Timing of Kids' Flu Shots: Tricky, Vital

Dr. Jennifer Ashton Explains What to Get for Your Child, When, and in What Form

(CBS)  Some children may need as many as four flu vaccinations this season, to get protection from the H1N1 and seasonal bugs.

On "The Early Show" Tuesday, CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton went through various possibilities for kids of various ages.

This year, we have two different flu vaccinations - H1N1 and the seasonal flu. For young children, how many total doses could we be talking about?

Let's start with the H1N1 vaccine, for kids under 10 years, they will need two doses. If your child is under 9 years of age and has never gotten their flu shot, they will need two doses of the seasonal vaccine as well. That means your child could have up to 4 doses. However, most children - if they have gotten their seasonal flu shot before - will either need two or three doses, depending on their age.

Can the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 2009 vaccine be taken at the same time?

The two vaccines come in two different versions: the shot or the spray. If your child gets the injectable version, you can get the two shots on the same day - but they should be given on different arms. If they only need 1 of each, then, they're done.
If they are under 10 years old, they can get their second H1N1 shot one month after.

CBSNews.com Special Report: H1N1
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Parents' Guide to H1N1
What if your child is taking the nasal spray version of the vaccines?

Unfortunately, unlike the injectable version, the child cannot take the spray version of both on the same day. Because the seasonal and H1N1 flu spray vaccines are made from a live, but weakened virus, they should not be taken at the same time. The spray vaccine inoculations should be separated by four weeks.

Can you mix the two versions: shot and the spray?

Yes, the nasal spray vaccine can be administered at the same visit as the shot. So, you can do either combination of the seasonal flu shot and H1N1 spray ... or the H1N1 shot and the seasonal flu spray. Again, if your child is younger than 10 years, they will need to get their second dosing three weeks later.

[mollydtt]

They aren't testing, because the only test that would be accurate is the one that takes 1-2 weeks. At that point, it is only useful as a way to know what you had two weeks ago, not as a diagnostic tool to fine tune medications.
And, from what I've read lately, tamiflu is not for everybody. It is like taking antibiotics when you don't really need them---eventually the strain becomes resistant.
Where I live, hundreds of kids went to the emergency rooms a few weeks ago, which baffled me. They had a fever, but no breathing problems, and were sent home to rest.
My daughter has successfully endured having the flu in past years, and only once had to be admitted to the hospital for developing an asthmatic reaction to bronchitis.
Staying home and resting seems like the best way to deal with flu. If the kids get better and then, inexplicably start to get another fever, that is a warning sign to see a physician right away to rule out pneumonia, etc.

[marryohram]

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[jvosler]

Please help me get to the bottom of this h1n1 issue. I live in Westchester county and have been unable to get the vaccine for my children. The pediatrician has not gotten either vaccine in. Now I believe my 14 yr old contracted h1n1. When I asked the school nurse if any children have been diagnosed she replied that they aren't testing for it in Westchester but many kids were out with "flu like symptoms". Well if we aren't being tested and have no known cases of course we won't be receiving any doses here. What is the truth and how are parents supposed to protect their family????

[gaye5]

jvosler, you are very lucky that your child didn't get the vaccine, and as you can see your child is not going to die, but we don't know what could have happened to his little body if he had of had it.
We live in Australia and are coming out of our winter, and many people got it and yes a handful died, but other than one their immune systems were well below par, through drink, drugs and a rotten life style..
No one stayed home from shopping and no one went about with masks on, besides after the initial shock most people woke up to the media hype anyway. There are 800 people die every week in America from the normal flu, yet there has never been a pandemic called on that one so why do people not think as to WHY and WHY the panic on this as all viruses have the potential to mutating within its own area.. And yes Australian Dr's were so lacking in fear over it that they stopped testing, so we really do not know if we had a thousand with it or many thousands, or if what people got was in fact the normal flu..
Like measles, mumps Chicken pox, flu's, etc if a person is healthy or even half healthy the body heals itself. We have to wonder if by immunising our babies/children that we have now done away with what all Dr's used to consider were the mild childhood diseases, in exchange of cancers, leukemia Asthma, autism, ADD, ADHD, and even the Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007; 297: 2755-9) said that 1 in 5 American kids are chronically sick and that the figure has trebled in the last 20 years,...
So one has to ask oneself that even with all our fantastic immunisations, and medical miracles why are our children so incredibly sicker, surely that must make people think about what is in our foods, water and immunisations???