Toddler had swine flu vaccine last year - does he need it again this year?

[moonstorm]

Thanks

i thought it was a once only vaccine....if not, your surgery should notify you to get a booster etc.....but i am really thinking it was once only.

Swine flu has been included in the seasonal 'flu vaccine this year. They are only offering it to those who are in the traditional at risk groups like asthmatics etc. If your DC is not in one of those groups it wouldn't be specifically indicated.

Dc's in the risk groups will be offered it every year, and as xstitch says, its a combined one this year.

According to what I have been reading YES. The reason being that these vaccines result in short term memory recognition of the virus, so you do need a new vaccine every year to remain protected. I read this here :

If you received last year?s seasonal vaccine and the monovalent vaccine, is it necessary to receive this year?s vaccine? The answer is yes, because the H3N2 strain is different ? last year the vaccine contained a Brisbane strain while this year?s H3N2 isolate is from Perth. The full WHO report on strain selection is available as a pdf document.

What would be the answer if this year?s trivalent vaccine were identical to that used last year? The answer would still be to receive the vaccine, because the duration of immunity provided by the inactivated influenza vaccine has always been an issue. In elderly recipients (>65 years of age) immunity barely lasts for a single influenza season. Younger recipients will likely be protected from disease for one influenza season, and perhaps a second season as well, although in the latter case a milder respiratory disease may result. For these reasons the CDC recommends annual immunization against influenza virus for all individuals 6 months of age and older.