{"id":172,"date":"2018-10-07T12:15:57","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T19:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/laa\/?p=172"},"modified":"2018-10-07T13:19:19","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T20:19:19","slug":"flu-shot-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/laa\/2018\/10\/07\/flu-shot-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu Shot Time!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Now is the time to discuss getting the flu shot with your host parents.<\/b>\u00a0 The “Flu” is generally thought of as a routine illness that makes you feel lousy for a week or two.\u00a0 But the reality is that “Influenza” is an historically deadly illness in America.\u00a0 Each year, different strains of the flu are passed from person to person.\u00a0 Some years and in some people, the flu is not much worse than the common cold.\u00a0 Some years, thousands of people accorss the US end up in hospitals with\u00a0dangerous respiratory viruses\u00a0that began as the flu and ended up as pneumonia or other dangerous\u00a0complications.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0WebMD<\/a>,\u00a0the Flu is “an extremely contagious respuratory illness<\/b>…[that] appears most frequently in winter and early spring.\u00a0\u00a0The flu virus attacks the body by spreading through the upper and\/or lower respiratory tract.”\u00a0 Symptoms of the flu include high fever, body aches, fatigue, weakness, and an increased likeliness of contracting pneumonia.\u00a0 Flu symptoms can come on abruptly, and are extremely contagious.<\/p>\n

New strains (or types) of the flu evolve every few years.\u00a0 Scientists at the CDC (or\u00a0<\/a>Centers for Disease Control<\/a>, a well-respected agency that is an off-shoot of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services) study and re-work the flu vaccine every year to tweak its components and make it effective against the\u00a0up-and-coming version of the flu.\u00a0\u00a0It is the reccommendation of the CDC that every healthy person in the US over the age of 6 months receive the flu shot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The influenza vaccine was invented in 1938 and has had varying degrees of effectiveness over the years.\u00a0 In 1976, however, amid a very-well-reported bad outbreak of the flu, the US goverment injected a large amount of additional $$ funding\u00a0into developing a more effective version of the\u00a0vaccine.\u00a0 The vaccine has developed steadily into an essential way of staying healthy.\u00a0 It has been reccommended for virtually all children and adults since 2010.<\/p>\n

There are many\u00a0\u00a0anecdotal reports of people “getting sick from the flu shot.”\u00a0 I’m sure we have all heard stories attesting to incidents of this happening.\u00a0 Concerned, I began asking every doctor I knew about this.\u00a0 To a person, they all told me that people cannot possibly get the flu from the flu vaccine.\u00a0 But if they offered a reason for this social debate, I still couldn’t understand it. Until I asked my son’s pediatrican.\u00a0 Dr. Peggy Legault is a very well respected doctor in Passadena who seems to believe in cautious action and logical analysis.\u00a0 It all finally made sense to me when she told my wife and I that\u00a0people don’t get sick from the flu shot, they get sick from going to the doctor’s office.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>It makes sense: you go to a place where sick people go; you touch the door handle; you use their pen to sign in; you wipe a tear from your eyes after the shot; a week later you feel sick.<\/p>\n

I strongly urge every Au Pair to do three things this month:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Read\u00a0<\/b>about the flu shot from a respected independant source such as the\u00a0CDC website<\/a>.\u00a0 Walgreens and\u00a0Rite Aid\u00a0also offer very\u00a0good\u00a0information, but their goal is to sell you the vaccine.\u00a0 Thte Washington Post newspaper also offers a\u00a0good independent article<\/a>\u00a0about flu shots.<\/li>\n
  2. Think\u00a0about the children in your care and know that if you get the flu you will upset their routine dramatically for one to two weeks while you are stuck in bed not able to care for them.\u00a0\u00a0Discuss<\/b>\u00a0vaccination\u00a0with your host parents and ask them if they will pay for it.\u00a0 There are many places you can get a flu shot for free, but even if you end up paying for it, it usually costs around $30.\u00a0 Most host parents will be happy to pay for\u00a0the vaccine to protect you, and\u00a0those who don’t want to pay for it are usually able to help you find a free one.<\/li>\n
  3. Get<\/b>\u00a0the flu shot\u00a0in an open public place,\u00a0but don’t touch anything.\u00a0 When you go into the clinic or pharmacy, only touch a door handle,\u00a0pen or desk when you need to.\u00a0 Be extremely concious of what your hands are doing, and don’t touch your face, especially your mouth or eyes.\u00a0 Bring antibacterial gel or use their’s, and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water after you leave.\u00a0 For extra credit, wash change and wash your clothes and shoes when you get home.\u00a0 By using a\u00a0few minutes of extreme caution,\u00a0You will prevent yourself from getting sick!<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And just so you know that I “practice what I preach,” my whole family got our flu shots last week.\u00a0 My son went to his pediatrician, where our\u00a0insurance covered the cost.\u00a0 My wife and I went to CVS where getting the shot was much quicker and easier than going to our doctor’s office, it was $38.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Now is the time to discuss getting the flu shot with your host parents.\u00a0 The “Flu” is generally thought of as a routine illness that makes you feel lousy for a week or two.\u00a0 But the reality is that “Influenza” is an historically deadly illness in America.\u00a0 Each year, different strains of the flu are Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy"],"yoast_head":"\nFlu Shot Time! - Kate's Au Pair in America Blog (LAA Cluster)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/laa\/2018\/10\/07\/flu-shot-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flu Shot Time! 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