Flu Shot - Chicago,IL

I always give my son the flu shot because he is in a 'school' setting (he's 2 1/2 and in daycare). I have no idea and no control over what the other kids do when it comes to getting the flu shot, washing their hands, or employing other preventative techniques, and I want to do the best I can to keep my kid from getting what other kids might be bringing to his daycare. Some of the kids look totally dirty like their parents rarely bathe them, some of them have runny noses and cough all over the place without covering their mouths, and although the teachers are very vigilant they cannot control everything that goes on 100% of the time. As a parent, however, I do have a certain amount of control over how I protect my child. I can't prevent everything, but I do know that if the flu gets out of hand the consequences can be bad (children, pregnant women, and the elderly are at the greatest risk). Personally, I'm not willing to take the chance so he gets vaccinated.

Just another view on the swine flu thing...under 1500 have died worldwide from the swine flu..more will die of the regular flu. The regular flu vaccine contains about 2-3 out of the 200 flu viruses out there...so you are not going to be 100% protected and you are not guarenteed that you will not get a flu. 25 Americans have died from the swine flu vaccine...but we don't hear about it (I read about it in my public health stuff).

In Canada, they are going to test the vitamin d3 levels for all that get the swine flu; they will test to see how deficient they are in d3 then give them the appropiate amount needed to boost their immunity. If you are breastfeeding then great, your breastmilk has antivirual and antibacterial properties that protects your baby from being too sick; if not then you can add some probiotics to their formula.

I have a family health column that I write for here is the link http://www.examiner.com/x-7158-Chicago-Family-Health-Exam...

Feel free to go to anything I have written about "swine flu" "probiotics" and "Vitamin D3" all will be helpful on ways you can boost your family's immunity. You can and should ask for your baby's d3 levels to be checked, I explain this thoroughly in my vitamin d3 article. It should become a routine annual test for our kids...it will eventually, they are coming to a more concrete decision in May 2010.

While I understand why people vaccinate, however, I feel the flu vaccine is one that is wasteful; but any vaccine we get is not protective of or a guarentee that we will not get the offending disease or illness.

I hope that helps a bit.
J. W. MPH
Maternal and Child Health Educator
Chicago Examiner Family Health Expert

Hi P.-we do not vaccinate for that either. There are so many good articles out there on keeping your immune system functioning optimally. The flu vaccine only contains 4 strains and there are over 400. You can not vaccinate away a virus plus there are so many toxins in it and it has not been tested properly.

Children need 5000-6000 iu's of Vitamin D3 (not d2) during the winter when they do not get enough sun.

Add a good clean probiotic to their eating pattern everyday. Make sure they are taking a whole food supplement and omega 3's. And of course hand washing and good eating habits. This will keep everyone healthier.

www.naturalnews.com
www.mercola.com
www.holisticmomsnetwork.org

Are some websites that have great info about naturally keeping healthy.

T.

Have you heard this yet?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519172045...

T.

Just a note, the seasonal flu shot does not protect against swine flu. The swine flu vaccine should become available later in the fall (I heard October in a news report the other day.)

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination...

I don't know - from what I've heard, if I was pregnant I would want to get the vaccination as soon as it's approved and safe. I'm not sure how bad it will get for other people. Maybe by the time the vaccine becomes available the trends will be clearer about how bad the pandemic is going to be.