Parents urged to give children flu vaccine Parents of pre-school children are being encouraged to get ready for winter and take up the offer of the free flu vaccine. Under a new immunisation programme, all children who were aged two or three years old on 1 September 2013, have received a letter inviting them to receive the nasal flu vaccine. In Scotland, around 2,500 children under the age of five have to go to hospital each year with flu or complications from flu. The vaccine helps protect children against flu and reduces the chance of spreading the virus to others. David Cromie, consultant in public health medicine, said: “Parents of those children who are eligible for the vaccine have received letters inviting them to contact their GP practice to arrange an appointment. “Flu can be very serious. Even healthy children can become seriously ill from flu and it can spread to others. Flu is especially common in winter, so it is important that children receive the flu vaccine before the coldest months of winter. “Two and three year old children are one of the groups most vulnerable to flu as they are unlikely to have built-up any protection from previous infections. Immunising these children also reduces the chances of spreading an infection to younger children, their parents and grandparents who may themselves be particularly vulnerable to the effects of flu, through a health condition or age. “I would encourage any parent, who has received an invitation for their child, to take up the offer of the vaccine as soon as they can.” Symptoms of flu include; fever, chills, aching muscles and joints, headaches, extreme tiredness, stuffy nose, dry cough and a sore throat. Symptoms can last between two and seven days. Further information about the Fluenz vaccine can be found at: immunisationscotland.org.uk/childflu
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 15:09:42 +0000
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