Friday, December 16, 2011

Flu Shot or Not

 
Hi everyone!! It's so good to be back. It’s been a long 2 weeks. We're not 100 percent yet, but well on the way. The only thing left is getting rid of this pesky cough. I guess time and tea will take care of that.

I've been thinking...is it really necessary to continue getting yearly flu shots? I could see them being necessary for a baby born early or perhaps other challenges that may make a child medically fragile, but once the child is stronger, I'm not so sure. My son had his flu shot a couple weeks ago. He’s never had a negative reaction until now. Within 48 hours after getting the flu vaccine, my son had a nose bleed and cold symptoms began. Symptoms were mild at first but quickly escalated into early stages of pneumonia. No matter what I did the fever would not break and everything took a downward spiral. We had to go back to the doctor to get an antibiotic and steroid. Of course, when I questioned the doctor about a possible bad reaction to the vaccine, I was given a generic explanation as to why the flu vaccine could not possibly cause such a reaction. Okay, I’m not ruling out the possibility of my son having an undetected bug, but it seems awfully strange that a healthy child showing no symptoms would get so sick, so fast, hmmmm. As I recall, a couple years ago my son had a slight cough and minor congestion when he received a flu shot during his annual well check. Nothing happened, he was perfectly fine. So what happened this time?

I'm no expert on the subject, but parents having premature babies or medically fragile babies tend to be more aggressive when treating colds and flu. We also tend to be particular about germs and even aware of the time of year our children are most susceptible. I pulled out all the stops. Got rid of all nasal congestion and prevented an ear infection, but could not break the fever. This is not typical for my son. His fevers usually break in two days. Whatever the case, I just don't know if it's worth getting the shot anymore.

Have any of you experienced problems taking flu or pneumonia vaccines? If so, I would love to hear from you and would like to post your stories. This is very serious. How safe are these vaccines? I’ve heard many others speak of having similar reactions, but never took it seriously because it was not an issue for my son, at least not at that time. I’m not sure what to think about these vaccines now.

If you would like to share your experience with flu/pneumonia vaccines, please email me, autismslove@gmail.com. You may wish to add a comment to this post instead. Please be advised, Google Blogger is having some technical difficulties with posting comments and I’m not sure when it will resolved. It may take several tries before the post takes.

Thank you for reading my blog and sharingJ

4 comments:

Quiet Contemplation said...

I haven't had any issues with vaccines with my kids, but I hate going to get it. It isn't because of any vaccine fears, but rather becuase it almost never fails that my kids pick something up at the doctor every time they're there. Whether it's for a well child check, flu shot, or because a sibling is sick, if my kids aren't sick, they will be. That's always something to take into consideration. I get my kids vaccinated, though. Especially my profoundly ASD son. If he got the actual flu he'd have to go to the hospital for sure, because there's no way to get him to take any meds, or even understand that he needs to take Tylenol for his fever.

Autism's Love said...

I know what you mean. I make sure Hunt get's all his vaccinations. We've been very careful largely due to Hunt being a preemie. Now that he's so much healther I wonder if some things need to change. I'm still not sure and am hoping the answer comes to me. Hunt is very good about meds, he's taken one kind or another since birth. He never ceases to amaze me with what he's willing to put up with. Thanks so much for your comment, food for thought.

Tracie said...

I have not been the type to not have my kids vaccinated, even in the midst of the all the hype with parents hollering we shouldn't.

I'm sure by now you & your sidekick must be feeling better, right? =)

Autism's Love said...

Yes, we are past that horrible time. Even though I still intend to get general vaccinations for my son, I will have to give much thought to H getting further flu shots. I'm still not sure if it was a fluke in terms of timing or possibly having caught something prior to getting the shot. I just know I don't want to see him that sick again. Thank you so much for reading and following my blog:-)