Opinions on a flu jab for a 5 year old please.

[Radley]

DD2 has been really really ill with flu since Saturday and her temperature has rarely gone below 38.5 since then, all of a sudden it will spike to about 40.

I took her to the doctors yesterday and she has an ear and throat infection too, the doctor has said that he would like her to have a flu jab becuase of how ill she has been.

What do you think? Any opinions on the flu jab for a 5 year old?

We are in Budapest and our paed recommends it but I haven't had DS (5) as he very rarely gets ill. (I give him Eskimo Kids fish oils and Vivioptal every day - don't know if that is the reason).

However - if your GP recommends it I would prob do it. My sis used to have it every year when she was working and while it didn't prevent her getting the flu, she def found that she wasn't as ill.

My son has one every year as he has asthma. I think his first one was when he was 5 and he has had absolutely no problems at all with it.

Do you trust your doctor? I suppose if you do then I would go with his advice. However, I do know that children with certain medical conditions are offered the flu jab, but wouldn't personally think it necessary to give just because a child is very ill with the flu. My children have been very ill with the flu like you describe too, but I think it is just normal and it builds up their immune system.

My daughter is 20 months old and is an asthma sufferer. Would she benefit from a flu jab? I feel she is vulnerable because she attends a local nursery and obviously mixes with many children.

I have an asthmatic 5 year old who had it recently - no ill effects whatsoever. I'd go for it if offered.

My DD had it when she was 3. I thought, on balance, it was a good thing because she was always getting really bad asthma attacks.

LOs get two half-doses the first time.

If she's at risk from complications then I would get the jab without hesitation.

I'm asthmatic and had flu about 3 years ago now. It completely wrecked my lungs and every mild cold since my asthma has flared up. I get the jab every year now.

We do it for dd as she has asthma. She had her first flu jab when she was 3. For the first one they gave her two jabs a week or two apart.

I did read today that the flu jab might be quite a mismatch for the flu viruses that are likely to be circulating this winter. Apparently one of the component viruses has drifted and another of the components may have drifted too. So it might not be quite so effective this year.

I suppose (re OP) it would depend on what 'very ill' means - can you get your doctor to elaborate on what his/her concerns are for your dd if she catches flu?

My dd2 has laryngomalacia that made an RSV bronchiolitis infection at 4 weeks old very, very serious (HDU for a week) and as her larynx isn't hard yet, they're offering her a flu jab in case of breathing complications during flu. That swings it for me - breathing problems, ugh. But not sure I'd go for it for some other reasons - hard to say.

Just copying exactly the same post I put to another query re flu jab earlier in the week:

Personally I wouldn't unless your child has a chronic condition. I am a mother of a child with a chronic condition and by the time ds2 was well enough for the jab last year, there were none left . I am unsure if it was because they genuinely ran short or if people with no medical problems were coming in and having or paying for jabs.

Children get ill, it's a fact of life and although not pleasant for anyone involved, normal, healthy children are likely to recover just fine. The risks to those with chronic conditions are serious complications or death. Priority should be given to those in real need.