What Is The Best Way To Protect Your Kids from The Flu?

Many parents don't like the idea of giving their children any vaccinations at all. They may erroneously believe that flu vaccines contain mercury. FluMist has never contained thimerosal or any other compound that contains mercury. The flu shots Afluria and Fluarix also have never contained thimerosal or any other compound that contains mercury, and injectable influenza vaccine Fluzone, in the form in which it is given in doctor's offices and pharmacies, has not contained mercury since 2004. The larger vials of Fluzone used in public free vaccination programs, however, do contain small amounts of thimerosal.

And many parents doubt that flu shots really work. There are good reasons to raise this question.

That means that for that particular year (different viruses predominate in different years) flu shots were only 62% effective.

The reason public health officials encourage everyone to get vaccinated, however, is that people who don't get the flu don't spread the flu. Even when the immunization does not work perfectly, it works well enough drastically to reduce the number of transmissions of the virus and the numbers of people who get sick. This is particularly important for small children, who are kept in day school, who don't wipe their noses, and who don't cover their coughs and sneezes.

It's not a good idea for your child to get FluMist if he or she has asthma, diabetes, or kidney failure, or if your child has a history of wheezing. If your child takes Aspirin on a regular basis, the FluMist vaccine is contraindicated to prevent the possibility of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder of the nervous system. 

These problems may be minimized or eliminated by use of flu shots, because they use dead viruses. But if you simply aren't going to vaccinate your children, protect them and their playmates with the following precautions.

1. Wash hands frequently. The flu virus is removed by rubbing the hands with non-antiseptic soap and rinsing them under warm running water for 15 seconds, long enough to sing "Happy Birthday" or "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" twice. Pat hands dry with a clean towel.
2. When soap and water are not available, cleanse hands with an alcohol-based hand rub.
3. Kill flu viruses in clothes, bed linens, washcloths, and towels with heat,, 167-212°F (75-100°C). Washing in hot water and drying in the dryer is enough to kill the virus.
4. Cleanse hard surfaces regularly during colds and flu season. The flu virus can lurk on countertops, door knobs, plates, and glasses. It can survive for 2 to 8 hours outside the human body. This means you don't need to wipe everything first thing in the morning, but you do need to decontaminate flu-infected surfaces several times each day.
5. Keep your children home when they are sick. Don't infect others.

See Also: Do Cold And Flu Remedies Work?

These rules are also helpful even if you and your children get your flu shots. FluMist may be helpful for children who tend to get ear infections, but flu shots and simple decontamination measures work for almost everyone.