Flu vaccines for school age kids

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Son has just started school and being offered flu jabs for first time at school.

Can I just say this is not an antivax discussion. My children are fully vaccinated in all other areas including chickenpox.

I am questioning whether to consent to the flu jabs or not. Having remembered about research I read many moons ago about childhood exposure being very important to adulthood illness rates. Ie. They could tell which age groups would be most or less ill based on the strains that circulated in their younger years.

So have been doing some research and found this paper… https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755436518300732

What I am struggling to unpick is that this is based on a population level… I cannot say whether my children will get very ill from flu; nor can I say whether the vaccines will be a good match in all these years - and if not does that increase their risk; both now and in the future.

It’s slightly boggling my mind and feels like a gamble either way. Has anyone looked at this and what did you decide?

I used to give them it when they were little, but after Covid etc I don’t.

It’s not a jab at primary school age.

my son caught the flu last year and he was pretty much wiped out for a week. I dresd to think what he would have been like if he didn’t have the vaccine last year.
Both kids are having it this year.

I think for every scientific paper you can find that says one thing, you can find another that says the opposite. I don’t want my DS to get flu so I vaccinate him. It takes a fair amount to get something added to the vaccination schedule in the UK so I trust that there is enough compelling evidence of an overall benefit.

My ds2 had flu when he was a baby. It was awful. My dc always get the flu jab.

I think the vaccine mainly protects older people and ill people, many of whom die of the flu every year. School are like infection factories basically.

But I always get the kids one. We all had the flu one December, had no Santa visit, missed the Panto. My DH got a chest infection and was sick for 8 weeks. It was all awful.

Kids pick up enough crap to develop their immune system.

It’s a nasal spray at primary age.

I’ve consented for my DC. I had flu once when I was in primary school and it wiped me out for a week. I didn’t have any serious side effects, but it still wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Even if the vaccine only offers partial protection, it’s still going to help them if they’re exposed to flu IMO.

Wasn't your DC invited in the years before starting school?

Its a nasal spray and no big deal for them. If you're worried about it then don't agree to it - there's no pressure. Just remember that flu is miserable and could mean two weeks off school.

They don't need to be exposed to anything extra and giving jabs is safer and better for them than trying to get them to catch things. Until very recently, we didn't give the chickenpox vaccine, and people tried to "expose" their child instead. Most were fine. Some had very bad effects, just like with measles a long time before, and as being discussed now in America now due to anti-vax. The only ones at our school that didn't have it were off a lot more than the ones that did (I know you might say there's other reasons those parents might have kept them home), plus you'll maybe reduce the chance of them spreading things to others.
They wouldn't recommend it if they didn't think it helped (I'm not saying there's never been something recommended by doctors that wasn't good, but the vast majority of the time, it is).

I’ve glanced over your link. It’s useful at a population level - like if you were a government deciding whether to vaccinate kids or not. It’s not useful deciding whether you want the flu this year in your house.

I stopped consenting a few years ago after covid.i read that it mainly benefitted the older generation to vaccinate the young. However we all got the flu once Xmas and seeing my then 5 year old too ill to get out of bed to open presents was heartbreaking.
i vaccinate them now because of this!
we were all so ill but it wiped my 5 year old out and she was in bed for over a week. Didn’t even want an iPad (which would have been a treat!)

Thank you, good to know it’s nasal!

Hmm I hadn’t considered Christmas.

I want to do what’s best for my child. I will continue the research and see if things become clearer for me.

The illness now versus protection in adult life is a gamble.
Maybe the same strains will circulate in the future, or maybe not
Maybe the flu jab is poorly effective against this year's strain
Maybe your child will choose/need to always get a flu jab in adulthood for health or work reasons

Do what is best for today. Flu is bloody awful. I've had it as an adult. My DH had it as a kid. We were both very ill with it. I wanted to protect my DC from feeling equally ill. I also wanted to protect my older/ill/pregnant relatives from my potential germ infested child. They stand a chance of dying from flu and I wouldn't want to feel any responsibility for them getting it.

You can choose nasal or injection.

I wasn’t aware of this. I’ve looked into the vaccines effective and it looks to be effective at reducing illness, but there’s no evidence that it reduces hospital admissions in kids. But I’m not sure if that’s just because it hasn’t been tested.

I am fine with opting in and I took DD for hers at the GP surgery this year and last (she is not school age.) Honestly though I am not sure that it directly benefits them, it’s more to stop others getting unwell. So I do know what you mean and feel a bit dubious. If it was an actual jab I’d be more hesitant but the nasal thing is very non invasive.

My kids are vaccinated but I avoid this one. It is often not particularly effective in terms of strains and I don’t think we should vaccinate the young to protect the elderly. Young people need viruses to an extent.

if mine had asthma I might think differently

The thing with flu is that it changes alot, even in the time it takes the vaccines here to be made based on the flu that the Australians have literally just passed on to the rest of us. So the vaccine is very short term this is why I have to drag myself to boots every October for my jab.
Really long term affects are neither here nor there. So thinking not vaccinating will help create immunity is probably not worthwhile. As the flu is always mutating.
The UK government and the NHS, the medical wing of said government, want to reduce flu as much as possible in the vulnerable groups, older adults and people with existing conditions because it kills them. And whilst killing them they have to be treated in hospitals which is both expensive and not very effective.
However any epidemic will also have a massive negative effect on working people as parents take time off to care for sick children then get sick themselves. Also some children and seemingly healthy young adults will die, flu is nasty and unpredictable.
The vaccine given to young children like your child means they won't get sick and from a community point of view cant pass it to someone else and so on. Its an expensive process for the country. There are always people like yourself who dont want to vaccinate, in a democracy that is your right of course.
The NHS offer free jabs to all their staff and good employers offer vouchers, flu is no joke for older adults who seem healthy, it wiped me out for a month I have never been so ill, my jab is on Friday.

Proper flu is absolutely awful, we aren't taking about temperature when having a cold, it's a real strain on the full body and can takes weeks to really clear up and you feeling well again.

We vaccinate and in the past I paid for jabs for DD when she fell through the age gaps because she was in GCSE and A-level years. She is now at uni and will get a jab as well.

I was jabbed last year and still had it, 4 days in bed and 1 week feeling too ill to do more than resting. I really wonder what it would have been without the jab.

In addition you have the herd immunity, less worry about passing it on to grandparents, teachers and other children who then could pass it on.

You’re ok with the risk of your DC’s becoming ill with the flu? Why take the risk?
You obviously don’t have elderly family members and friends with health problems if you don’t want to protect them.

None of us can predict what will circulate in many years to come.

kids are superspreaders and schools are the perfect environment for viruses to spread.

Dc being ill, spoiling Christmas, missing school, you having to take time off work are all valid reasons for your dc to have the vaccine (nasal spray at that age) , but there is also the herd immunity aspect to consider. Doing it for the greater good - so that their teacher, school cook, surgeon who’s operating on granny’s hip next week, bin men etc don’t get ill, affecting society as a whole.

I’ve been vaccinating as a nurse for over 25 years.
My children are fully vaccinated, but I never consented to the nasal flu. Millions of eligible vulnerable and older people decline the flu vaccine, I see it year on year. My children are not in a clinical risk group. The children’s flu programme is largely (not solely) to protect spread to the masses. I refused to give consent for them to be vaccinated against something those most vulnerable refused to be vaccinated against themselves.

I do understand the feeling of not wanting to help others who won't take reasonable steps to help themselves. But if that is your main reason, what about the elderly/ill who do get vaccinated but fail to seroconvert adequately because of their age/treatment/illness. And what about NHS resources that are funneled towards winter pressure, leaving less for everything else. Do you choose to be vaccinated to protect your patients?

The only people I’ve looked after on ECMO due to flu were unvaccinated people who were not in a ‘clinical risk group’. Including children. One is still in the local paper occasionally to follow up on their months in rehab and amputations required due to consequences of flu. The others aren’t because they died.

We vaccinate our children.

Even if the vaccine is not an exact match for the virus it still helps lessen severity.
I'm pro-vaccine, but, fgs, why won't people do the far easier and non-invasive wearing of medical masks and isolating as much as possible when ill?

Our 12yo is having his this week at school.

I admit that it didn't even occur to me to have it until the pandemic. DH and I have it every year now.