The latest numbers are more than enough to concern any parent, but especially parents of babies, toddlers and pre-school children. What should you do to protect your young one against flu, in general, and the H1N1 flu strain, in particular, that seems to be aiming at young adults and children, especially those with pre-existing health problems.
Now, that plans are being made to offer the new H1N1 flu vaccine as a nasal spray or shot at schools, parents will be faced with making a choice for them, as well as how to best protect even younger children who may not yet be attending school.
Since April, more than 1 million Americans have been diagnosed as having caught the H1N1 flu strain. 10,000 of them have been hospitalized, and over 1,000 have died, including almost 80 children. All this by October, with the bulk of the winter flu season still ahead of us.
Yet, a new survey finds as many as 41% of adults say they will not get vaccinated for various reasons. Some fear the new vaccine is not safe, or hasn’t been fully proven to prevent the H1N1 strain.
That reluctance to take the new H1N1 vaccine or even the traditional flu vaccine comes just as more Tri-State schools are reporting increased absences because of flu. Some have even completely closed down because of high absences and school officials have disinfected classrooms and other gathering areas at their schools to prevent viruses from spreading among previously healthy students.
Health officials say younger children(those under 10 years old) may actually need two vaccines, given about 21 days or three weeks apart, to build up enough immunity to protect themselves. That’s partially because their bodies have never been exposed to a flu strain like H1N1 and also because their developing immune systems need more exposure to the vaccine to start to build adequate immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Health’s Allergy and Infectious Disease section told reporters, “This is acting strikingly similar to the seasonal flu” vaccine. “Overall, this is very good news for the vaccination program.”
It appears the general guidelines are shaping up to recommending one regular flu shot and one H1N1 shot for children 10 years and older. While younger children should get two shots of the traditional flu vaccine, and two shots of the H1N1 vaccine, about three weeks apart.
Fauci says of national tests of the H1N1 vaccine, which were, in part, conducted in Cincinnati at Children’s Hospital; “We tested the vaccine in children of various ages from six months up to 17 years. And what we saw, with regard to the response, first, the safety looked good. But the response that they gave, which means a measurement of how you would predict they would be protected with this vaccine, and that looked good, too. (It was) similar to the seasonal flu vaccine, which we give every year to children.”
A top infectious disease researcher at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, Dr. Paul Offit, recently wrote to the New York Times in favor of even the youngest children getting both flu shots. He says there is no evidence the traditional or new H1N1 vaccine is unsafe, untested or as potentially dangerous ingredients.
