Influenza is around the corner....

We have already seen a child with presumed Influenza A (father diagnosed with it) after a trip abroad.  Today in the news, Emirates Airlines had to land a jumbo jet early due to sick passengers which on preliminary evaluation led to the thought being the passengers had influenza.  All the controversies aside; vaccinations do save lives--that is a fact.  The following is the recommendations from the AAP for this years influenza vaccine:  

• AAP recommends inactivated influenza vaccine (trivalent IIV3 or quadrivalent IIV4) as the primary choice for children. This recommendation was made because quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4) showed inferior effectiveness during previous flu seasons, and its effectiveness against A/H1N1 is unknown.
• LAIV4 may be used for children who would not otherwise receive an influenza vaccine, if the child is at least 2 years old and healthy with no underlying chronic medical conditions.
• All 2018-19 seasonal influenza vaccines contain a similar influenza A (H1N1) vaccine strain compared with the one that included in the 2017-18 seasonal vaccines. The influenza A (H3N2) and influenza B (Victoria lineage) differ in these vaccines from last year. The quadrivalent vaccines contain the same influenza B (Yamagata lineage) included in last year's vaccine.
• Children should receive the flu vaccine as soon as possible after it is available in their community, preferably by the end of October.
• All children with egg allergy of any severity can receive influenza vaccine without any additional precautions beyond those recommended for any vaccine. Egg allergy is not a contraindication for influenza vaccination, nor does it require special consideration.
• Pregnant women may receive IIV at any time during pregnancy, and infants of vaccinated mothers receive protection against influenza and its complications.
• Antiviral medications are important in the treatment and control of influenza, but are not a substitute for influenza vaccination

Certainly, people can take their chances and not get the influenza vaccine; but anyone who has experienced the influenza illness will most likely change their mind.  If you receive the vaccine, but still get influenza (it's not a 100% guarantee)--the illness is muted.  The most common complications of influenza in children are pneumonia and/or otitis media.  A rare complication of influenza is myocarditis.  

And....don't go to work sick.  And don't let sick children go to school or daycare until they are without a fever for 24 hours (without medications).   #stopthespread