Flu vaccine - help deciding.

[Idontwant2]

Please can I ask for some opinions on the flu vaccine. Long story of why incoming…

My DS is 9 and I don’t know why but I’m really torn over this vaccine. He has had every other childhood vaccine so is up to date but this one I can’t decide.

He has had the flu vaccine once (nasal spray) and we don’t know if it was coincidence or the spray but within days of having it he was unwell with sore throat, temp etc but it went on for 6 weeks. We obviously didn’t want to put him through that situation again so he’s not had the flu vaccine since as we aren’t prepared to find out if that was the cause back then, right or wrong.

last Oct before the school even had the vaccine day my son became unwell with stomach pains, these were originally thought to be appendicitis but during test in hospital they swabbed his nose and actually discovered that it was glands in his belly swelling due to him actually having the flu. He was unwell for 9 days in total and has made a complete recovery.

Now my dilemma, flu season is once again upon us, we don’t want him to have the nasal spray for the reason above but we also don’t want him to have flu again if we can help prevent that. I’m thinking of him possibly having the injection as I believe that’s not a live version but i just don’t know.

Any opinions or advice welcome.

I’ll be crucified by all the people who come after me, but I wouldn’t give it to your child. It’s a notoriously ineffective vaccine as they’re guessing at what flu strain might be the most dominant one.. however my personal experience and observing people who took it at work when it was offered, every time I had a flu vaccine I was actually ill, and the people who had the vaccine at work were often ill too. Getting genuine flu is actually a rare occurrence. Every year i will have some kind of sniffle. But not floor me for two weeks proper flu.

instead with my own children, I’ve majored on feeding them incredibly well and ensuring they’re having immune boosting and non-processed foods. And I high-dose them on vitamin C at the first sign of any trouble.

We are in the same situation I’ve done the consent but thinking of changing and not having it this year as last year my dc were so ill immediately after it

The problem with asking on MN is that people state opinion as fact and this particularly happens when people talk about flu.

Your very first reply says Getting genuine flu is actually a rare occurrence. Every year i will have some kind of sniffle. But not floor me for two weeks proper flu. They don't track all the data but think that between 5% and 15% of people get it and it's on the higher end for children and teens. Plus, flu isn't marked by symptoms. It's a virus and by its very nature, some people experience it as a sniffle and some people have no symptoms at all.

I know plenty of people who've opted for the jab rather than the nasal spray and found this an acceptable solution.

My daughter has had the injection version every year since she was 12. We got it done privately and this was the lowest age for which it could be done privately. She has never had any reaction to it apart from a sore arm for few hours.

We do it every year and I’m so glad we did it last year.

Flu came to their school and in my daughter’s class there was one day where only 6 children were in. The rest were very ill at home with flu. The 6 that were in all had the vaccination.

I didn’t have it one year, got flu that turned into pneumonia. I was ill for the entire of December. No one else in the house got the flu because they were all vaccinated.

Influenza is more dangerous for children then lots of other respiratory bugs (more deaths every year than COVID in under 15s). The injection is a cocktail of four inactivated strains. If your child doesn't get on well with the live vaccine, they would be better off getting the inactivated vaccine. Certainly better getting the vaccine than actual flu.

I pay privately for the flu vaccine because I work with young adults and I don't want them passing it on to me.