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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have no idea about this flu jab immunisation programme?

117 replies

GeeTeeEff · 07/10/2013 21:58

My 2 youngest dc's came home from school on Friday with letters saying their school is part of a new programme to start immunising all primary school pupils against flu.

It has never crossed my mind to have them immunised, they are rarely ill, never had flu so I'm thinking of not signing the permission forms.

Is it something everyone is doing? (Vaccinating that is) My mil said she wouldn't have them immunised as she felt quite ill after it.

OP posts:

Mrsdavidcaruso · 08/10/2013 08:22

Why is it that every NHS 'choices' bumf you read contains info why you should do things and dire warnings why you shouldn't but not a lot of mentions about your choices.

Noticed the same with Summery care records and cervical smear NHS 'choice' bumf very one sided patronising and not a lot of use.

havent had my letter yet but when I do I will not be swayed by the NHS official line but will do my own research

DontPanicMrMannering · 08/10/2013 08:59

I'm torn we had flu for the first time in April, you know for SURE what the difference between that and a cold is. I was unable to stop shaking and gasping for days and both dds were hospitalised :(

DD1 was pooing blood and dd2 (11months) was fitting and her heart rate was ridiculously high.

But I'm worried about the vaccine itself and we did come through it..

ChunkyPickle · 08/10/2013 09:04

I've never had the flu either, so I wouldn't bother with the vaccination myself, but DS seems to catch everything going (even things I'd never heard of before - luckily he's cheerful even when covered in spots/rashes/snot) so I'm going to take him in for his nasal spray vaccine when the surgery gets them in.

I had a look at it all, and I'm happy it's as safe as it can be, and I really think it's an improvement on a jab

DontPanicMrMannering · 08/10/2013 09:09

Chunky I'm 35 and had never even had a serious cold before April.

arethereanyleftatall · 08/10/2013 09:11

It isn't about your healthy children! It's,about the vulnerable people who they could pass it to with their snotty noses. Very selfish not to have it imo, if you can.

hazeyjane · 08/10/2013 09:15

yes, unfortunately a normal cold usually means ds ends up in hospital, god knows what would happen if he got flu, which is why I'm a bit cross that he seems to have been bumped because the clinics are so busy!

Mimishimi · 08/10/2013 09:16

I have a flu right now. I had the flu shot earlier this year for the first time ever. As of today, I've had two serious cases and two mild cases of the flu this year whereas I used to only get it once every few years and not so badly - maybe some fever for an afternoon and a couple of days of a chest infection. The past three days have been horrid with my body temp bouncing up and down like a yo-yo (up to 39!). My concern with the flu shot is what if it makes you less immune to the nastier strains around? I don't think I will get it again.

SuffolkNWhat · 08/10/2013 09:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheRealHousewifeOfSomewhere · 08/10/2013 09:22

I read somewhere that the average person gets flu roughly once every 10 ten years.

I would say thats about right. I am 41 and had real proper flu 4 times in my life.

Real proper flu (not the flu that everyone gets when a cold turns vile and nasty and makes you feel like death) is utterly awful, 10 x worse than the type of cold I have just mentioned, infact the cold symptoms are the nice bit of proper flu and can debilitate the most fittest of people. It can kill they young and the old. It killed a normal healthy friends Dad when he 47 a few years back.

That said - I am not sure there is every need to vaccinate every school child. DD1 gets the jab because she has 2 pre existing medical conditions. DD2 has no medical need for it but has been offered it since at boarding school so we have have taken it.

Its personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer and I would be interested to know what the "pressure" is like for those that opt their DC out.

I am too woo of needles to have the jab myself (although have no medical need to) and live in hope every year I will get away without it. DH gets offered it because of his job and usually takes it up. I live in the hope that with the DC and DH vaccinated I limit my chances of getting it but it is very contagious and think I am conning myself tbh.

yonisareforever · 08/10/2013 09:28

mimi when did you get the jab as far as i am aware they are only just available?

it takes 21 DAYS TR

O TO GEt immunity

OneLittleToddleTerror · 08/10/2013 09:29

DD had the nasal spray on Saturday. It is very quick and literally just two squirts in her nostrils. She was happily just chewing her breadstick through out, and was very happy with her 'I'm brave today' sticker. The nurse told me it's a live vaccine so she might get flu symptons in 10 days. It will be much much milder form of flu.

The thing with vaccine is that it's not 100% immunity. There might be strains that the vaccine isn't covering. (I don't know how they decide which strain to use as flu mutates every year and thats why you need a new jab each year).

But I'd rather DD has the vaccine then getting flu. She's in nursery full time so in a vunerable group. It's been offered to all 2 and 3 year olds in my area and will be slowly rolled out to all school children, though not sure if it's primary or including secondary.

OneLittleToddleTerror · 08/10/2013 09:30

I don't think there's any pressure to take this one up. Unlike measles, I think flu is generally milder. It just makes you feel very very ill for 7-10 days.

FavoriteThings · 08/10/2013 09:32

The Real. Same here. But unfortunately for me, I got it 4 years out of 6 in the 80's. Awful. Very big difference between a cold and flu. When someone says they dont know if they had a cold or flu, I know they had a cold.

On the fence about immunisisng young children though. Probably yes?

FavoriteThings · 08/10/2013 09:33

Flu left me bedridden for a week each time.

Mimishimi · 08/10/2013 09:35

This was in Hong Kong in January. Three of us had one jab and our son's (6 at the time) was administered in two doses.

johnworf · 08/10/2013 09:38

I don't there is any pressure to have this either. But, as another poster said, real flu is nothing like a cold. It'll floor you.

We are lucky enough to live in an area where they are offering the flu spray for primary school children too, not just the 2-3 year olds. However, my DD will be having her annual jab (as usual) on the advice of the GP surgery. The flu spray is a live vaccine whereas the jab isn't. My DD has had chest problems in the past due to her prematurity and she's also had pneumonia. Although I don't think her immune system is compromised, GP doesn't advise the live vaccine spray for those who might be compromised.

Dawndonnaagain · 08/10/2013 09:39

Chunky Unfortunately, as it's a virus, it doesn't mean it'll be any easier next time you get it.
Mini I strongly suspect you have a viral infection. If you had flu, you wouldn't be on here. A fever for an afternoon followed by a chest infection is just that, not flu.

yonisareforever · 08/10/2013 09:42

I have had vaccine at supermarket as has DH, I will probably pay for DD 6 to get it and not sure about the baby....she seems to get a tight chest so not sure.

ringaringarosy · 08/10/2013 09:46

mine wont be having it that's for sure,but they've not had any.

Mimishimi · 08/10/2013 09:46

I've had fever in two hour intervals for the past three days and have been in bed since last Friday. I've well and truly been floored ... and so has my pelvic floor This one started with massive body aches for two days (like a bad period x 10 and three days of fever/sweats so far although that subsided a bit this afternoon to be replaced by a racking chest cough).

The afternoon of fever and couple days chest infection was my only experience of it before the jab. Sigh. My cold are usually just sinus congestion and an irritable cough.

Original poster

GeeTeeEff · 08/10/2013 09:53

Ring, they've not had any vaccinations, ever?

OP posts:

ringaringarosy · 08/10/2013 09:56

no,neither have i.

ringaringarosy · 08/10/2013 09:58

Ive had all the diseases though,except meningitis and polio,had measles,mumps,rubella,whooping cough,chicken pox,etc.

Shelby2010 · 08/10/2013 10:00

My dd (2yrs) is getting the nasal spray this week. Any pre-schoolers I know who've had flu have had to be hospitalised for fluids etc & taken a long time to fully recover. Anything to minimise the risk.

I've had the jab already (pregnant) & DH will have it too. No side effects for me with the jab, but I understand that because the nasal spray is a live vaccine dd is more likely to get mild symptoms. However this is necessary as at that age the 'dead' virus in the jab doesn't always provoke the child's immature immune response enough to protect them.

People still die of flu, so unless you can't have it (eg egg allergy), why wouldn't you? Just because you've never had it before doesn't mean you wont ever get it!

ringaringarosy · 08/10/2013 10:02

Healthy people rarely die of flu.

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