Help your family avoid flu this winter — no needles required

By Tanya Remer Altmann, MD

It’s flu season again, and a good time to think about vaccinating one’s family against the flu to prevent having any holiday season plans derailed by illness.

"Fear of needles" is no longer a valid excuse thanks to the new intranasal flu vaccine, FluMist. Administered without a needle, the vaccine is simply sprayed up the nose. FluMist is approved for children ages five and up and protects as well (and possibly even better) as the injectable flu vaccine. FluMist, a live virus vaccine, is not recommended for people with asthma or other chronic illnesses. Also, FluMist is not yet covered by most insurance companies and costs about $75.

So if your children don’t qualify or you don’t want to pay for the new needle-less vaccine, the traditional flu shot is recommended. The flu shot is still recommended for healthy children as young as six to 26 months and anyone who lives with or cares for an infant less than two. In addition, teens, young adults (especially college students living in dorms) and anyone else who wants to avoid coming down with the flu is encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Flu season usually runs from November to March. If this is the first year your child will be vaccinated against the flu, he will need two doses of the intranasal vaccine at least six weeks apart or two doses of the flu shot one month apart. And it is only a myth—you cannot catch the flu from the flu vaccine.

Frequent hand washing plus adhering to a healthy lifestyle is still the best way to keep your family free from the other winter bugs.

Tanya Remer Altmann, M.D., is a board certified pediatrician at Community Pediatrics in Westlake Village and Moorpark and a clinical instructor at UCLA.