children, LOL.

[ma2two]

Originally Posted by katelove 

I would probably seriously consider it for your older child if I could get the nasal mist one.

She mentioned she has an infant. The FluMist is a live virus vaccine that sheds. The package insert says that in children 2-5 years, it sheds for up to 25 days.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123743.pdf (page 17-18)

[ma2two]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse 

He has serious asthma (although strangely his asthma was not triggered by the flu the last 2 times). But more concerning is he is very very skinny, any illness that would kill his almost non-existent appetite is something we want to avoid. His weight is always a concern and if he can't "catch up" they will do a feeding tube.

Have you considered probiotics? Here is a thread where a strong probiotic called VSL#3 healed a child diagnosed with failure to thrive.

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/107291/failure-to-thrive-and-probiotics-my-dd-is-going-to-be-in-a-medical-journal

That thread is 7 years old. You don't have to get on any list now to buy it. You can just buy it at http://vsl3.com/ or at a pharmacy. You may even be able to get insurance to pay for it if a doctor prescribes it.

Healing the gut with probiotics can also decrease or eliminate asthma, depending on how far you go with the healing. (It can take over a year, and lots of probiotics to eliminate it). And by lots, I mean at least one VSL#3 packet per day (450 billion CFU). There's a book called Unique Healing that explains how asthma as well as many other illnesses can be healed by healing the bowel.

Edited by ma2two - 9/30/11 at 10:37am

[tatsu15]

Probably not. I never got the flu shot nor my kids, but my father-in-law got the nasal one (I believe) which was for H1N1. He started sneezing and coughing the next day and got my daughter sick and then she got me sick. To me it defeated the whole purpose of why he got it in the first place.

flu shots aren't effective for my mom either.

[LittleBlessings]

I have not thought about it but I should. At the moment I am unsure. I have never heard of a mist before.Is this available in Canada ? 

[thursday2]

I came on to post about this, but found this post at the top of the page, so I guess I'll add on here, unless someone wants to split this off...

Why NOT the flu vax?  I've never gotten one myself, as I hate needles, don't really mind the flu I guess (though I haven't had it since high school), and hate unnecessary vaccines.  So we've declined it for DS.  But the more I think about it, choosing to get the flu rather than the shot is a decision I make as an adult because I've been through the flu and can make that choice.  Subjecting my baby to the flu when he doesn't have that choice...that's a different story, and I'm now struggling with why I don't want him to have the shot.  The only real reason I can think of is because I know the side effects are often a mild version of the flu, and actually GIVING him the flu, even mildly, seems weirdly cruel.  I'm not looking to be convinced I shouldn't give him the shot, I'm just looking for a discussion of others' reasons.

[WhiteHorse]

We did not do it. Amazingly, the doc steered us away from it. Son is allergic to eggs. BTW, we both had it last year, and the vax this year is the same as last year.