It’s still flu season. Is it too late to vaccinate my child?

The quick answer is NO. It is not too late in this year's flu season to get vaccinated. Since the flu season isn't over yet, it's more important than ever to get vaccinated and protect your child again the influenza virus.

Here is why:

1. The flu season is not over. You may say: it's spring, is it normal to have the flu season run this late? Actually, in the Northern hemisphere flu activity typically peaks in January, February or March, but may continue as late as May. Here is a bar graph of flu peak months (months with the highest number of infections) over the past 30 years. Keep in mind if the peak is in one month, the flu is likely to continue spreading for several weeks after that "peak".

In the past few years, flu activity started early so it seems late this year. In short, the flu season is unpredictable in its timing and that is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors flu activity every week of the year and publishes flu activity reports called "FluView" every week from October to May.

2. The flu vaccine is a good match with the strains that are making children sick this season. Every year there is one or more type of flu virus called a strain. The flu vaccine manufacturers try to match the vaccine made every season to the strains expected to make people sick that year based on recommendations from the World Health Organization. Last year, the vaccine did not include H3H2 strain. This year the vaccine includes protection against H3H2 and is expected it to give us better protection! In general, even if the match is not good, the flu vaccine will give some protection from the virus, which is better than no protection.

3. The flu vaccine works fast! It only takes two weeks or less for the flu vaccine to give your child protection. While it is not instantaneous, this is a relatively short time compared to the tendency of the flu virus to spread for a long time and linger in the community as late as May.

4. It's going to get worse! The Philadelphia Department of Health reported a surge in influenza infection on March 10th. The level of activity was described as "elevated and widespread". This usually means the beginning of several weeks of the virus spreading.

Flu vaccination is recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months. It is especially important to get the vaccine if a child has a chronic disease, or if a woman is pregnant or breast feeding. For children too young to get the vaccine (under the age of 6 months), it is important to vaccinate everyone that cares for them such as parents, grandparents, day care workers and other family or friends to provide a "cocooning effect" and reducing their risk of disease.

It is also important to practice good hygiene and seek medical attention or advice as soon as flu symptoms appear and you know that flu is spreading in your state because it is possible to receive an antiviral medication called Tamiflu that will shorten the duration of the illness and possibly prevent complications such as pneumonia. In the end, the best protection is to get vaccinated because good hygiene and medications are not as effective as the shot!

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