To be worried about the nasal spray flu vaccine?

[BoopTheSnoot]

My eldest DS (who is two) is scheduled to have the nasal spray flu vaccine tomorrow afternoon.
Both of my children are up to date with all their other vaccinations, we've never missed one.
But this one bothers me. I've heard a lot of people saying that it has some nasty side-effects, and that it is not particularly effective anyway (although the NHS says that it's more effective than the injected flu vaccine). Loads of people that I know with children in the eligible age bracket have chosen not to receive it.
It's left me unsure of whether my DS should have it or not. I know how dangerous flu can be in the very young and very old.
WWYD? Any experiences?

Listen to the doctors. If they say there is a reason to be concerned then that's different, but some people can't understand the difference between anecdotes and science, so they confuse coincidences like their child getting an illness, with actual side effects.

My dcs except ds1 have the flu vaccinations. No side effects
Dd1 has the injection and dd2 and ds2 have the nasal one

Even if there are side effects it's Preferable to getting flu

Each to their own but my dd had it 2 years ago and afterwards ended up with a temperature of 104 so ill she was almost catatonic and couldn't even talk. School didn't even send her home even though it transpired she was ill from lunch time and she was so out of it at first we thought she had had some awful trauma.
I also had flu vaccine when pregnant and the same week had a second trimester miscarriage where I lost my twins and almost bled to death so nobody in our house will ever have another

Even if there are side effects it's Preferable to getting flu

You can still get flu.

My 7 year old won't be having it.

The effectiveness rate is below 50% this year s mine aren't having it.

Have you got a link to evidence for this? The efficacy of each year's flu vaccine can't usually be assessed until the flu 'season' is over.
Last year's did have an unusually low efficacy, but it's always a bit of a gamble to see if they assess the most prevalent strains or not.
Personally, I always have it, and DS will when he's eligible. Flu is nasty, no the immunisation does eliminate the chances of getting it, but it helps.

How do we know the effectiveness if we haven't got to flu season yet .

That link to American organisation CDC is talking only about the flu 'shot' not the nasal vaccine. So its answer to 'Can you get flu from the flu vaccine' applies only to the flu shot.

You can get flu from the nasal vaccine as it is live strains you are receiving (4 different strains in the nasal vaccine I believe), albeit attentuated.

There is a small chance of getting flu from the nasal spray IF you already have a very compromised immune system- ie you're receiving chemo or you've had a bone marrow transplant. There is no chance of joe blogs on the street who has a normal immune system getting flu from the nasal spray.

I'll ask her. It may be info she has access to at work.

How do we know the effectiveness if we haven't got to flu season yet

Presumably via blood tests which would show if you had immunity to the strains you'd been vaccinated against.

I čant find any stats for this year, just from the 2015/2016 season. I don't think they will have effectiveness figures until flu season starts and people are affected by it.

I always say go with what qualified scientists say and not what you may have heard or googled....I'm often mystified by those who Google something for a couple of hours and think they are suddenly an expert....at the end of the day we all try and make an informed choice, but it's where you get your info from that counts.

I think it is perfectly possible for a person with a typical immune system to experience flu symptoms from the nasal vaccine.

The 'common' (upto 1 in 10 people affected) and 'very common' (more than 1 in 10 people affected) side effects of nasal vaccine are:

Runny/ stuffy nose (v common)
Reduced appetite (v common)
Weakness (v common)
Headache (v common)
Fever (common)
Muscle aches (common)

If you put those together, they sound suspiciously like a bog standard dose of flu to me!

Both myself and my 3yo have it. Me as I have an auto immune disorder (and pregnant )and if I catch the flu it could have disastrous consequences, and my DD as I can't risk her picking it up from nursery and bringing it home. And I can't depend that other parents will have there children done. She always gets a fever with it that evening but I dose up with calpol and she is ok. I got a nasty cold and migraine after mine but who's to say it wasn't a coincidence. I'd rather have that then the alternative. My husband also qualifies for it due to my condition.

My two have had theirs. DC1 aged 6 on Tuesday & DC2 aged 2 yesterday, both are completely fine & are on volume level 100 as normal.

My son had it on the last day of term. He was sick as a dog the whole holiday! Vomiting and temperature the first 4 days then no appetite for the rest of the holiday. He was miserable

My DD had it at the start of the week - no side effects

No side effects here either!