PSA: Get a flu shot if you can

[mlktwins]

50 minutes ago, catz said:

My teenager had covid recently (3x vaxxed) and it was much less severe than our bouts with influenza A/B.

Same for both of my boys.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

For what it's worth, I had a slight reaction to the flu vaccine but none to the Covid booster.  (I think this mirrors another poster's experience.)  Since we got them two weeks apart, it was easy to see which one got which reaction.  

[mommyoffive]

39 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

For what it's worth, I had a slight reaction to the flu vaccine but none to the Covid booster.  (I think this mirrors another poster's experience.)  Since we got them two weeks apart, it was easy to see which one got which reaction.  

My experience was the opposite.  I spaced the 2 shots because of how I reacted to the both of them at the same time last year.  I had a reaction to the Covid booster and nothing at all to the flu shot.

[Jean in Newcastle]

33 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

My experience was the opposite.  I spaced the 2 shots because of how I reacted to the both of them at the same time last year.  I had a reaction to the Covid booster and nothing at all to the flu shot.

I might have flipped in my mind to make you match my experience! 

[Katy]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Hope you are on the upswing Katy!  DH and I are getting ours today (I loved them up a few weeks) because of your post.

 Boys got their this morning at their well check.

 

Thanks! No more fevers or naps needed, just congestion & bad sore throat left.

[momto3innc]

Got mine today! Very sore arm tonight but thankful to walk into Kroger today (no appointment) and get the shot 5 minutes later.

One son had his flu shot about a month ago—need to get the rest of the family taken care of this weekend.

Thanks for the reminder! 

[Laura Corin]

@Katy I hope you are feeling better. I  paid - £12 - for my flu jab in September.  I could have waited to get one for free with my Covid booster, but I'm way down the priority list for that  and wanted to get the flu jab done earlier.

[KungFuPanda]

A friend’s child had to be admitted to pediatric icu for respiratory distress. Getting a bed was a struggle because the pediatric units are full at Hopkins. This is terrifying. 

[Katy]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

A friend’s child had to be admitted to pediatric icu for respiratory distress. Getting a bed was a struggle because the pediatric units are full at Hopkins. This is terrifying. 

I’ve seen a lot of news that various children’s hospitals are full or over capacity from kids with RSV, Flu, Covid, or a combination.  And how it’s really early compared to normal. Another parent I know was just saying how her 13 month old just got released from 3 days in the PICU with an unidentified virus. He tested negative for the common 3. 

[Annie G]

@Katy thanks for starting this thread- it prompted dh and me to go ahead and get our flu shots.  We usually wait a few more weeks but glad we didn’t. The Publix pharmacist said Georgia is already seeing a lot of cases. 

[Acadie]

Getting mine today! Really appreciate this thread and I wanted to add for those wondering about timing that in Australia flu season started AND waned early. That means the whole curve shifted earlier, so it wasn't a case of rising early and staying at peak for months and months. That helped me decide to schedule now rather than delay out of concern about coverage waning too soon. 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, Acadie said:

Getting mine today! Really appreciate this thread and I wanted to add for those wondering about timing that in Australia flu season started AND waned early. That means the whole curve shifted earlier, so it wasn't a case of rising early and staying at peak for months and months. That helped me decide to schedule now rather than delay out of concern about coverage waning too soon. 

Good to know.

[mommyoffive]

16 minutes ago, Katy said:

I’ve seen a lot of news that various children’s hospitals are full or over capacity from kids with RSV, Flu, Covid, or a combination.  And how it’s really early compared to normal. Another parent I know was just saying how her 13 month old just got released from 3 days in the PICU with an unidentified virus. He tested negative for the common 3. 

A Surge in Pediatric Respiratory Viruses Is Straining Hospitals (msn.com)

 

Look at how much good your post is doing!  I hope you guys are feeling better now and everyone else who is getting the shot avoids getting really sick.

[ktgrok]

DD5 got hers today! DD12 goes monday, and DS10 goes a week from today. Crossing fingers we keep the flu bugs away until they all have them and it kicks in!

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

So much influenza, croup and RSV.  The local hospital is having to reach out 5-7 hours away for open pediatric beds.

In good news I’m seeing next to no Covid that’s more serious than a common cold, even in unvaccinated people. But the flu and RSV are really hitting hard. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Mrs Tiggywinkle Again

[Mom_to3]

54 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

So much influenza, croup and RSV.  The local hospital is having to reach out 5-7 hours away for open pediatric beds.

In good news I’m seeing next to no Covid that’s more serious than a common cold, even in unvaccinated people. But the flu and RSV are really hitting hard. 

Thank you - good to hear what's happening from the front lines! Our local ped hospital is serving patients from far way for the same reason. And a pediatric hospital in CT is apparently thinking of calling in the National guard and opening up a tent to treat patients. Of course, masking and a few precautions would help with all these respiratory viruses...I can't imagine why we'd accept medical care with insane waits and in tents instead (kind of like Texas public schools sending out fingerprint and DNA identification kits to concerned parents, rather than address the underlying issues). Odd preferences. 

[Shoeless]

DS and I got ours yesterday. Sore arms and fatigue for us, so I guess the shot is doing it's job.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Our pediatrician said that the flu shot was a bigger priority than the new COVID booster for kids this fall.  It makes sense.  The kids have all had recent COVID vaccines or COVID exposure. Maybe not so much with flu. 

[Terabith]

I had planned to do flu shots this week anyway, but this thread was a good reminder.  I picked oldest up from college this afternoon and we did early voting, since election day is lab day for them, and then got flu shots for everyone.

[ScoutTN]

My kids got theirs today! I had mine a few weeks ago, with the covid booster. Dh works for a healthcare company (though he’s a programmer) and will get his at work tomorrow. 

Edited October 22, 2022 by ScoutTN

[Innisfree]

Both my dds got their flu shots today, and the one who hadn’t already gotten her Covid booster got that as well. Both their schools are full of coughing, they say. So, the three of us are fully up to date now. Dh is planning to get his later from his doctor… hope it’s not too much later.

 I appreciate this thread; it’s a good motivator.

[ktgrok]

6 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

So much influenza, croup and RSV.  The local hospital is having to reach out 5-7 hours away for open pediatric beds.

In good news I’m seeing next to no Covid that’s more serious than a common cold, even in unvaccinated people. But the flu and RSV are really hitting hard. 

A friend in south florida had RSV, with her kids. She was VERY very sick, low SpO2, etc. She has previous lung scarring from Covid, so that may have played a part in how bad it was for her, but still. it was scary. 

[Kassia]

I just saw this article about RSV in children and hospital beds being filled.  😞  

https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/10/21/hospital-beds-are-filling-up-with-children-health-officials-say/

[MEmama]

DH and I got our flu shots at the same time as the Covid boosters, neither of us had any issues at all.

Theres a 7 week wait list at DS's university for the flu shot, and although he is eligible for the Covid vax because he has asthma, he’s being told he isn’t. It’s all too much for him to handle right now, so we'll probably get him both when he comes home for winter break and cross our fingers he doesn’t come down with either before then. He’s already had 2 rounds of nasty coughs.
 

We were recently in Ireland and it seemed like 2/3 of the population was coughing with wild abandon, and masking is essentially over. We were very often the only (or nearly only) people wearing masks indoors—very uncomfortable on steamy, packed double decker buses and the like. I came home with a nasty cold, my first in years. 2 negative Covid tests, so I’m pretty confident it’s not Covid anyway.

Edited October 22, 2022 by MEmama
Vax not fax, c'mon autocorrect nearly 3 years in to using the word regularly you’d think you could keep up

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, MEmama said:

DH and I got our flu shots at the same time as the Covid boosters, neither of us had any issues at all.

Theres a 7 week wait list at DS's university for the flu shot, and although he is eligible for the Covid vax because he has asthma, he’s being told he isn’t. 

Does he have transportation to get to a regular pharmacy, like Walgreens? Or a grocery store or Target or whatever? In my state, anyway, you can get a flu shot at the grocery store pharmacy, Target, Walmart, etc without an appointment. Might need an appointment for a Walgreens or CVS, I think those are done through the minute clinic type thing. So that might be more than he's able to handle right now (making appointment, etc) but if he can get to a grocery store or whatever that does them could he just walk up tot he pharmacy and request a flu shot?

[MEmama]

44 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Does he have transportation to get to a regular pharmacy, like Walgreens? Or a grocery store or Target or whatever? In my state, anyway, you can get a flu shot at the grocery store pharmacy, Target, Walmart, etc without an appointment. Might need an appointment for a Walgreens or CVS, I think those are done through the minute clinic type thing. So that might be more than he's able to handle right now (making appointment, etc) but if he can get to a grocery store or whatever that does them could he just walk up tot he pharmacy and request a flu shot?

He’s in school overseas and vaccinations aren’t as easy to come across as they are in the US. Technically he could call around to try to find a pharmacy with a shorter wait time, but he simply doesn’t have the bandwidth right now. As far as I know, there aren’t any grocery stores with pharmacies attached and there aren’t any big box shops like Target.

 

[TravelingChris]

DH got it on Monday and while he wasn't tested, another person at the retreat where he was was tested and it was the flu.  I got it yesterday.  I have to figure out what meds to take and not, and also do an instacart order for juices, crackers, etc.

I don;t seem to get it as bad as everyone else- but it is probably my HLA mutation-that helps with both flu and COVID>  And also causes my spine to fall apart too, etc, etc.   but I try to look at the good side of my illnesses.