Protect kids before flu season arrives
Sep 14, 2012, 7:12 AM | Updated: 7:12 am
PHOENIX — Now that the kids are back in school, it’s time to start thinking about how to protect them against the flu virus.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that everyone over 6 months old get a flu shot.
Karen Lewis with the Arizona Department of Health Services said, depending on how old a child is and when they get the first shot, they might need two.
“Children who have never had the influenza vaccination before get a better antibody response if they get two doses the first year that they get the flu shot,” she said.
Lewis said there’s a second option, called FluMist, a nasal spray vaccine, but it can make kids sick because it’s made with a live virus.
“The nasal spray can give you a little bit of a runny nose,” she said. “It’s a live attenuated virus.”
The shot is given to anyone over 6 months of age, but the spray is only given to kids over 2.
