Re: flu vaccine

On Mar 30, 2:54 pm, "Anne Rogers" <annek...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We don't get the flu vaccine, by choice, for several reasons, firstly, for a
healthy person, flu is usually unpleasant, not dangerous, secondly, it's
only 70-80% effective and thirdly it just hasn't been around long enough for
anyone to have evaluated any long term consequences of yearly vaccines, so
I'd rather have flu once every 10 years, then a jab every year.

Recently DS has had a virus, not flu as far as I know, but something, it's
been going round, but it seems he's had it an awful lot more severely than
others, verging on hospitalisation at times. Temp went above 105F, he had a
fever for 6 full days, we're on day 9 now and he's still a limp rag, he also
had what the doctor called an allergic reaction to virus, as in, he broke
out in hives allover and the virus is the only possible source, they
appeared before he had any medication.

Poor little guy. I hope he gets better fast. It could be RSV - we saw
an awful lot of that this year (how old is your DS?). In adults we've
seen a ton of strep pneumo, quite lethal strains. We're not sure why
yet, we're just working with the state to look into it further. But we
haven't seen any kids with it. We have had 2 flu deaths in kids
locally. It's not usual, but it happens.

Obviously I don't know yet how the rest of his recovery will go, but it does
have me wondering, even though there is nothing tangible that makes him
unhealthy, what would the affect of flu be on him. He doesn't appear to have
a weakened immune system, as he only has the normal number of other
infections, possibly less than normal considering we moved in the fall. The
only possible issue is his weight, but I can't see why that would make him
have the virus so much worse than everyone else, only that it might now take
longer to recover as he's lost weight and really has no reserves left.

I haven't seen any ads for the flu vaccine in the last month or so, but I
expect it's still possible to get this years, do you think that would be
worth it?

Across the US, flu season came late this year: Sporadic cases until
Feb, then hit hard in Feb, and now is mellowing out. While my region
usually gets it a bit later, this was the general pattern across the
country. Most local health departments purchased a ton of flu shots,
and because it was a mild year no one got them, and now they're giving
it away. I would consider getting it still, although not for your son
as he's already got fever in which case it's not useful (nor safe).

I'm torn about next year, but at least we have 6+mths to figure
that out. Is there any tests that we could have done to see if there is any
underlying reason why he was so ill?

Well, he *could* have an immune disorder, or something else, but
influenza - if indeed that's what it was - can attack different people
differently. Some get hit hard, some not. Likely there's some
immunological component (ie genetics), but could also be the virus
itself has mutated slightly. Generally those who get it later in the
season get less ill (generally, that is not always the case) because
the virus has mutated to become less lethal. Also, there are many
different upper respiratory infections floating around, each one will
affect a person differently. So while the symptoms two people have may
be similar, they may have totally different viruses. FWIW - it's
often that DH and I will get sick around the same time - not flu, just
generic Upper RI, I get wiped out, he coughs a bit and that's it. I
don't have an immune disorder (altho it has been much worse since
being pg and now BFing), or any underlying health issues.

My job is to encourage people to get the flu shot. That said, my DH
won't. I argued it was to protect DD because she was too young to get
it, but he's opposed. Fortunately it wasn't a bad flu year. I've
gotten flu multiple times, so I get the shot now. More importantly,
though, I wanted to protect DD - if I get flu, there's a good bet she
will. Unfortunately I do have a horrid cough that I've had off and on
for months. It's great giving a presentation about how to cover your
cough (using your arm, not your hand!) and basically coughing on
cue ;-) Anyway, I digress.... I recommend getting the shot for the
whole family because flu *can* be deadly, you don't know how much
until you're on the bad end of it.


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