Flu Shots for Children
Have you gotten a flu shot yet? Have you gotten one for your children? The Flu is more dangerous for children than a common cold. When they are under the age of five influenza can frequently send children to the hospital for dangerously high fevers and dehydration. Complications occur most often in children younger than two. Children with asthma and diabetes are at especially high risk for complications. The CDC reports that during the 2007-2008 flu season, 86 children died from flu-related complications.
You do not have to get the flu.
There is a vaccine. You have to get vaccinated every year for a new strain of flu. The virus mutates from year to year and that is why a vaccine from last year won’t protect you this flu season. The CDC recommends that all children over the age of six months get a flu vaccine.
The first time a child under the age of nine gets a flu vaccine he will need two doses of vaccine given at least 28 days apart or more. The first dose “primes the immune system and the second dose provides actual protection. My own pediatrician explained to me that young children have immature immune systems and in order to have complete immunity to the flu virus, they need two doses of vaccine.
The sooner you get vaccinated each year the better. If you find it is November or even December you can still get a vaccine. The peak of flu season isn’t until later in the winter. It’s never too late. Get the vaccine. You can get it at your doctor’s office or even more easily at a local grocery store pharmacy or local drug store flu clinic.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
[...] Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I have a clip from the Paris Hilton video on my site. To bad it got leeched onto the net for everyone to watch. She did not want it to be public as it was her ex boyfriend Rick Salomon that created it.