Kids Flu Shots

Okay, since someone asked about flu shots...I was hoping I could chime in with my own question.

What do y'all think of the combo shot they are giving kids right now?
Do you have to get the one with the H1N1 combo?

My son (who is 5) has had flu shots since he was old enough (he's around other kids all the time and it's been required from daycare). He's in public school now (kindergarten) and so far I haven't done anything this year.

I truly do not want anything to do with the H1N1 thing because the vaccine has not been around long enough to know the long term effects.

1.) Is there a vaccine without the H1N1?
2.) Should I even bother this year?

Side note: I have never, and will never get the flu shot for myself. In my 31 years, I had the flu when I was 6 and early 20's (can't remember).

Thanks!!!
-Jessica

This year's flu shot formula includes H1N1. As far as I've seen at work, it's the only one available this year.

Edited to add: my kids DO get the flu shot. My older daughter has asthma, so getting influenza is VERY detrimental to her health. The benefit outweighs the risks in her case.

Thank you Keya.

I'm worried that since the H1N1 is still fairly new, they do not know the long term effects...but at the same time, my son does not have any extinuating cir****tances (like your daughter and her asthma) to make it a necessity...

Thanks again,
Jessica

H1N1 is not new, it is just a different strain of the flu included in the shot, they change the strains of flu included in the shot EVERY year. The only reason people had to get two shots last year was because the vax companies did not have time to incubate the H1N1 strain and included it in the release of the regular shot at the start of the season. They are developed the same way, in the same labs, that all of the strains considered to be a possible threat for that year are.

I am not anti-vax, but I am not pro-vax either (there are several that we do not get at all, and some that we delay for a LONG time), and my kids get the flu shot.

as much as im pro-vaccine.. i will NOT be getting my kids the flu shot... my kids are not in daycare and are not around a huge amount of children.. yes they go to the park and all the stores where they could be exposed... my kids are not sickly kids and i just dont think its a needed shot

Thanks Lexa.

Daycare required it only because if the majority of them had the shot then she required the remainder to.
But now that he's in public school, I seriously doubt all the kids are going to get it so what exactly is it warding off? Plus, as I keep worrying, what are the long term effects of a vaccine that is so relatively new? Kind of scares me....

Thanks again!

my kids will however get the chicken pox vac and the prevnair 13.. and the gardisil ( i think i spelled it wrong)

My son has gotten all the vaccines required for school...but it's the elective one's I'm struggling with...

My son catches everything! So needless to say he has already had the nasal mist for the flu this year. He has had one every year and will continue to as long as I take him to the dr.

Knowing what is best for our kids is always hard. Good luck with your choice.

Every year the flu shot is a combination of three flu strains based on previous years, so it's not like adding H1N1 is anything particularly new - each year is a new mix. This year (according to the CDC) the three are: A/California/7/2009-like (Pandemic H1N1) virus, A/Perth/16/2009-like (H3N2)-like virus, and B/Brisbane/60/2008-like.