Have You Got Flu Shot for Your Child?

With the flu season peaking, it is time to consider getting your child vaccinated with the influenza vaccine. The vaccine claims to provide protection against 3 or 4 strains of virus for a year at least—which effectively means, lot more healthy days and no missing out on school either. [Know More: Influenza Types & Why Protection Against Each Is Essential?]

A change in season can sometimes spell misery for parents—runny noses, fever, coughing, body ache—all come back in severity in a package called flu or influenza. And no child is spared, really. What’s worse is that a bout of flu leaves your child irritable, cranky, unwilling to eat, a little weak and a total handful for the parents. But then there is a possible way around it—the flu vaccine. 

When Should I Get My Child Vaccinated?

Flu vaccination should begin soon after the vaccine becomes available, if possible by October. However, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even in January or later. It takes about 2 weeks for the antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection, so it is best to get vaccinated just before the onset of the influenza season. 

Where Can I Get It?

Flu vaccines are available with the doctors, pediatricians, in hospitals and even with chemists. They are intramuscular and can be given by anyone adept at giving injections.
Why do I need a flu vaccine every year? So, say Happy to Take the pledge to keep children safe from the flu.

A flu vaccine is needed every season for two reasons. First, the body’s immune response from vaccination declines over time, so an annual vaccine is needed to boost it. Second, because flu viruses are constantly changing, the formulation of the flu vaccine is reviewed each year and updated to keep up with changing flu viruses. 

How do Flu Vaccines Work?

Here’s what you need to know about it. Just like any other vaccines, flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies then provide protection against that particular strain of a virus.

Traditional flu vaccines (called “trivalent” vaccines) are made to protect against three flu viruses; an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and an influenza B virus. There are also flu vaccines made to protect against four flu viruses (called “quadrivalent” vaccines). These vaccines protect against the same viruses as the trivalent vaccine and an additional B virus.

Who Needs It?

Experts recommend that these vaccines can be given to children starting as young as 6 months and older. It is suggested that the vaccine should be given each year. Your doctor will tell you about which vaccine is best for you.

Can I Still Get Flu Even After Vaccination?

The efficacy of the flu vaccine depends on many factors including age, health, risk sensitivity (pregnancy, diabetes, medical conditions, etc.), and also whether the influenza virus circulating in the community is closely matched to the viruses in the vaccine or not.

But it's not possible to predict with certainty which flu viruses will predominate during a given season.  Also, flu viruses are constantly changing (called “antigenic drift”)l. They can change from one season to the next or they can even change within the course of one flu season. Experts must pick which viruses to include in the vaccine many months in advance in order for a vaccine to be produced and delivered on time. Because of these factors, there is always the possibility of a less than perfect match.

But that does not reduce the efficacy of the vaccine. Antibodies made in response to vaccination with one flu virus can sometimes provide protection against different but related viruses as flu vaccine are designed to protect against three or four flu viruses. So, check with your doctor about getting your child vaccinated.