<p>Normally I like to ask my kids to get their flu shots in our home state just before shipping off to college. One less thing to do or forget to do once they get there.</p>
<p>Does this make sense? Is the formulation different this year across the country?</p>
<p>I was just considering this also. I’ve noticed that the flu vaccines are out locally. However, I remember reading last year the the “peak” efficiency of the flu vaccine is for 3 months after the vaccine is taken. So, If you have it done in early September, you are missing out on the maximum benefits which have waned by the peak flu season, which is usually Jan/Feb. So, I think I am going to have my d wait until late October to have hers, which I think is still plenty of time before the flu really kicks in.
However, if it means the difference between them getting the vaccine and not getting it at all when they are gone, definitely do it now!! My whole family came down with that bad H1N1 flu, and I will do anything to prevent a repeat of that!</p>
<p>The flu shot is the same wherever you get it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm”>http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/vaccine-selection.htm”>http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/vaccine-selection.htm</a> says that the typical 3-type vaccines are for the following for 2014-2015:</p>
<ul>
<li>an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;</li>
<li>an A/Texas/50/2012 (H3N2)-like virus;</li>
<li>a B/Massachusetts/2/2012-like virus.</li>
</ul>
<p>For 4-type vaccines, the additional ones is:</p>
<ul>
<li>a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that the web page says that these are the same as the 2013-2014 vaccine.</p>
<p>The vaccines come in various formats (injected, egg-free injected, nasal spray), according to <a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm”>http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm</a> .</p>
<p>Thank you. So getting the 4-type would offer protection against all 4 viruses. The 3-type would offer protection against 3 viruses. Nationwide.</p>
<p>Movemeto, I have also heard the advice that later vaccination offers better protection during peak flu season, but my brief research doesn’t support that. It seems that protection wanes more due to the viruses mutating rather than the immune system weakening. Of course there is much variation between individuals. <a href=“Ask Well: How Long Does a Flu Shot Last? - The New York Times”>http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/ask-well-how-long-does-a-flu-shot-last/</a></p>
<p>Re: <a href=“Ask Well: How Long Does a Flu Shot Last? - The New York Times”>http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/ask-well-how-long-does-a-flu-shot-last/</a></p>
<p>The question about how long flu immunity lasts is quite pertinent for someone who got last year’s vaccine, since this year’s vaccine is for the same strains. Unfortunately, as the article mentions, there is little actual data on that. Perhaps that may be because, in most years, the flu vaccine is readily available and inexpensive.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your kid. My kid would probably not be bothered to get the shot at school, even if it was readibly available. I would have him get it before he leaves for school. </p>
<p>I prefer to have my kids do stuff like shots when they are home rather than relying on them to get around to doing it when they are busy with school and friends. Sadly, my kids get very ill from flu shots so their docs have advised them to avoid them ,which worked ok for all of us. I get my shots as early as possible in the fall (often August) and feel it protects me thru the season. </p>
<p>My kid GOT the flu. He will NEVER forget to get a flu shot again…NEVER. He was so sick, he passed out in his house. He went to an urgent care and they said if he got sicker or dizzy he should go to the ER immediately…which is what he did…because he was very sick…and dizzy. Ended up with a $3200 ER bill that his insurance would NOT pay…even though he followed the doctors directions. </p>
<p>Both of my kids were able to get the flu shot at clinics on their college campuses…maybe at the health centers? See if your kiddo can get his shot there.</p>
<p>The only problem I can see with having them get it at college is that they have to get it at college… DS13 never got around to it so when he came home over Christmas break I took him in and had him get it. 
</p>
<p>My D’s really small engineering school gives flu shots on only one or two days, but advertises really well and most students get them. She got hers at school freshman year, but was home for a break in early October last year and made herself an appointment at her doctor because she felt they were giving them a bit late at school - not until the end of October. Like @thumper1’s kid, she had the flu as an older teen and now ALWAYS gets the flu shot. In her case, she got it her junior year in high school, but was enrolled in a college music performance class. She missed a performance due to a 105F fever which normally means an F. Luckily the professor did accept a physician’s excuse. </p>
<p>At my S’s school they set up at every major/minor place on campus. Cannot be missed. They seem to be ever present. S had his before I even asked about it last October. I think many schools are very vigilant about access. </p>
<p>I think it depends on the school and the student. My youngest has gotten it at college, for free, last year, didn’t get it at all sophomore year and got it at home during Thanksgiving break freshman year. It was getting sick sophomore year that made him motivated for the next year. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So many people have never had a severe case of the flu, so it’s understandable I think that they don’t totally “get it.” I had a horrible flu one year when my hospital changed their policy from letting us give the vaccine to each other in the unit to requiring us to go to employee health several buildings over. I didn’t bother, and boy did I pay. Once you’ve had a flu like that you will do whatever it takes to get your vaccine. My Ds have been lucky to have never experienced that, so I have to nag them to get them to get it each year. D1 is pretty compliant, but D2 has a needle phobia, so if the nasal spray runs out before she gets around to it, I really have to push. I daresay that if either of them had gone through my experience, we would never even have to have the conversation.</p>
<p>I once heard a doctor describe the difference between the cold and the flu. He said, with a cold, if you are laying in bed and notice a $100 bill lying on the floor you didn’t know you had, you’ll jump out of bed, grab it and a few tissues, and go out to spend it. If you have the flu and you see $100 bill lying on the floor, you will close your eyes again and roll over in bed.
I thought that summed it up pretty well!</p>
<p>Time for my annual posting that my perfectly healthy (until then) 39 year old brother-in-law died from complications of the flu. After a desperate attempt to save his life by amputating his arms and legs because infection had cut off the blood supply. </p>
<p>^^^I’ve never come across that story here, KKmama. Sounds like DIC set in after a horrible case of the flu. How awful. So sorry for your family’s loss.</p>
<p>Several weeks ago I ended up in the hospital for five days with sepsis after developing an abscess from surgery 7 1/2 weeks prior. I was sicker than I’d ever been in my life. All I kept thinking was, “This is how people who have the flu have described it, except I had no sore throat or upset stomach (I didn’t have any appetite, though, for quite some time afterwards)” The highest my fever ever got was 102.3, but every cell in my body hurt. I always get the flu shot, and if being septic was anything like getting the flu, I will always be compliant with getting the shot. </p>
<p>I am kind of surprised to see signs up at local pharmacies that they now have the flu shot in stock already. I usually wait until mid-to-late October to get mine. That being said, since my immune system is still recovering from the sepsis, I might go earlier this year. </p>
<p>^^^Yeah, you’re going to need to really pamper yourself and your immune system. Hope your recovery continues without incident.</p>
<p>Thanks… I actually have a friend in Austin who is a PA, but only practices integrative medicine. I’m a bit skeptical of some of it, but after my cancer diagnosis back in April, she told me, when things settle down (this was before the sepsis), if I wanted to, she could share with me some ways to boost my immune system. I’m thinking about taking her up on it.</p>
<p>That being said, we just got back from ten days in the PNW and I was surprisingly quite active. Did some hikes that I didn’t think I would be capable of yet - not necessarily long, but with elevation changes (which I’m not used to in Illinois!). Again, maybe a hike that was 4±miles in length, but very little of it being flat. It was encouraging.</p>