My entire vaccinated family got the flu this year. There, I said it. The flu shot isn’t perfect. It’s the only vaccine that must be given each year because the relevant flu strains change each year, so the shot won’t protect you from season to season. And sometimes the vaccine developers just don’t get the prediction quite right.
What’s interesting is that I didn’t know any of us had the flu until the last one of us got sick enough to end up getting tested. Four people, two under the age of 5, got the flu and we didn’t even know it. I keep thinking of what could have happened. I could have had to call in sick to work (it didn’t last that long). My husband and I could have ended up in the emergency department with either of our two kids (they didn’t get that sick). And not to be dramatic, but one of us could have died (it wasn’t that severe).
I’m not saying having the flu was a bed of roses (it wasn’t), but having been vaccinated really minimized the effect the flu had on my day-to-day existence, bringing it down to the level of a bad cold. I’ve heard tales of people this year who were out of work for three weeks with the flu. I’m thankful I wasn’t one of them.
This Monday, several major news channels published the results of a recent study in Pediatrics. The gist of the study is this:
· Of 291 children who died of influenza between 2010 and 2014, 74 percent (216) were unvaccinated.
· All other things being equal, 65 percent (140) of these deaths could have been prevented by immunization.
· This is just life and death; the article did not address hospitalizations, lost days of work (for parents), or morbidity (pain and suffering).
The horse is out of the barn for this year, but next year’s influenza season is right around the corner. Vaccines have been proven safe and effective. Get yours!
Do it for the kids.
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