They're going to do flumist in the kid's school

[elus0814]

A letter came home from our kid's school the other day. It says how the county health department is going to come in and do mass flumist administration. Our two kids that are in school are not vaccinated and we have a religious exemption. There are all kids of forms to fill out if you want your kids to have it and it's a small private school so I'm not overly concerned that they would be given it if we opted them out.

My concern is that they will end up with the flu and bring it home. We also have a two year old, a one year old, and I'm pregnant. I have an autoimmune disease and eczema, those coupled with being pregnant make me very susceptible to getting sick. I pick up everything, even if the rest of the family doesn't catch it. I'm really worried I'll end up unnecessarily sick. 

I'm not sure what to do. I've read that the virus can shed for 21 days in children but the average number of days is 7-8. They're doing it in the middle of the week so I would have to keep them out of school for that day, the last two days of the week, and the entire following week for them to avoid most of it. If they missed that much school they would likely end up being held back a grade because in this state the law is that if a child is absent more than 10 times they are held back at the discretion of the principal. The principal isn't too keen on us not vaccinating so I doubt she would move them on to the next grade if they miss 8 days plus a handful of random absences throughout the year for other illnesses and appointments (taking them out of school early counts as 1/3 of an absence and they've already had 4 or 5 for various things). 

Is this even something to be worried about? Would you take your kids out of school and, if so, for how long?

- I should add that we used to homeschool and homeschooling again, as much as I would like to, is not really an option right now. The public schools in the area are terrible and since we're military we have no choice as to where to live. 

[ma2two]

Since it is a small private school, I think you should bring your concerns to the principal, and tell her what you have told us.

The package insert says the vaccine sheds for up to 28 days.

After day 11, between 1.6% and 2.9% of school-age kids were still shedding, depending on the age range.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123743.pdf

Perhaps they could give the injectable vaccines from single dose vials, instead.

Edited by ma2two - 11/19/11 at 9:31pm

[BeckyBird]

It's like.....get the vaccine, or else you'll get sick from the shedding vaccine. Oh, and by the way, you still might get the flu even if you have the vaccine.

How wonderful! They've got this "health thing" all figured out.

[cameragirl]

I'm guessing they chose flumist because it doesn't involve needles. Aside from shedding and kids that aren't vaxed catching it, it is a risk to anyone that is immune-compromised (or anyone that lives with someone that is immune-compromised). I would speak with the principal, as well. The regular flu shot is not really that painful that they couldn't offer that form of the vaccine instead.

[miriam]

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Edited by miriam - 5/28/12 at 8:43pm

[littlec]

Isn't there more of a risk of gettting sick from the flumist? Are you good friends with any of the parents? Maybe if you used that angle, that the shot is a killed virus and less likely to make kids sick you can get some support from others. I feel if you go in there with only your unvaxed children being the main concern, it will get ignored, since you know, it's all about "public" health. Good luck!

(if I were in that situation and couldn't change the mist to a shot, I would just keep my kids out for the remainder of that week, load them up with vitamin C and D during that time, then send them back on Monday)

[Marnica]

Personally I would keep my kid home that day and the rest of the week and send them back the following week. In the meantime work on boosting all of your immune sysstems. We also use homeopathic flu prevention and honestly in all the years we have been doing this and also keeping our vitamin d levels up - no flu. This stuff works great and is avaliable without seeing a ND or homeopath which you would have to see to get the 2011 flu nosode. I would have the entire family on this if I were you - it is safe for kids and pregnant women.

http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/muco-coccinum-by-genestra-homeopathic-flu-support.html

[BeckyBird]

You could remind parents that the Flumist sheds, and this would be a concern if the school-aged  kids have any younger siblings. Rather than trying to prevent the flu with nutrition and such, they think it's better to have a shedding vaccine. Fair enough, but the parents should at the very least be warned of the possibility of the shedding. When they have that piece of information, along with other natural ways to prevent/lessen the flu, then I would consider that enough information to make a decision. Even if they choose the vaccine, at least they had all of the information.

[elus0814]

Thank you all for the replies.

I do plan to call the principal and bring up my concerns with the flu mist. They are doing the regular shot at the same time but the way the paperwork was set up it looks like they're pushing the flumist as the child friendly no pain option, there is an entire page on how to get your child to 'qualify' to get it. 

We've only lived here a few months so we don't really know any other parents. The way they had to look into our exemption letter has me guessing we're the only family that doesn't vax. I'm very hesitant to bring it up to other parents because I don't want to cause a 'panic' over unvaccinated children being in the school. 

They can and do hold kids back, several kids were held back last year due to too many absences. They take it seriously. Tuition is so high that I honestly don't think they care about state funds. If we keep them out for the entire shedding time they would almost certainly he held back which would mean going back to homeschooling which we're not really prepared to do right now, as much as I would like to. 

I think I'm going to play up the angle of me being pregnant. I have a documented allergy to flu shots (so they can't just suggest I get one too) so I'm hoping they will take my concerns about the kids bringing the flu home seriously. If they aren't willing to do anything I think we'll just have to keep them out that day and for the rest of the week and send them back the following monday, loaded up with vitamins. 

[kmamma]

Could you tell the principal that you intend for the kids to keep up with the school work while at home? It's one thing to miss school because you're skipping school, but if you have a valid medical concern, as well as a willingness to help the kids do their school work at home during their period away, I can only imagine that the principal would work with you. If you go to her with good intentions, she'll be more likely to cooperate with you. 

[NYCVeg]

Yeah, I really don't get why there would be a risk of kids getting held back for 10 absences if they keep up with the work. There are a million reasons why a child might miss that much a week or two of school--chicken pox, surgery, family emergency, any kind of contagious or long-lasting illness.

[elus0814]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg 

Yeah, I really don't get why there would be a risk of kids getting held back for 10 absences if they keep up with the work. There are a million reasons why a child might miss that much a week or two of school--chicken pox, surgery, family emergency, any kind of contagious or long-lasting illness.

I had never heard of something like that until we moved here. It's a state law so there's nothing we can really do about it. Needless to say, this state isn't exactly high ranking for education.