Flu
When it comes to illnesses, mothers need to make sure that their young children don't get influenza. This illness is quite dangerous and can cause death if not treated properly. To prevent influenza from affecting children, they are often given flu vaccines. According to medical specialists, getting the vaccine is the best and trusted way of preventing anyone from being sick with the flu.
Influenza vaccines need to be taken every year in order to be effective. This is because the influenza virus cleverly mutates and may be immune to last year’s vaccine. However, children who are 6 months to 8-years-old require two doses of the vaccine. For first timers, the second dose needs to be given a month after the first one.
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Flu vulnerability
Even though all children can greatly benefit from getting the influenza vaccine, there are others who are highly susceptible to the illness and need the vaccine as soon as possible. Flu vaccines are a must for a child with a weak immune system or if the child suffers from diabetes, cancer, heart or lung disease. Influenza vaccine should not be given to a child who is allergic to chicken eggs. This is because the vaccine is grown in chicken eggs and might have some traces of egg protein.
Vaccine administration
Influenza vaccines are administered in two ways: injection or nasal spray. Vaccines that are to be injected contain an inactive flu virus while the nasal spray has a live, but weak, virus. Once the virus enters the body, the immune system will react and hurriedly build antibodies to fight it.
Both vaccine administration methods are safe for children. However, children younger than 2 years old are encouraged to take the injection.
Side effects
There are several reports of flu vaccine side effects that are scaring parents of young children all over the world. However, it is important to note that these exaggerated flu vaccine side effects aren’t even true. Flu side effects are very minimal and would only last a day or two.
The most common flu vaccine side effects experienced by people who received a vaccination through an injection include: low-grade fever, pain or mild numbness in the injected arm, redness at the injection site, sore throat, and fatigue. For children who received the nasal spray vaccine, they usually experience vomiting, fever, runny rose or headaches.
These flu vaccine side effects usually start appearing within 6 to 12 hours after the vaccine is given. On rare cases, flu vaccine side effects can include paleness, breathing difficulty, and elevated heart rate. If one of these is experienced by your child, go to the doctor immediately.
Overall, the advantage of the flu vaccine trumps the flu vaccine side effects. It is safe and worth investing in. All parents should seriously think about having their children vaccinated.
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