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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to give my child Flu jab

422 replies

Binjob118 · 30/09/2023 19:55

My son is 6 and has been offered the nasal flu jab at school. He has had it the last 2 years and had no problems, but I now feel reluctant to give it to him. Does a healthy child really need this? I have to admit this change in my thinking has come about since the COVID vaccine rollout and the many vaccine injuries that seem to be being ignored by the MSM.

OP posts:
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9
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 02/10/2023 16:37

Up to you, but I’d rather my kids didn’t get flu. Flu is miserable.

Fergie51 · 02/10/2023 16:44

I don’t understand the problem of getting a nasal spray up both nostrils to help avoid getting flu. Do you think the NHS would have this campaign for children to receive the vaccine if it wasn’t worthwhile?
Flu is not a heavy cold and cough. It can be very dangerous at all ages.
Dont get me started on those who have still to have their child vaccinated against measles!

HowcanIhelp123 · 02/10/2023 16:49

It isn't just to protect the elderly. Lots of people are vunerable. Children spread illnesses like flu very effectively.

Mine and DHs workplace, like a fair number of others I know, are offering to reimburse private flu vaccination costs for all its staff that aren't NHS eligible. Flu vaccine costs £10-£20. Thats an hour or two at minimum wage. Where I am lots of places are having huge staffing issues due to illness. Places are deciding that its worth paying a couple of hours worth of wages to stop people missing an entire week and potentially not being able to open or operate due to staff being off with flu.

You may think, well my kid will be fine if they get flu. But if they're home, you have to stay home look after them. Thats you off work for a week. For some parents that would be unpaid and can't cope with that. That may mean your workplace between holiday and other staff (or their childs) illnesses can't open or operate. It could get passed around the school staff and mean year groups need to be sent home. It's not just protection from severe illness, there are also several other factors that come into play.

Daisybuttercup12345 · 02/10/2023 17:13

smallshinybutton · 30/09/2023 19:56

Don't then. Just don't complain if he gets flu or passes it on to a relative who then dies.

This.

SaltyOne · 03/10/2023 00:06

@Summermeadowflowers

It isn’t about my personal opinion - only in the sense that we do what we feel personally comfortable with as parents - it’s about who actually benefits from the vaccine. If the purpose of giving it to children is to protect the elderly then that’s not great but many feel it’s a small ask, so to speak, an act of unselfishness that children should willingly undertake. I am not sure how comfortable I am with it.

Well, now you know that children benefit from the vaccine, that should increase your comfort level knowing you're not primarily protecting elderly people. Is that what you wanted?

SaltyOne · 03/10/2023 00:11

@Audreysbaywindow

SaltyOne there is a lack of basic knowledge, but I think the bigger issue is that schools churn out people who have passed exams but haven’t really been taught to think. People lack basic research skills and analysis skills to understand the difference between facts and evidence, and anecdotal faux scientific rhetoric.

I think you've nailed it. Also they seem unable to sift between fact and opinion; use a range of sources from varied viewpoints; and assess an argument critically.

Volhhg · 03/10/2023 01:14

How did you find out that you had flu? I find that in the UK unless you're in hospital with some kind of complication you would never be tested for flu

Thementalloadisreal · 03/10/2023 01:20

Why do people sometimes write flu “jag” instead of “jab”. Is it a typo/fat thumbs issue or is it some kind of tin foil hat conspiracy lingo?

NotReadyForAutumnYet · 03/10/2023 02:07

I'll be getting for mine. Flu can be nasty. Also due to the push to attend school when you're infectious and maximise illness to access education - kids need all the help they can get! Re:covid vaccine - did government actually say it wasn't suitable for children? There is a school of thought that advocates using kids as human boosters for population immunity with covid - I think that's pretty sinister, given what we already know about longer term impacts.

SaltyOne · 03/10/2023 02:33

NotReadyForAutumnYet · 03/10/2023 02:07

I'll be getting for mine. Flu can be nasty. Also due to the push to attend school when you're infectious and maximise illness to access education - kids need all the help they can get! Re:covid vaccine - did government actually say it wasn't suitable for children? There is a school of thought that advocates using kids as human boosters for population immunity with covid - I think that's pretty sinister, given what we already know about longer term impacts.

What do we know about longer-term impacts of the covid vaccine?

TheBaddestTurkeyInTown · 03/10/2023 02:45

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 30/09/2023 20:01

It isn't to protect the elderly.

Show quote history

It is to protect the elderly. Because when flu vaccinations were first made available to the elderly, there was a very low uptake. The elderly are seen as “bed blockers” when hospitalised, so the nasal vaccine was rolled out for healthy children - administered in schools to ensure a high update and to reduce spread of flu so the elderly didn’t get ill.

TheBaddestTurkeyInTown · 03/10/2023 02:45

Thementalloadisreal · 03/10/2023 01:20

Why do people sometimes write flu “jag” instead of “jab”. Is it a typo/fat thumbs issue or is it some kind of tin foil hat conspiracy lingo?

It’s a term used in Scotland.

TheBaddestTurkeyInTown · 03/10/2023 02:46

mondaytosunday · 01/10/2023 10:28

Id get any vaccine offered. My daughter has MS and is in immunocompromised due to her medication. She's a teenager. You bet she's getting everything, and if she had younger siblings they'd be getting any jabs too.

Can she have a live vaccine?

Coyoacan · 03/10/2023 02:48

I would never give it, sorry, but giving my child vaccines to protect the elderly is not something i agree with

I'm elderly and I agree with you.

Contraryjane · 03/10/2023 03:06

I had flu when I was 9. It was awful.
That I can still remember that feeling 54 years later must tell you how ill I felt.
Think of your child.

Roselilly36 · 03/10/2023 03:27

@TheBaddestTurkeyInTown No she shouldn’t. I have MS, I was told by my MS Nurse Specialist, very soon after my diagnosis never to have a live vaccine.

yogasaurus · 03/10/2023 05:35

Mine have all vaccines (inc chickenpox) but they don’t have the flu spray.

Uptake is very low now in DC’s school since it’s become express consent via a form, we’re far from the only ones.

SleepyTimeBlues · 03/10/2023 05:38

My kids have already had theirs. I had mine last week.

I don't understand why you wouldn't. It's a nasal spray for kids so not invasive. Minimal side effects. Reduces their chances of getting flu or becoming seriously ill with it. Reduces the circulation of flu which protects vulnerable children and adults. Also eases pressure on NHS if they don't have to deal with as many cases.

I had flu last year, missed 10 days of work (NHS worker) and felt like I was going to die. I dread to think how unwell I would have been had I not been vaccinated.

This thread is rather depressing but also quite eye opening as to the power and reach of the anti vaxx rhetoric and misinformation being spewed by media 'contrarians'. Seems there is a lot of money and power in misleading the public.

Bingbangboo64 · 03/10/2023 05:48

All my kids are completely unvaxed, beside first she had hers up to 4th month suffering each time side effects and getting hospitalized. Never again.

Bingbangboo64 · 03/10/2023 05:50

Contraryjane · 03/10/2023 03:06

I had flu when I was 9. It was awful.
That I can still remember that feeling 54 years later must tell you how ill I felt.
Think of your child.

You need 2x flu vaccines per flu season to be covered,they last about 3-4 months. Vax failure rate is very high they often get the strains wrong,one year is was 4% chance it will prevent flu and lets not forget a out the hundred possible side effects- from flu itself to meningitis caused hy the vaccine and as flu vaccine is a live vaccine shedding to other people.

whereaw · 03/10/2023 05:54

I wouldn't give my children the covid vaccine but both will be having the flu nasal spray

notahappybunny7 · 03/10/2023 05:57

Summermeadowflowers · 30/09/2023 20:01

I don’t think I’m going to bother to be honest. My friends children have become quite distressed at having it and if the vaccine isn’t for his direct benefit I won’t be putting him through it.

Children have died with the flu. I wouldn’t give my child a vaccine to protect anyone but her, she gets the flu one as that is nasty.

LoudSnoringDog · 03/10/2023 06:07

My DD ( age 10) had her flu nasal spray yesterday and I’ll get my jab at work this week.

I recall being about 9 and my Mum had Flu. She was bedridden for well over a week and I genuinely thought she was dying ( I have a very vivid recollection of going bed and going into hug her, convinced she would not be alive the next morning).
she was SO poorly.

that alone is enough to convince me to have it and for DD to have it.

re the elderly, essentially the more of the population that has the vaccine creates greater “herd immunity”. This helps protect ALL vulnerable to complications ( including death) from the flu. Not just the elderly

RafaistheKingofClay · 03/10/2023 06:13

Summermeadowflowers · 02/10/2023 09:56

Because that’s morally unethical to me. I’ve stated for me because I recognise it’s a personal choice and I’m not trying to imply or suggest that those who make different choices are wrong, but I do not believe young children should be having vaccinations to benefit others, particularly when those others are adults and presumably able to have their own flu vaccinations.

But all vaccines benefit others. It’s dual purpose. It protects your child from being hospitalised and halos to protect others by reducing spread.

And in terms of risk management, when rates of childhood immunisations are high enough to prevent diseases circulating, it makes far more sense individually to have the flu jabs than the regular childhood ones.

RafaistheKingofClay · 03/10/2023 06:38

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163445313003733

This is from 2014 but will still be relevant. 2 in every 1000 healthy under 5s will be admitted to hospital with flu every year. That’s the highest level in all age groups. It’s lower in 5-14 year olds (1 in every 10,000 healthy children) but I’d imagine that the risk is probably weighted towards the lower end of that group given the issue with respiratory infections is complicated by size.

Last year around 200children a week were being admitted to hospital because of flu in October and that wasn’t at the peak of flu season.

It’s really inaccurate to suggest that children are not at risk from flu and don’t need protecting.