Flu Vaccination around a newborn

[dons88]

Morning ladies,

I'm not sure if any of you can help with this but I'm struggling to find an answer elsewhere. My 2.5 year old son has been offered a flu vaccination this year. I'm more than happy for him to have it but as baby 2 is due any second (hopefully!) I just wanted to check that there would be no problem for him to have the vaccine and be around a newborn immediately? I know it's a live vaccine which can cause some minor side effects to Max but I'm not sure if that means that he could pass it on to the baby, or what the ramifications of that could be.

Obviously I'll ask the nurse these questions before he's vaccinated but that means waiting until the appointment and I'd like to find out before! Apologies if this is a really ignorant question!

Thanks x

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Hi dons!

Its not a ignorant question at all as I'd probably be just as worried if my son was going to have his flu vaccine now as some children can have bad reactions to it & become poorly very quickly.

My initial thoughts are, by your son having the vaccine now he may just be well protected against getting something like the flu, & all those other nasties before the child is born so at least you wouldn't need to worry about the baby getting a cold so soon after birth.

My advise is to see if you can get in touch with the nurse/doctor who is going to give the injection to your son & maybe you'll be able to get some more "medical proven" information & possibly delay the process until you feel comfortable with him having it.

xx

[xanon]

I didn't think flu was a live vaccine? My sister is a manager at the same place I worked and was told when she had the jab that the vaccine wasn't live an therefore if anyone rang in saying they had flu from the jab they were lying!

This is from nhs website hope it helps!

The flu jab doesn’t cause flu as it doesn’t contain live viruses. However, you may experience side effects after having the jab, such as a temperature and aching muscles for a couple of days afterwards. Your arm may feel sore at the site where you were injected. More severe reactions are rare.

[dons88 in reply to xanon]

The nhs website says that the vaccine given to 2-3 year olds is live, they get a nasal spray rather than a jab so perhaps it's a different vaccine. I still won't let him skive off work for the day though

It's not so much the side effects for him that I'm worried about, but rather him coming home and passing on a 'dose' of the vaccine to our new baby - it's probably not even possible for that to happen, and even more possible that baby STILL won't be born by the time he has it! Thanks for your replies x

[mamacool]

Remember if you have had the vaccine (which is not live) before the baby is born then baby will have some immunity from you which will continue when you breastfeed. I had mine done at 37 weeks with this seasons vaccine because it will reduce the risk to both baby and me and my hubby is asthmatic. Vaccinations are really important so getting your little one vaccinated now would be good for all, if he's going to be ill then it will be sooner rather than later, and most importantly before baby is born too. I hope this helps

[dons88 in reply to mamacool]

Thanks Mamacool, I've booked his slot for next week. The receptionist at my GP is very sweet but didn't half flap when I asked if there was somebody who could answer some questions about it! I'll just make sure when I take him that he won't need to be kept away from baby for a period of time after.

I'm very much a pro-vaxxer so it wasn't a question of not getting him vaccinated - particularly at this age. If there is anybody likely to bring flu into this house it is my germ machine of a 2 year old! I'll let you know what the nurse says after his appt x