To not give dc flu jab

[Somepoorbugger]

I didn't let my 7 and 9 year old have the flu jab this year. My reason was that some relatives had it a few years ago and were extremely sick afterwards. Me dp and dc have never had the flu and I probably ignorantly underestimated how nasty it can be.

I've started with a nasty cold this week - don't think it's flu as I'm still functioning just feel crap. But it made me think how terrible I'd feel if the kids did get it. Wibu to not let them have it and can I request it through the GP?

Why do people keep calling it a "jab"?
I mean, I got a jab as thats the adult one, but dc just had a nasal spray.

Hope you find somewhere! Good luck

I'm desperate to have my 3 year old vaccinated but they have none available. I feel awful that she's the only one in the household not protected.

This is not going to go well.

YABVVU and selfish. It's not just about your DC. It's about herd immunity and protecting the community. If my MIL gets flu she could die due to various medical issues. She relies on hers immunity to lower her risk of getting it.

My friends DS was on chemo and couldn't have the vaccine. Again, he relied on herd immunity to keep him safe.

Get your kids vaccinated. No one ever got flu from the vaccine alone.

I had flu. I couldn't lift my head from the pillow, got really scared about the pain in my head and neck. Really shallow, raspy breath, tonsillitis, sinusitis. I was wiped out for a few weeks. Then recurring tonsillitis for 6 months.
I thought you could pay for a jab in many pharmacies? About a tenner I thought? Money well spent.

I had mine done at the pharmacy and I paid £15.00.

Your best defence is a healthy diet and exercise.

Please tell the NHS and Public Health as they're saying the best defence is to get vaccinated.

From what I can see most of the pharmacies don't provide the nasal spray for kids

As it is 'live' it doesn't last as long as the adult version.

I have asthma and always get the flu jab, as even a cold badly affects my breathing. My 4 year old DS has had his vaccine too. Neither of us have ever had any side effects

MotherAbigail - the NHS vaccine is only routinely given to those children in Y6 and below at school. It was just a roll-out started a while ago and older children & teenagers have just always missed out (I have Y7 dc who have never had the free flu vaccine). For the last three years I have found a pharmacy to give my older children the vaccine. Mainly because one had flu the previous year and it was an awful experience, I'd never forgive myself if my child got that poorly again and it had been avoidable.
It is getting easier each year to find somewhere to give the jab. The last two jabs have been at Boots pharmacy. Not all Boots will but if you look on their website they have a list of pharmacies who will do the jab privately for children 11+ (I think it was 12.99).I also recently found out when I had mine done that Tesco will give it to children 12+.

I dont think you're hateful. I think you are ignorant. Kids die from flu. Vaccines help herd immunity, so without it your little bundles of flu virus may be passing it around.

Well, she's trying to fix it now.

Why is there reluctance from pharmacies? Is there any more risk for teenagers? My secondary aged child hasn't had it, first year of secondary it was always offered in primary.

75% of the school have been off for about 2 weeks.

No they haven't.

@Somepoorbugger you are not stupid you are concerned - but I would also suggest mislead. I was told when I had my flu jab that it takes about 3 weeks to kick in. What I always think is that we go into the gp surgery & sit amongst a lot of contagious patients - its hardly surprising that some people contract flu at that time its actually a wonder more don't! If your relatives got ill it was probably either that they got a version of the flu that they were not inoculated against (& WHO have basically to work on what is happening elsewhere (ie Australia they have the winter flu season before us & they have had a vicious outbreak this year) to work out what form the flu will mutate to -in the case of children 4 most likely varieties - sometimes, as in the last year, one variety develops that they didn't expect, but many people were still protected from the other varieties. Flu kills children & pregnant women & other vulnerable people & on occasion healthy adults (1918 flu epidemic look it up - more people died world wide than in WW1) -

They quite possibly have. Schools here have been closed (NE England) due to flu and noro doing the rounds. There are 220 children in my DC first school, last week 125 were absent according to the school receptionist when I remarked on how empty the yard was looking at drop off. I was called to collect DS at 10am on Friday and he was the 14th child so far that day ti have been sent home.

School nurse immunisation team call them and ask about catching your kids up

My youngest son is asthmatic
So gets the spray as does his brother who is 9

Before we have had the jag my older son and I have had a horrendous fluey bug been absolutely floored immunised boys both absolutely fine and never any side effects from the spray.

Don’t beat yourself up, you’re trying to sort it and I’m sure you will.

My son is being immunised tomorrow. He has a kidney condition and the flu jab is likely to cause a flare up (due to him having an immune response), his renal nurse said it’s still better than having the actual flu as he would be very unwell with that as well as having a flare up.

You will be able to get it through your GP. When my little girl had it the nurse told me it couldn't give her flu but that she might just have a runny nose for a few days.

My mum, who looks after her 3 days a week, had flu a few weeks back and I'm so glad she'd had her vaccine and didn't get flu too. No other member of our house got it either which may have something to do with her been immune and not passing it on...

Not rftt but YABU, your reasoning is off. You can't get flu from the vaccine. You might feel a little under the weather but you won't need to miss work. Your relatives either exaggerated this in their stories, or caught something unpleasant separately.

@bigvig
Your best defence is a healthy diet and exercises

No it really isn’t. It’s a virus, it doesn’t care what your diets like and how much exercise you do. Get educated.

I'm glad that your children will be getting the flu jab.
I forgot to get mine this year and I'm just recovering from my first ever bout of flu.
I can't believe how I'll I've been, never again will I forget to get my flu jab!

I really hope the GP will see him as I can't see any local pharmacies that offer it to kids under 11. I feel so stupid and upset with myself. Does anyone know how soon it is effective - ie how soon they're protected - after the spray?

Them* not him

2 weeks.