THE ONE YEAR I didn't get my kids the flu vaccine... my son has Influenza A.

He just took his first dose of Tamiflu. He has a 4 year old sister. :scared:

6 year olds. They are taking Tamiflu also. It's been almost 2 weeks now.

:grouphug:

I'm so sorry to hear this :hug:

I hope your 4 year old doesn't catch it.

So far, my husband and I haven't caught it and neither of us had flu shots.

The kids are over the worst of it though.

with it, too.

And season is almost over.

We have had several kids admitted with + flu that did have the shots.
Apparently some of the strains out there are resistant to the shot.
Lots of fluid...Tylenol/Motrin for fever/aches...good handwashing...especially that.
Keep your well kid away from the sick one and hopefully you will weather it just fine.:hug:

from it. My stomach is in knots!

kids died from the flu there.... then kids got it a week later. hear ya...

If your child quits drinking or peeing...then you need to get them to the hospital ASAP.
Watch for dark urine...that can show that they aren't getting enough fluids so you will need to increase it.
Fever also contributes to the dehydration--so Tylenol and Motrin are your friend. Just be very careful not to over medicate with either as that can cause an additional set of serious problems.
You aren't a terrible parent for not getting the flu vaccine. :hug:

We live in the Seattle area and my daughter just got over the flu this weekend. It is scary. The symptoms I had back in Jan. were different from the ones she had so there are several different strains going around.

David Rosenthal, director of Harvard University Health Services, said, "People don't necessarily die, per se, of the virus—the viraemia. What they die of is a secondary pneumonia. So many of these pneumonias are not viral pneumonias but secondary ." But Dr Rosenthal agreed that the flu/pneumonia relationship was not unique. For instance, a recent study (JAMA 2004;292: 1955-60) found that stomach acid suppressing drugs are associated with a higher risk of community acquired pneumonia, but such drugs and pneumonia are not compiled as a single statistic.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/331/7529/1412?ijkey=FXyhZx2lyNbaVLE&keytype=ref

I always get knots in my stomach when my daughter is ill, but keep in mind the vast majority of healthy people recover fully. Again, keep hydrated and monitor for symptoms of pnemonia:

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/Pneumonia-Symptoms

get sick, especially since then. Thank God we caught it in time and got her to the hospital!

Yikes. The internet can be so helpful. My daughter has had a cough for days, I just found out that it's not out of range to have a cough last three weeks? I'm watching for fever etc. as well. :( I have had a cough to a lesser degree, so I find it comforting to have an idea of what she's experiencing.

Had it here, too. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak -- My daughter and I had it. Hubby and son, not yet...

Be prepared for a fever of 104 for your kid(s). (Mine only hit 101). Keep that motrin/tylenol coming! A humidifier works nicely, too with the horrid cough. The fever lasted 4 days each for us, without the Tamiflu. Best wishes and hugs, Helderheid!

they get dehydrated fast ..

:hug:

oh.. and chicken soup too ..

but you want to give other things like Gatorade to put electrolytes back in...especially if they aren't taking their food as well.

http://zipfizz.com/productsimmune.html

http://zipfizz.com/company.html



It has electrolytes but is sweetened with xylotol rather than sugar, and has all the vitamins and minerals he needs. Just made me some too in hopes of staving off getting this! Thanks for your support!!

sometimes they get sick, mostly they dont. but we use it as down time together,.... they work so hard at school, and i baby them.

if you dont know for fever, if you switch hit motrin kids and tylenol kids you can give every four hours (i do more 6 hours) for the fever. and not good to use straight tylenol

Feel better soon, little helderheid.

the govt. takes strains from asia and other places they PREDICT will strike in 6 months, and make cultures and vaccines from those strains.
So, you'd only be resistant to those strains.
If completely NEW or different strains hit, the vaccine does not help.
They have to do it that way, because it takes a long time to manufacture vaccines...the process that is.

so, flu shots are always a crap shoot.

Usually, the scientists are pretty accurate, but there's no guarantee

And the 4 year old is too young for that. Also the flumist virus can be shed and cause illness in others, so you may have been in a bit of a no win? I'd suggest keeping your house as moist as you can and upping the vitamin c/zinc.

Best wishes, it sucks when our kids are sick. We're fighting a virus at our house too. Airborne, chicken soup and gatorade are staples this time of year.

:hug: to you and yours.

:grouphug:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-26,GGGL:en&q=flu+outbreak+in+highly+vaccinated

With the flu vax, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

Take care, and keep us posted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6235632

Try it. :)

My 5 kids have been through the wringer. The fever comes and goes and then comes again. They are so pale and tired. We pulled them all out of school to rest and so they don't spread.

It's awful.

It's so sad when our littlies are sick.

pointed out, the flu shots are something of a crap shot. Keep in mind, that the very good news about this is that actually getting the flu gives a person a far better and much longer lasting immunity than a shot. One of the reasons elderly people were less susceptible to the 1918 flu was that many of them had come down with (and most of them had been exposed to) a very similar flu some fifty years earlier.

Personally, I never get the shots and I could not tell you the last time I got a flu. Probably at least thirty years ago. I'm 58 at this point and the healthiest person I know. Our immune systems really are designed to be exposed to lots of things, fight them off, and then be resistant in the future.

http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/DietandNutrition/zinc_prevents_pnuemonia.htm

Zinc more effective than any other supplement to prevent pneumonia

Zinc supplements are the most effective of all the available nutritional supplements to help prevent pneumonia, according to a report from the World Health Organisation.

A zinc deficiency is associated with a weakened immune function and an increased rate of serious infectious disease. Both short and long-term supplementation in amounts which exceed the US Recommended Daily Allowance by one to two times appear to have been effective in conducted trials without any adverse side effects.

The newly published study reveals that zinc supplements can reduce the incidence of childhood pneumonia by up to 41 per cent and the prevalence of diarrhoea by up to 25 per cent.

Reviewing ten trials on developing world populations, researchers from the John Hopkins School of Public Health and the World Health Organisation found that supplementation with zinc was more effective than any other intervention in preventing pneumonia. More at link above.

And here's more interesting news: http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=1794

Take good care of the wee ones.

:hug: