flu shot shortage

I'm concerned.  My daughter is 8 months old.  she had her first flu shot this past Monday (babies need two) and the dr's office says they doubt they'll have any left when it's time for her to get shot no. 2 (mid-November) - I know I'm lucky she at least got the one shot but I'm worried!  Is one enough????

[Still_AndiJ]

One is better than no shot at all. You are right to consider yourself lucky that she was able to get one.

Andrea

[Kassimom]

My DD is 6 yrs old and accordingto CDC guidelines met the requirement for the "high risk" group because she will be living with an infant under 6 mos during the cold/flu season. She received her vaccine yesterday and was also recomended to get the booster in 4 wks.

That having been said, the first flu shot vaccine gives your baby 85% immunization against the flu. The booster shot ups that number to 92%.  Only 7 points.

I declined the booster as I felt that we can practice safe hygeine around our home and that that second shot (with only 7 percent increase in effectiveness for my DD) should go to someone else in the high risk category.

The one vaccine should be okay. Regardless of wether it makes you feel any better to get the second one or not, there are other ways to make sure your baby stays well during the season. Wash her hands often. Keep antibacterial wipes in your purse and wipe down shopping carts before YOU put your hands on them. YOu can even go a step further and ask that anybody feeling ill not visit until they are feeling 100% better.

[Danasel]

I am confused.  I called my pediatrician's office today to double check that my understanding of the baby flu shot is unaffected.  I was told that the shot for babies up to 23 months is not effected by the shortage.  DS has a well visit in the beginning of November and I was told it was unnecessary to bring him in any sooner.  Am I just being told that to avoid a mad rush to the office?  The school nurse where I work told me the same thing.

It is so important that he get a shot since I am a teacher and exposed to sick kids all day.  DH runs a Toys R Us Store in our area.  I fall under the high risk group for the flu vaccine, but doubt I'll be able to get one, and DH doesn't even qualify.

Please help!!

[nanakay]

my sister new a lady that gave birth to her baby early....not extremely early but enough to cause a little more alarm during cold and flu season.
what she did....thought it was pretty ingeneous(sp?)

before her milk came in she pumped a few ounces of her colostrum and froze it.....any time a family member would get sick (after her milk came in) she would thaw an ounce and feed it to the baby, it acted like an immune booster. apparently it worked great the baby never got truely sick that first winter....(they had a shortage that year too)

anyway just thought i'd put in my 2 cents.
~nanci

[Danasel]

I am confused. I called my pediatrician's office today to double check that my understanding of the baby flu shot is unaffected. I was told that the shot for babies up to 23 months is not effected by the shortage. DS has a well visit in the beginning of November and I was told it was unnecessary to bring him in any sooner. Am I just being told that to avoid a mad rush to the office? The school nurse where I work told me the same thing.

It is so important that he get a shot since I am a teacher and exposed to sick kids all day. DH runs a high volume Toys R Us Store in our area. I fall under the high risk group for the flu vaccine, but doubt I'll be able to get one, and DH doesn't even qualify.

Please help!!

[Still_AndiJ]

Tristan won't be six months until Nov 27th and our pedi told us at his 4 month checkup that he can get his shot then. I was concerned it was kind of late, but he reminded me flu season goes from Oct/Nov to Mar or so. My dh also works in retail, so we need to make sure we get our shots. I was so sick last year between my severe m/s and the flu, I lost weight and I was miserable for over a month (I tend to hang on to things for a while, always have)

Our whole family qualifies because of Tristan, so your dh should qualify as well. Our pedi said that since we will have a baby between 6-23 months during the flu season, we all need to be vaccinated.

Hope this helps!

Sorry for posting this in a couple threads, I wanted to make sure you got it!

Andrea