Stomach bugs have nothing to do with influenza, even though we colloquially refer to them as ‘the stomach flu’. The ‘flu’ shot is for influenza, not any other illness. Some kids vomit when they have influenza but that’s not the main symptom. The primary symptoms of influenza are fever, headache, fatigue, body aches/muscle pain, dry cough, and sore throat. It’s basically much more like the worst cold you ever had, x 10, than it is like a stomach virus. I have gotten the flu shot every year since having kids, even though I’m fairly healthy and probably would ultimately be fine if I got influenza, because the prospect of having to take care of sick children while also feeling the symptoms myself is way, way worse than a quick trip to the doctor and a needle stick.

I never get the flu shot, nor does my 4year old, and the baby wont either. I have never had the flu, and we tend to not go out much in the winter either. I personally see no point in getting the shot for the girls. Maybe when My 4 year old starts to attend school and all the germs that go with that, then maybe we will do the flu shot.

Diera, ‘flu can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and other GI problems in children – I was hospitalized for dehydration related to ‘flu 3 time when I was young. After an exhaustive search that last time, they determined it was “just the flu” that caused the vomiting and fever that led me to need an IV for a full week.
I got my flu shot this year (I’m pregnant) and plan to have our kids get it every year it’s offered. Influenza can at best make a child severely ill, and at worst can cause death – it’s not something to take lightly. My mother was a definite proponent of hand-washing, keeping your face away from sick people, not sharing other kids’ drinks, etc., and I was as good as possible about doing all of those things, so even preventative measures like those aren’t enough sometimes.

I immunize because what you call a “bug” can become much more than that for other people, and our children remain carriers for some time after the symptoms cease.

I have a ladyfriend with CLL, avoiding flu is life and death for her. How many children of people who think they’re magically immune to it does she run into in a day? Or, as you need to think with disease, how many people that have run into those people? And so on and so forth.

This recent counterculture against immunizations is baffling given their well documented successes and social benefits. You don’t just immunize for yourself, you immunize for everyone around you because nobody can guarantee against becoming a host.

I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t unless you can’t afford it. I take every precaution to drive safe and have never been in an accident, but that doesn’t mean I have a good reason to leave the kids’ seatbelts off. As a general rule I avoid puncture wounds made by rusty objects but it remains reasonable to have your tetanus shots.

During all of your pregnancies you were at decreased risk of birth defects and miscarriage from congenital rubella because use of the MMR vaccine became widespread. Rubella in itself’s pretty harmless for most of us, as are measels and mumps; but people did you a favor in the 70′s and 80′s and actually made the first world a slightly safer place by not reasoning as you are now.

Yes, the stomach flu is not the same as influenza. The stomach flu is unpleasant for 24-48 hours, and may send you to the hospital for dehydration if it’s particularly serious. Influenza can kill you in under 72 hours. During the 2010-2011 influenza season, the flu killed 116 children. This is down from the previous year when the flu killed 282 children in the USA. (per the CDC)

In a 2008 study of children who died from flu, only 6% of kids who were recommended to get the flu vaccine had in fact been vaccinated. (Source: Pediatrics) However, clearly some who were vaccinated still died. The vaccine is sadly far from perfect. But it is a useful weapon to have in one’s arsenal (in addition to handwashing and vitamin D supplements). So yes, everyone in my household has had the vaccine.

I actually had H1N1 (swine flu) when it was going around 2 years ago, and it was the worst 2 weeks of my life. At the time I came down sick, the H1N1 vaccine still wasn’t available to all but the high risk groups.

That being said, even if it was available, I wouldn’t have gotten it. I refuse the flu shot each year, and this year, I will also be refusing it for my 4mth old daughter.

I’m not against vaccines on a whole, but I do choose to selectively vaccinate. I think there are too many vaccines out there, and many are rushed out to the public, only to cause serious side effects and having warnings issued after the fact.

If you feel comfortable forgoing the flu shot for Addison, thats fantastic. I, however, hate the flu and get my shot every year. I’m also a nurse so I’m most likely to come in contact with the stuff and bring it home. No matter how fastidious I am about hand washing, (and I am, believe me) I have no idea if I’ve just walked through a just-coughed cloud of airborne influenza droplets or not. My son has asthma and so I keep him up to date on the flu shot. My baby will get vaccinated as well as soon as he’s 6 months old. I’m not willing to risk him getting exposed and getting the flu.

You can’t get the flu from the flu shot. It takes 2 weeks to fully kick in, so you can get the flu during that time, but not from the shot itself.

I always thought that I got the flu every year – that it was not much more than a bad cold. It wasn’t until I ended up in Urgent Care one night, convinced that I had contracted malaria or typhoid or some other sort of lethal and exotic illness and learned that it was just standard, run of the mill influenza, that I realized I had never had the flu before. It was horrible. And it wasn’t a 24-48 hour thing (like a stomach flu) – I was out of commission for a solid week. After that, I have gotten the flu shot every year, and now that I’m a mom, my kids (ages 4 and 1) get it, too.

My mother in law has cancer and can’t be exposed to germs without extreme danger. My son has asthma. I am pregnant. Flu shots all around in our household! I’m absolutely terrified that someone in my son’s class won’t have the whooping cough or chicken pox vaccine and I’ll pick it up during volunteer hours because I didn’t think to get those shots until my damned pregnancy when they are not a choice.

“Many parents swear by them.” You make it sound rather trivial, when for many people, getting a flu shot may save their life or at least prevent serious complications.
It’s unfortunate that many people who choose not to vaccinate are so willing to announce their refusal to the world, whereas the majority, the people who do vaccinate, don’t. Then all the people who are undecided receive a rather biased view. If you choose use your platform this way, at least provide some facts or references to why you plan to skip the vaccination. Right now, your article just states that it isn’t really necessary. If that’s the only reason, then I have to ask, why NOT get it, on the offchance that maybe it comes with some benefits?

Vaccines may not be “natural”, but infectious diseases and death from those diseases are “natural”. I’ve already had my 8 month old vaccinated.

UGH. You were one of my favorite bloggers. I’m disappointed in you. How did you educate yourself on this matter? I doubt that you’d forgo this flu shot if you had chosen reputable sources. And, you’d know that hand washing is nearly useless over illnesses that are spread via droplet. I’m an ICU nurse and I am so sick and tired of seeing family members grieve over the loss of a loved one due to the flu. I agree with Dan Abnormal. Parents do make dumb parenting decisions b/c of what they read on things like this. It happens. And, for those of you who think you got the flu FROM a flu shot. You didn’t. Its impossible. Look it up.

To clarify something: You CAN get the flu from the flu VACCINE. NOT the flu SHOT however, but from the NASAL SPRAY VACCINE. Others with compromised immune systems can even catch the flu from someone who has had the nasal spray vaccine even if they don’t get the flu from the vaccine themselves.

Anywho, My 8 month old has already had the first shot and will have the second in a few weeks (in their first year, babies get two flu shots, 5 weeks apart).

I was previously very anti-flu shot and we’re on an alternate vaccine schedule altogether. I figured he’s a low risk to get the flu since he stays home with me and is breastfed. I’ve had the flu once and have never had the vaccine. But then he got pneumonia a couple months ago and I guess that kind of scared me, even though it wasn’t a serious case and got better quite quickly. Plus his grandma is a elementary teacher and is not getting the flu shot herself, she seems to get sick every year so I don’t want to take a chance of her getting my baby sick.

Such harsh comments wow. You can’t say she has blood on her hands or is spouting anti vaccine propaganda, its a blog, which is an opinion, shes simply stating whats worked best for her family. As a healthcare worker, I get the flu vaccine for myself. I work with hospice patients and wouldn’t want to give them the flu on top of everything else already going on. I got my son the vaccine when he was a baby, only because my job and that his sister is in school, the flu is always rough for an infant. This year, I probably won’t get them vaccinated. He’s healthy, she’s healthy, and i don’t see the point of dragging them in for one more shot. As the season goes on, I might change my mind. We’ll see. Overreacting to a simple blog asking for differning opinions is simply showing that we’re a world of overly pc negative people. Also it assumes people are gernally stupid and can’t make an informed decision “omg if shes not doing it, maybe I shouldn’t also”. Really? Calm down a bit.

Oh, Bond… whatever would you do if someone was actually very sick in your family? (which I would hope not) Refuse medications? They’re synthetic. The fact of the matter is that the flu is spread much faster because of people that don’t vaccinate, regardless of lobbyists. This is a sad truth that I have seen first-hand on several occasions… as I am a medical professional as well. The flu kills.

I love how the medical community claims we need it, but yet it comes with a price tag. Hmmm, another way to make money. Just cause someone from the medical community say we need to vaccinate, doesn’t make it truth. The flu shot is made up of the three top influenza strings of the year before….that doesn’t mean protection for this years influenza season. For me and my home, we will not be getting the influenza vaccination and we haven’t the last 2 years and the most my kids have had are the common cold.