This season's flu is no joke - PSA for anyone whose kids have not had a shot yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by all these people that get tested as soon as they get sick. Why? Whether it's flu or covid there's not much they can do. I wait until there's some secondary issue (usually there's none) like bronchitis and then I get antibiotics which treat the secondary.

I'm asking because I see all these people running around and it's spreading sickness more. We're all pretty sure we got sick from DH who caught it from urgent care where he was having his toe splinted (it was a bad break). What's crazy is that my veterinarian has us wait in our car until we're called in. Why can't they do that at urgent care?

One word: Tamiflu. My entire family just got over flu A and Tamiflu was our savior. 3 of us took it the second we spiked a temp and it never progressed beyond a low grade fever, which was easily managed with Advil. My son didn’t get diagnosed in time and it turned out to be 5 days of hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by all these people that get tested as soon as they get sick. Why? Whether it's flu or covid there's not much they can do. I wait until there's some secondary issue (usually there's none) like bronchitis and then I get antibiotics which treat the secondary.

I'm asking because I see all these people running around and it's spreading sickness more. We're all pretty sure we got sick from DH who caught it from urgent care where he was having his toe splinted (it was a bad break). What's crazy is that my veterinarian has us wait in our car until we're called in. Why can't they do that at urgent care?

One word: Tamiflu. My entire family just got over flu A and Tamiflu was our savior. 3 of us took it the second we spiked a temp and it never progressed beyond a low grade fever, which was easily managed with Advil. My son didn’t get diagnosed in time and it turned out to be 5 days of hell.

+1
Tamiflu worked really well for the few of our family who could take it. The person who initially got sick missed the window and was sick longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had the shot but still got really sick with the flu

But you didn’t die.
That’s the flu shot working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12 yo just had it and it was probably the sickest I've seen him since he was v young, and he had had the shot. I dont know what it would have been like without it. His ped does not do tamiflu but in retrospect i would have pushed for it. One night was esp troublesome.

This infuriates me. Our entire family just had Flu A and Tamiflu was a freaking godsend for the 3 of us who took it. However, like you, our pedi would ‘t give it to our son because “research shows it only shortens the flu by 12 hours and he might get a tummy ache”. Wtf! It literally stopped the virus in its tracks for the rest of us. Poor DS had it so rough and it could have been prevented. He had a positive PCR within 12 hours of symptoms starting. It was the perfect to give him Tamiflu. That said, I highly recommend asking for the pills if your kids can swallow them. Much easier to take (and much easier on the stomach) than the liquid.

+1. In my own personal experience, when taken that early, it stops the flu in its tracks. I’ve never seen anyone get over the flu naturally in 3 days, and yet my kid was fully recovered within 24 hours of starting tamiflu - 36 hours after symptoms started.

For a counterpoint, Tamiflu caused uncontrollable vomiting in my kid who then had to be hospitalized for IV fluids when he otherwise wouldn’t have needed to be. I would 100% never give him Tamiflu again; he ended up sicker than anyone in the family from the meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12 yo just had it and it was probably the sickest I've seen him since he was v young, and he had had the shot. I dont know what it would have been like without it. His ped does not do tamiflu but in retrospect i would have pushed for it. One night was esp troublesome.

This infuriates me. Our entire family just had Flu A and Tamiflu was a freaking godsend for the 3 of us who took it. However, like you, our pedi would ‘t give it to our son because “research shows it only shortens the flu by 12 hours and he might get a tummy ache”. Wtf! It literally stopped the virus in its tracks for the rest of us. Poor DS had it so rough and it could have been prevented. He had a positive PCR within 12 hours of symptoms starting. It was the perfect to give him Tamiflu. That said, I highly recommend asking for the pills if your kids can swallow them. Much easier to take (and much easier on the stomach) than the liquid.

+1. In my own personal experience, when taken that early, it stops the flu in its tracks. I’ve never seen anyone get over the flu naturally in 3 days, and yet my kid was fully recovered within 24 hours of starting tamiflu - 36 hours after symptoms started.

For a counterpoint, Tamiflu caused uncontrollable vomiting in my kid who then had to be hospitalized for IV fluids when he otherwise wouldn’t have needed to be. I would 100% never give him Tamiflu again; he ended up sicker than anyone in the family from the meds.

Any idea why he had that reaction to it? Is that common?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12 yo just had it and it was probably the sickest I've seen him since he was v young, and he had had the shot. I dont know what it would have been like without it. His ped does not do tamiflu but in retrospect i would have pushed for it. One night was esp troublesome.

This infuriates me. Our entire family just had Flu A and Tamiflu was a freaking godsend for the 3 of us who took it. However, like you, our pedi would ‘t give it to our son because “research shows it only shortens the flu by 12 hours and he might get a tummy ache”. Wtf! It literally stopped the virus in its tracks for the rest of us. Poor DS had it so rough and it could have been prevented. He had a positive PCR within 12 hours of symptoms starting. It was the perfect to give him Tamiflu. That said, I highly recommend asking for the pills if your kids can swallow them. Much easier to take (and much easier on the stomach) than the liquid.

+1. In my own personal experience, when taken that early, it stops the flu in its tracks. I’ve never seen anyone get over the flu naturally in 3 days, and yet my kid was fully recovered within 24 hours of starting tamiflu - 36 hours after symptoms started.

For a counterpoint, Tamiflu caused uncontrollable vomiting in my kid who then had to be hospitalized for IV fluids when he otherwise wouldn’t have needed to be. I would 100% never give him Tamiflu again; he ended up sicker than anyone in the family from the meds.

Yes I remember you posted this in last years flu thread maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ended up not getting the flu shot after missing the appointments when they were offering it at work. Everyone else in my family got it. Learned my lesson when I spent half of my precious New Year break sick as a dog while the rest of the family is out having fun on the slopes.

My work also offers it and that's where dh and I get it. Why don't schools offer shot clinics?

Because schools can't solve all the world's problems.

Because schools don't have full-time RNs to administer shots.

Because schools can't monitor every child after receiving the shot to watch for reactions.

Because schools are for education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ended up not getting the flu shot after missing the appointments when they were offering it at work. Everyone else in my family got it. Learned my lesson when I spent half of my precious New Year break sick as a dog while the rest of the family is out having fun on the slopes.

My work also offers it and that's where dh and I get it. Why don't schools offer shot clinics?

Because schools can't solve all the world's problems.

Because schools don't have full-time RNs to administer shots.

Because schools can't monitor every child after receiving the shot to watch for reactions.

Because schools are for education.

Thank you for this.

- teacher who was just imagining what it would be like to deal with all those permission forms (if we could even administer shots without parents present), with the kids scared of needles, etc. All of this on a grand, school-wide scale

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had the shot but still got really sick with the flu

But you didn’t die.
That’s the flu shot working.

People who took the shots die of the flu every year. Tens of thousands of them. They just never post the raw numbers so people think they are magic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12 yo just had it and it was probably the sickest I've seen him since he was v young, and he had had the shot. I dont know what it would have been like without it. His ped does not do tamiflu but in retrospect i would have pushed for it. One night was esp troublesome.

This infuriates me. Our entire family just had Flu A and Tamiflu was a freaking godsend for the 3 of us who took it. However, like you, our pedi would ‘t give it to our son because “research shows it only shortens the flu by 12 hours and he might get a tummy ache”. Wtf! It literally stopped the virus in its tracks for the rest of us. Poor DS had it so rough and it could have been prevented. He had a positive PCR within 12 hours of symptoms starting. It was the perfect to give him Tamiflu. That said, I highly recommend asking for the pills if your kids can swallow them. Much easier to take (and much easier on the stomach) than the liquid.

+1. In my own personal experience, when taken that early, it stops the flu in its tracks. I’ve never seen anyone get over the flu naturally in 3 days, and yet my kid was fully recovered within 24 hours of starting tamiflu - 36 hours after symptoms started.

For a counterpoint, Tamiflu caused uncontrollable vomiting in my kid who then had to be hospitalized for IV fluids when he otherwise wouldn’t have needed to be. I would 100% never give him Tamiflu again; he ended up sicker than anyone in the family from the meds.

Poor kid Did he take the liquid or the pill? The liquid is vile and absorbs in your stomach. My DS wasn’t able to take the liquid, but we were all fine with the pill. We took it with food the second we got a fever so maybe that helped.

[Anonymous]

I work in a major area hospital. So many influenza cases. It’s crazy. Peds is getting it harder than adults right now. Our census was super high last week, taken a dip…but I expect it will go up again bc school has re-started.

[Anonymous]

The flu shot is the wrong strain. Don't waste your time. You're better off wearing a mask in public for the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had the shot but still got really sick with the flu

But you didn’t die.
That’s the flu shot working.

People who took the shots die of the flu every year. Tens of thousands of them. They just never post the raw numbers so people think they are magic.

Cite?

Since they don't post numbers, how do you know so much? Magic?

[Anonymous]

we historically have never for the flu shot and never gotten the flu. It just hasn’t happened for whatever reason. However when my son went off to his first year in college, in January he got a vicious flu. He now gets the show annually and hasn’t since gotten the flu. I’m a believer especially when we are talking complete filth factories like college. I’d also get it if I rode packed public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had the shot but still got really sick with the flu

But you didn’t die.
That’s the flu shot working.

[phone]