Flu shots urged for all children

[Ilsa]

Flu shots urged for all children
Federal panel wants youngsters between 6 months and 18 years vaccinated


ATLANTA - All children — not just those under 5 — should get vaccinated against the flu, a federal advisory panel said Wednesday.

The panel voted to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children except infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies.

That means about 30 million more children could be getting vaccinated. If heeded, it would be one of the largest expansions in flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history. The flu vaccine has been available since the 1940s.

snip

Children ages 5 to 18 get flu at higher rates than other age groups, but they don’t tend to get as sick. Of the 36,000 estimated annual deaths attributed to the flu, only 25 to 50 occur in children in that age bracket, CDC officials said.

snip

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Two additional reasons given for expanding the vax program were to protect elderly and help companies not to have workers at home with sick kids.

I have an idea: why not require the people who are at risk for getting the sickest from the flu get the vax? I don't want my kids to have to take the flu shot or flumist to proptect someone who should protect himself.

BTW, I've had flumist. Made me sick for about 24-36 hours with a mild case of the flu. It is a live virus. My kids have had enough shots, to protect themselves and the general population, thank you very much.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. We get sick from the flu shots too. However, having actually had the real

deal flu, the shots are much preferable. (Although to be honest, we never did get them this year.)

[LostinVA]

22. No you don't -- it's an inactive virus in the vaccines

You can't get the flu from the shot.

[CoffeeCat]

2. Sometimes moms just have to trust their instincts...

I know that a flu shot is probably harmless. However, I have decided not to have my kids
get a flu shot.

I don't exactly have a well-thought-out reason for this. However, I imagine that general distrust
of our government and of the pharmaceutical industry is part of it.

I am just not willing to take an chances with this kind of stuff any more.

As the article says, most kids tolerate the flu very well. It is the elderly and those with
compromised immune systems who are most at risk.

I am very skeptical of our institutions these days. Corporations poison us, lie to us, allow
lead into our kids' toys. Drug side effects are downplayed and we find out daily that FDA-approved
drugs are killing people. Big Pharma hid the fact that Prozac was causing higher suicide rates
in teens--but Europeans had warnings on the bottles, before we were admitting the problem.

I feel that parents are forced to make tough choices, because government no longer works for "We The People."

It works for corporate interests and their profits.

Sad, but true.

[katsy]

4. That's how I feel.

I no longer trust the government.

[rusty quoin]

7. Me too. The government is not to be trusted anymore. n/t

[seabeyond]

15. this mama couldnt agree with you more.

right on

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

27. No kidding and the medical industry is pushing this so hard..

I have had to change doctors, I had one that eyed me like an abusive parent because I did not want to give my daughter the flu shot. She was 14 months old it was *the end* of the flu season and every time I would step near the doctor she would give me that 'if you want to care ....'

[seabeyond]

28. if you loved your child you would........ BS. i hear ya. so many pc'ers use this

little piece of shit guilt in so many areas to get their way and is the MOST offensive.

my kids doctor told me (after just months getting to know me).... listen to myself, i have best interest for child. i have taken her comment to heart over the many years. this comment was made after i was asking about first son when he was a baby.... saying people say i should...

she never went with what people said i should do with child

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

32. My oldest had two rounds of vaccinations

She reacted poorly to both, temperature, lethargy, and she was in so much pain I stopped he vaccinations right there and got a ton of pressure from a doc to continue them and that what I was seeing was normal..

Well turns out my kids was Egg allergic and every vaccination was only making it worse!

My second has had no vaccinations, when she is a bit older and has a more mature immune system (and I know all her allergies) I will give her some of the more sensible shots..

--

BTW I had an answer to prayer! My youngest seems to have outgrown her Peanut allergy and her milk allergy is going away! In a few months Ill retest her older sister (who will be 3) hoping her peanut and egg allergy have also been outgrown, Id love to take the kids out for ice cream without having an epipen handy...

[seabeyond]

34. i had mine before the info on vacs were out. i know it effected my oldest

i watched. and people tell me not. people tell me if it hurts some, worth it for all they help. not a real comfort for those that lives are effected. instead of acknowledging and learning the problem and fixining it, denying and insisting all get it regardless seems much better for those that must say baaaaa.

i am glad you were able to stop and evaluate with info and walk this your way

i am still pissed i didnt have that chance.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

36. Well depending on the age of your kids

They hopefully were not getting all that many vac's... of course the hg content used to be way higher..

Have your kids suffered and kid of long term damage?

[seabeyond]

37. mid, late 90's. then finish up early 2000's about the time i started hearing things

and tons of shots and tons of shit in the shots. right at the wrong time.

i think it caused long term in oldest, but then it isnt something i can prove and the vac advocates insist it doesnt cause damage.

after oldest two year old shots i went into room late at night, he was acting odd, wide awake, eyes straight ahead doing a hand pattern thing. had never seen anything like it. so autistic. as the kid grew we saw the fuzzy brain thing. genius, beyond in school and smart, but a fuzzy brain.

(i refuse to test or drugs)

i have done research and worked with teachers finding tools for the kid to help him and at 13 i am seeing him grow out of it, into it, or at least recognizing so he can live with it.

i lean more towards kennedy's way of thinking. i am not sure what it is in the shots that is doing it measle/mumps together, ... thera whatever, but i dont like it. youngest 4 yr old got 4 shots, nurse to give 5th (chicken pox) i told her STOP. enough. just enough. that is what i should have stopped. all at once.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

38. Well your kid is lucky

To have a parent willing to stop things in the middle of a series of shots, Drs really put the pressure on!

I'm so sorry for what has happened to your oldest and he will be in my prayers (should that not offend you). You rock as a parent dont let the mistakes that we all are capable of making ever cause you to doubt that...

Sounds like your kids has Asperger syndrome not all out Autism the good news is I have known many aduls who despite having Asperger funtion completely normally, they wont win any prizes for socialite of the year but they form deep meaningful and full relationships..

And, as my mother teases me, they make great engineers ;) (now that I think about it about 75% of the people I know with it are in an engineeringish field)

[enki23]

3. 1) no it is *not* a live virus

it was, a long time ago. it's not anymore. you will not get any kind of flu, mild or not, from a flu shot.

2) it does not offer perfect protection from the flu. in a good year, it's 90%. when people like you put people like my little step sister with cystic fibrosis at risk because of some combination of ignorance and selfishness, it makes me very, very angry. the more people who are vaccinated, the harder time the virus has spreading among the population. like most liberals understand, sometimes you have to do something you don't want to do (in this case, for no goddamned good reason) to make a larger contribution to the public good. pay your taxes, conserve energy, don't be an asshole, and for chrissakes get your children vaccinated. your right to swing your children's virus-laden dirty little mitts ends where my step sister's vulnerable lungs begin. and she's far, *far* from the only one people like you could end up killing.

[mzmolly]

5. The Flumist vaccine is a live virus and could essentially make your sister sick.

In fact, the virus can shed for up to 21 days after vaccination so the mfgr suggests not being around those with compromised immune systems for such time after vaccination.

Also, the "side effects" from the vaccine are much like flu symptoms, so while what happens after a vaccine is not called the flu, the symptoms are "like".

Additionally, this years flu shot was not a good match for the actual virus so as far as the hyperbole about "killing" people goes, it's over the top.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20080208/flu-vaccine-most-flu-bugs-dont-match

Lastly, we often have flu vaccine shortages and not everyone who wants the shot can get it.

[enki23]

45. i repeat: the flu *shot* does not contain live virus.

there is no reason to avoid the flu shot because of a fear of live virus, since there is no reason you cannot choose to receive the flu shot instead of the intranasal version if you are afraid of an attenuated virus, which also will not give you the flu.

everything i said stands.

[seabeyond]

16. brother in law did two seasons ago. got the shot, had to cancel a visit

to our house.

[Ilsa]

17. Flumist uses an attenuated virus. It is not a shot. I've read the literature

for it and have used it. Flumist can give the host mild flu symptoms, such as bodyaches, low grade fever, etc. The shot does not.

Thank for the scolding.

[Ilsa]

42. enki, Sorry about the abbreviated post earlier. I had typed

something else in, then had part of it erased, and didn't check on my post.

I did mean it when I said "thank you" for the scolding. Sometimes we need reminding about the special needs of others in the community. I didn't mean to leave them out of my consideration, but my experience with and exposure to cystic fibrosis has been limited, thankfully. I'm sorry your sister is faced with such overwhelming risks.

[mzmolly]

6. Most Flu Bugs Don't Match Flu Vaccine ~

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20080208/flu-vaccine-most-flu-bugs-dont-match

As the U.S. flu season soars, the CDC says this year's flu vaccine doesn't match two of the three main types of flu bugs now in circulation.

The "claim" is that people who get the vax have a lesser case of flu regardless, but I'm not sure there is evidence to support that?

[Xithras]

8. How about NO.

If a kid is immunocompromised, it's a good idea. But every kid? Most kids have immune systems that can fight off the flu, and fighting it off improves the effectiveness of the immune system and instills a long term immunity to that particular strain.

The odds of a non-immunocompromised kid getting the flu in any given year is tiny. The odds that a sick kid will die of it is so small it's barely worth considering. The need for a national child flu immunization program just isn't there.

[xchrom]

9. ...

:eyes:

[MrSlayer]

10. Not happening.

I've never had a flu shot and I've never had the flu. Neither have my kids, I see no reason to do this.

[seabeyond]

14. right there with you. i am continually told the IMPORTANCE of getting the

all mighty flu shot. never had it. kids never had it. uncle got the flu after the shot. reason need not apply in our world today

[MiniMe]

11. Yes, everybody go get the flu shot that doesn't help with this year's flu

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Window]

12. LOL!

[seabeyond]

13. help companies not to have workers..sick kids. F*CK them. SERIES!!!!!

for real. had to get kids chicken pox for the companies too, .... and irrate i am over that, i would NOT get kids flu shots, period, regardless of companies or any other excuse. i know they are trying to condition the parent to shoot their kid up.... i know they have a lot of adults brainwashed on this shot. not happening in this home

[Ilsa]

18. Yeah, my kids got their chicken pox vaxes also. The oldest got

the pox two years later. Then two years after that, the school nurse called me and tried to tell me he had the chicken pox (again). I told her it was impossible as he had the vax and the illness, and no, I would not be picking him up from school. The schools went along with the state's recommendation that all of these kids get the vax, and now we can't even tell who has been exposed to it or not. At least I know I had it as a kid and will get the shingles vax when I turn 50 or whatever the recommendation is.

[seabeyond]

21. this is what pissed me off from the get go. i could not get a single doctor to confirm shot lasted

any amount of time. i would ask.... do they need to get another later in life. does it wear off. are they prone to getting chicken pox now as an adult. and seeing how chicken pox is so much more dangerous for adult male especially and preg women, arent we setting our kids up for later

no one can answer, or has

[Ilsa]

25. Exactly. They cannot answer those questions. They are using this

generation as guinea pigs. Oh well. "we'll see."

[seabeyond]

26. yep.... shaking head in disgust with those that DO NOT think outside box. n/t

[knitter4democracy]

30. They now recommend a booster.

The booster wipes out any financial benefit from the vax. It's been all over the med journals. There was almost a whole issue about it in NEJM awhile back.

[seabeyond]

31. i dont read med journals and i bet a lot of parents that got kids these shots dont read med journals

this was a stupid, greedy and irresponsible act to force kids to get these shots that will possibly/probably cause a major problem down the road, but what the fuck.....

[knitter4democracy]

33. Hubby's an internist, so I read his journals.

I agree on the shots, though. We've put off some and refused others.

[seabeyond]

35. good for you. i mean that sincerely. BUT what about ALL of us that have heard NOTHING

about needing to give kids another shot cause the damn chicken pox vaccination was about greed and not the child's health.

rhetorical question.... doesn't need an answer. we will just all have to deal with it as time goes by

i am remembering another thread where i recall you guys did/do shots your way. good for you. my kids were before the info started coming out. i really wish i had done it differently

[knitter4democracy]

39. Our kids had bad reactions, so we had to change their regimen.

Well, that, and I think it's ridiculous to give babies Hep B shots on their first day of life. The chief of peds where Hubby trained in med school admitted that the Hep B one is because it's harder to get teens in for shots. Seriously. Grrrrr!

Honestly, my best source for information when I was preggers and trying to figure out what to do was Mothering Magazine. Onehotmama.com's message boards were also very, very good. Those gave me places to start looking for information. The regular parenting mags are terrible! Horrible product placement-based articles with very few good ideas in any issue. Ugh.

And yes, the peds need to do a better job of getting the word out to their own, let alone parents. I fired two pediatricians before finding a good one. They both argued with me about the pneumovax, and when I shoved the NEJM article in their faces that proved they were wrong, they got more than a little nasty.

Oh, and most hospitals have a library with all the journals and websites for free. They often let patients do research there, too, even though the library's technically for the doctors and residents and nurses. Good place to look things up. :)

[npincus]

19. no one got it this year, and we've been swapping sicknesses

all winter. I don't know if it would have made a difference, but am feeling a little guilty.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

43. It would not have made a difference, this year the flu vaccine was pretty inneffective..

[hedgehog]

20. My grandmother used to get a flu shot every year even though it made her ill.

But then, she had vivid memories of the friends she lost to the flu in 1919.

I suspect that the fever and chills some people develop after getting a flu shot are either the result of exposure to a virus (i.e. they would have been sick anyways even without the shot) or else an immune system reaction to the challenge presented by the vaccine (technically, not catching the flu.)

My family members have all been vaccinated annually for years. I was shocked at how ill my kids were when they caught influenza as toddlers. Later on, vaccination became an imperative as a means of building a circle of protection around my son who has severe asthma. The vaccination is not 100% effective. People most likely to suffer complications from influenza because of compromised immune systems are the very people for whom the vaccine doesn't work well. In other words, my 80 year old mother could get a dozen shots and still not develop a resistance to the flu. That's the reason her children and grandchildren get vaccinated.

[LostinVA]

23. Influenza is a murderer, especially for kids and the elderly

I always got the flu until I started getting shots, and have never had it since then. But, for those at risk, the shot should be a nobrainer: the Flu kills, even now and even in the United States.

[seabeyond]

24. wow and 46 never had the flu, and kids have never had, and since married, hubby never had

yet..... you get it what?..... ALWAYs.....

i dont know a soul connected in anyway, family, friend or aquaintence that has been murdered by the flu. for a rampant murderer i would imagine it would touch about all our lives one way or another.

you want the shot, feel comfortable with the shot, .... take it.

the rest of us can decide for ourselves and if in 46 i have never had the flu, it is a no brainer i dont need to get it year after year, .... especially seeing how the shot is so hit and miss

[w8liftinglady]

40. I remember about 10-11 years ago-I lost numerous patients-esp pregnant ones,to flu

it ain't pretty.I made my boys get the flu shot.A mild case is better than a severe one

[semillama]

44. Now that I'm going to be a dad, I'm going to get the flu shot every year

I'd like to reduce my chances of being laid up sick when I could be helping with the baby and helping around the house, not to mention I'd like to save my personal days for family time.

[knitter4democracy]

29. Tell me about it. The kids and I got a terrible flu this year.

Hubby, who got the flu shot, didn't get sick at all. I then got a coughing thing after the flu that was so bad that I broke a rib.

We're all getting flu shots next year.

[taught_me_patience]

41. I'm at home sick with the flu today

I didn't have the shot because, ironically, I was out sick the day my company was giving them out for free. It's the last time I'll make that mistake. My fiance is a doctor and sees several people a week with the flu. She's been vaccinated and hasn't gotten it this year.

[KitchenWitch]

46. I am not for compulsory flu vaccine for kids (or anyone for that matter)

I do get the flu shot for myself and my kids every year. This year's vaccine did not cover the strain of the Influenza that my daughter is currently battling.

[BeHereNow]

47. NO FUCKING WAY am I, or anyone I love, going take a Flu shot from the VERY people who want us DEAD.

The global elite know perfectly well that the planet cannot sustain
the growing population with the remaining non renewable resources.
And I'm going to accept a vaccine from THEM?
The purveyors of EUGENICS, left over from NAZI world?

No thanks, I think I'll take my chances.

BHN