The Flu Vaccine
Posted: Fall 2008

Greenwich Pediatric Associates has begun annual influenza vaccination. Influenza can be a devastating illness.

The Flu Vaccine

Greenwich Pediatric Associates has begun annual influenza vaccination. Influenza can be a devastating illness. The following is information concerning influenza disease and ways to protect your family. Please call the office to schedule an appointment for your children to receive the vaccine.

What is influenza?

Commonly known as the flu, influenza is a virus that infects the trachea (windpipe) or bronchi (breathing tubes). Symptoms come on suddenly and include high fever, chills, severe muscle aches, headache and sometimes runny nose and a cough.
Each year in the United States, influenza kills about 40,000 people. Complications of influenza include severe, and occasionally fatal, pneumonia. Although elderly adults are the group most likely to die from influenza infections, infants and young children are the group most likely to be hospitalized by influenza infections (about 200,000 hospitalizations are caused by influenza virus annually in the United States).

Who should be vaccinated?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children between 6 months and 18 years receive annual influenza vaccine because children are high-risk for severe or fatal influenza. Especially high-risk groups include children less than 5 years old or those with asthma, diabetes, cancer, or other chronic diseases.

For children 6 months to 9 years of age that are receiving the influenza vaccine for the first time, a series of two shots is administered, separated by one month. A single influenza shot is administered yearly for other children.
A recent change in influenza vaccination is the addition of a nasal-spray vaccine which can be given to healthy children 2 years and older. Children younger than 2 or children with those with medical problems such as asthma should receive the injectable version of the influenza vaccine.

Additionally, you can protect your child by getting a flu vaccine for yourself too. This is especially important for parents of children who are younger than 6 months.

Does the influenza vaccine have side effects?

Side effects from the influenza vaccine are extremely rare. Fever or muscle aches generally occur in those never immunized before or those who have never experienced influenza before. These symptoms do not mean that you have "the flu." Because the vaccine virus is "inactivated," it does not cause respiratory symptoms, such as congestion and cough, which are common with influenza infections.

Who should not be vaccinated?

Those with severe egg allergies should not receive the influenza vaccine. Children younger than 6 months also cannot receive the vaccine.

What is FluMist?

The FluMist vaccine is a live weakened form of influenza virus that is given as a nasal spray. The vaccine protects against serious influenza infection without having to get a shot and is recommended for healthy people between 2 and 49 years of age. However, the vaccine should not be given to people who have asthma or are allergic to eggs. Recent evidence suggests that the FluMist may be more effective than the traditional inactivated injectable vaccine.

Do the benefits of the influenza vaccine outweigh the risks?

The influenza vaccine can cause mild side effects. Severe side effects (such as anaphylaxis) do occur rarely. When anaphylaxis does occur, it can be successfully treated. On the other hand, influenza hospitalizes and kills more people in this country than any other vaccine-preventable disease — about 200,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths occur every year. Therefore, the benefits of the influenza vaccine clearly outweigh its risks.

Sources:
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (www.chop.edu)
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov)
Prevent Influenza Now (www.preventinfluenza.org)