[Cherie]

so...…following on from the non vax conversation

how will this pan out, will parents be peer pressured into vaccinated their children against a type of flu they may never get

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...ild-in-england



Public Health England, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care said last year’s flu season had a severe impact on hospital and intensive care unit admissions, with 1,700 deaths Photograph: David Jones/PA
Every primary school child in England is to be offered vaccination against winter flu in an attempt to safeguard them and their family from the virus, the health service has announced, promising no shortage of vaccines regardless of the Brexit outcome.
This year’s flu vaccination campaign will be the biggest ever, with 25 million people offered vaccines free, including 600,000 school children aged 10-11. Children are considered “super-spreaders”, liable to infect others in their family and a danger to the elderly. All children aged two to 11 will be offered the nasal spray vaccine in the coming weeks.
Public Health England, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care said last year’s flu season was not the most severe, but it still had an impact on hospital and intensive care unit admissions and there were nearly 1,700 deaths.

No-deal Brexit threatens flu vaccine supply, doctors warn
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Those at highest risk are the elderly and those with health problems. Last year 72% of over-5s were vaccinated, a figure they hope will reach 75% this year, said Prof Yvonne Doyle, the medical director at Public Health England. “Every winter there is always the threat of a bad flu season. Flu is a serious illness and can even be deadly for the most vulnerable of our population,” she said.
The uptake among those under 65 but vulnerable because of chronic conditions was 48%, she said, which they hoped to see rise to 55%. Among pregnant women, it was 45%; among healthcare workers, it was 70%. “That has improved remarkably,” she added.
There is a big variation in the rates of healthcare workers being immunised from one NHS trust to another. Some trusts do well, with 90% vaccinated, while others only manage 40% to 50%. Sally Davies, then the chief medical officer for England, told a parliamentary committee in June that all healthcare workers who refused the jab should wear a lapel badge to warn their patients they were not protected.

[Niamh.]

Yeah not mad keen on the Flu jab tbh, Gav used to get it in work and I swear he was sick more than I was without having gotten it.

[Toy Soldier]

It's been offered in schools here for years and I would be very very surprised if it's made any difference to rates of illness over winter. Anecdotally, it doesn't seem to have (in fact, last year at my daughter's school was one of the worst years for decades in terms of winter attendance, with her class half empty more than once). The flu vax is basically pure guesswork; there are countless flu strains, they just make an "educated guess" on which one will be going around each area and give a vaccination for that. If it's another strain it doesn't do anything.

[AnnieK]

My son has been offered this every year since he started primary school. He's never had any problems after having it and has not had a day off sick since reception (and that was because he shoved a bead up his nose and had to have surgery to remove it ). We can opt out of him having it but I always consent to it.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yeah not mad keen on the Flu jab tbh, Gav used to get it in work and I swear he was sick more than I was without having gotten it.

Yes some get that as a bad side effect
getting ill.

[bitontheslide]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

It's been offered in schools here for years and I would be very very surprised if it's made any difference to rates of illness over winter. Anecdotally, it doesn't seem to have (in fact, last year at my daughter's school was one of the worst years for decades in terms of winter attendance, with her class half empty more than once). The flu vax is basically pure guesswork; there are countless flu strains, they just make an "educated guess" on which one will be going around each area and give a vaccination for that. If it's another strain it doesn't do anything.

that's exactly right, when the vaccines are ordered for the coming year, they have next to no idea which strain will prevail the coming year.

I think if someone is vulnerable to flu, then sure get the jab, but don't think it's a get out of jail free card, because it isn't.

[Cherie]

yes they can only vaccinate for one strain of flu, the one most likely to be prevalent in any given year, I don't see the point unless the child falls under the vulnerable category

[Vicky.]

..from experience this seems to not be very effective at all. My mother in law gets it every year and is ill for the next week after geting it, so she is basically making herself ill to stop getting ill. They still convince her shes too high a risk not to get it though

I got it when pregnant, and a couple of months later was struck down with flu for the first time in my life.

So yeah, I won't be inflicting this on my kids tbh.

Its possible we were just unlucky, but there seems many many stories the same too.