Healthy Kids get Flu Vaccine

There is a change this year in the focus of the flu vaccine program of the California’s Department of Public Health, following a recommendation by the CDC. Their new focus is the vaccination of healthy children, instead of the elderly. Their reasoning is that young children who succumb to the flu have an active, intense response to it, which puts more of the virus in the air. Their reaction to the flu coupled with the tendency not to follow hygienic precautions, consequently exposes more people.

To reduce adult exposure to the virus, the Board of Health proposes that we vaccinate more children. Also, their findings reveal that the vaccine is less effective for people over 70 years of age to prevent the flu because of their already compromised immune systems.

When the body encounters a virus or bacteria, it mounts a response (symptoms) to fight it off. This immune response, in a healthy person, is what keeps us healthy and alive. It is a sign of health to have strong symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose which all act to rid the body of the pathogen.

Vaccinating healthy people against a disease that their bodies are capable of handling robs them of the chance to strengthen their immune system–because a good bout of the flu or a cold is how the body “tunes up” the immune system.

Children are not able to advocate for themselves. The push by the California Department of Health (and the rest of the country) is to “encourage” permission from parents, mostly in school settings, for their children to get vaccinated. Many people are unaware that, in California, there is a law which allows people to decline vaccinations based solely on a philosophical objection.

Everyone has the right and responsibility to advocate for his or her child’s
present and future health and to educate themselves on the pros and cons of
vaccination so informed consent can be made.

Click here for more information on the changes to the CDC recommendations.