Anyone not given their child Flu Nasal Spray?

[CocoBean22]

Has anyone chose to not consent to their child having the flu nasal spray?

I'm not an anti vaxer by any means, my 9 year old has had all childhood immunisations.

Hes had the flu nasal spray previously and this year I’m questioning whether to let him have it, for a few reasons….

We never had a flu nasal vaccine when we were kids why is it a thing now?
He's otherwise fit and heathy
When he’s had it before he’s been poorly afterwards with a sore throat runny nose temp etc

So I’m wondering, has anyone else chose not to give it to their child and why?

Over the years I’ve personally known two healthy young people who’ve died from flu, so I’d take a day of my child ‘feeling a bit poorly’ over that.

Like you i am not anti vax and kids are up to date + a few extra like BCG and Hep A, but the nasal flu spray no.
DCs are healthy, no underlying conditions

We didn't have seat belts in the back of the car when we were a kid either and wearing them in the front wasn't compulsory. Why do we do it now?

The only vaccine I routinely refused. 4 x DC, never gave one of them permission for the flu nasal spray. I did however explain gillick competency to them when they were old enough and told them they were welcome to over ride my refusal. They never did.

Your first reason is plain silly.

My son got full blown flu even after the nasal spray last year. It was a week of hell, didn't leave the living room pretty much, toileting repressed, was falling asleep constantly. He was so poorly, I'd definitely take the side effects of the nasal spray to try and avoid that in future!

As well as protecting children from the flu, mass vaccinations create herd immunity which protects vulnerable individuals who are unable to take vaccines themselves.

I can't think of any good reason not to give the flu nasal spray to children. Every year, I'm depressed by the number of children in my class whose parents haven't given their consent (they are offered at my school).

The ‘why is it a thing now’ point is just plain silly, we didn’t have some cancer treatments when we were kids but we do now… because they’ve obviously been developed since, would you avoid those too?

I didn’t get my flu vaccine last year. I ended up coughing and snotting for 6 long weeks eventually turning into a lower respiratory infection.

I braved a weekend of feeling rough after my vaccine this year. Worth it.

Nasal sprays have been around for years
I think part of it will be for ease
parents nowadays wind the kids up into such a anxious state over needles there clinics are horrendous nasal easer to administer

Vaccines always seem unnecessary until / unless you get the thing you could have been vaccinated against, and then depending on how ill you are with that thing. I got my DC vaccinated against chicken pox because I didn’t want a week of them being itchy and feverish and miserable and me and DH having to take time off work for something easily preventable. But heaps of people are very relaxed about their kids getting chicken pox and don’t bother. So if you are content for your DC to have to go through having flu - both for them and you - then skip the vaccine. But don’t mix up what it’s like to have e a cold with what it’s like to have proper flu. Proper flu is a not just a bad cold - albeit that lots of people say they have flu when all they have is a bad cold!

Generally, uptake is about 50%, so half of all parents don’t consent, whether that is intentional or they just forget, it’s hard to say.

Both of mine have had it and always had. Never had any side effects in all these years.

I do it more for me and people like me than them. Of course, the flu is horrendous and if I could prevent them having to be off school for a week or two (and Dh and I having to take off work), yes, I would.

But I also have cancer. And I don’t need the flu. I get my flu and COVID jabs every year because while I’m pretty healthy myself, despite the cancer, I need to be in hospital to receive my treatments and I can’t do that if I have the flu. So really they get their vaccinations so I can stay as well as possible and so the other immunocompromised people, like my son’s best friend who just finished cancer treatment, are protected.

The immunisation team came to my daughter's school late last year and flu had already spread like wildfire. It decimated their attendance stats, kids and teachers alike were off for 1-2 weeks and mine ended up in hospital where the doctor said they'd had a huge number of kids in with it. Must have been a particularly bad strain round here. I had paid for my flu jab already and didn't catch it. Flu is awful so why risk it?

yes my sister decided to not give it to my 3 year old nephew last year. Two weeks over Christmas and new year he spent in the hospital with flu

I think if you or close family have ever had proper flu, you’d take the vaccine in a heartbeat. It was the worst illness I’ve had in 50 y.

One of mine couldn't have the nasal spray due to complex medical issues. They had an injection instead.

Regular exposure to different variations can build up better long term immunity, so the best time to expose the kids to as many variants as possible is while they are young and healthy and in a controlled way. That way they will have excellent immunity already for if/when they are no no longer young, fit and healthy.

I have paid to get the flu vaccine ever since I could afford the cost of it. I have had flu once and it was truly awful - shivering on the sofa cold but was unable to reach for the blanket at the other end of the sofa level of unwell.

As soon as my daughter has been able to get she has had the spray. She's not had any side effects. Last year a sickness bug went around her classroom the day after the flu vaccine. At first everyone jumped on the vaccine as the cause but as many that were afflicted hadn't had the vaccine as had - it was just a coincidence.

I used to have a lot of time off sick as a child as had I had reoccurring tonsillitis. It always seemed to strike when there was a disco or a school play I have so many memories of missing out and if I can reduce the risk of her having time off school or missing out on parties I will take it.

My FIL has COPD, asthma and damage to a lung from chemotherapy side effects. He is also in remission from two different cancers - we try to avoid making him unwell.

My uncle as a child had leukemia and I remember how scary it was at this time of year to avoid flu and viral illnesses. I go with the assumption I don't know how vulnerable the other people on the train, in the supermarket and so on are and flu vaccines are there to help them.

For me the collective picture of benefits to my child, my immediate family and those around me means I get my child the flu vaccine

Vaccines change all the time - my eldest didn't have the chicken pox vaccine, she was unable to have vaccines when she caught chickenpox. My second had it at 12 months as part of the mmrv. Had it not been available I would have paid for him to have it. Had my daughter been able to have vaccines before catching chicken pox I would have paid for her to have it.