I get asked often if our family gets the flu shot, especially in this season. I wrote the following post on my feelings on the flu shot back in February of 2011 while our family was battling the flu. Today when I sat down to tackle this subject I thought I would expand on the post I wrote while in the midst of battling the flu in our house.

Our Experience with the Flu

We have had the flu twice in our house since having children. It has lasted for about three long weeks in the past. In 2011, the last time we had it, my second had it first, but we were told it was croup. Then I got it and it took over two weeks before I felt significantly better. I was also in my first trimester of pregnancy while battling the flu that time. Then my oldest got it and it took about a week before he did not have a fever.  Was it fun? No! We had high fevers, the chills, runny noses, coughs, and felt like crap all over. But we survived. In fact, I have to be honest and say that having the flu simply solidified my decision to NOT get the flu shot.

Setting the Record Straight

It is well known by those around me that no one in our family gets the flu shot. At least a dozen different people in my life have said something like: “So, are you going to get the flu shot next year now that you have had the flu?” Just to set the record straight and answer all of you who are dying to know but haven’t asked yet: no, no, and no. We will not be getting the flu shot next year or anytime in the near future. Does that mean that I think that you should not get the flu shot? No, it does not. I am not qualified to make that decision for your family and I am a strong the believer that each mom is the only person able to make that decision for their family. However, many of you read my blog because your curious as to why I do what I do, so for all of those inquiring minds I thought I would share why we still will not be getting a flu shot this year or any year after.

What Does the Vaccine Really Protect You From?

First of all the flu shot does not protect you from all strains of the flu. No one even really knows how many different strains of the flu there are. Currently there are 16 H  and 9 N subtypes that are known with only a few of those being found commonly in humans. The flu vaccine protects you against only three of the known strains and obviously, none of the undiscovered strains. When we had the flu in 2011 my wonderful father-in-law came to help us on several occasions. He insisted on helping even after my warnings of being contagious because he was confident he would be fine since he had the flu shot. Well… he ended up with the flu, even though he had the vaccine.

I Believe in Prevention

Secondly, I am a strong believer in the power of the human body to do what it is designed to do when it is taken care of properly. My family eats a diet rich in nutrients from whole foods as well as takes whole food vitamins to fill in the gaps of picky eaters. We are healthy and our bodies are able to fight off infections when they come. Between all three children we have only had antibiotics in our house twice, ever. My middle child had never been on antibiotics. The flu is not fun and we are careful to watch our children closely every step of the way, monitoring their fevers and their symptoms. As they have recover I know their bodies are even stronger from fighting off the illness and they now have a natural built in immunity.

I will be the first to tell you that vaccines can be a wonderful thing. They have eradicated many diseases that mothers of times past suffered through the loss of many children from. One vaccine that I am especially thankful for is the Menigitis vaccine. My youngest brother almost died for bacterial menigitis as a baby in the 80s and suffered for many years afterwards with medical issues left from the disease. He spent weeks in the hospital that I remember very clearly. I do vaccinate my children for some of these diseases. You can read my entire opinion on vaccines here.

How Did I Decide What to Do?

So what have we decided for our family? I feel that the risks for the flu vaccine outweigh the benefits for our family. My children have a history of a difficult time with vaccines and in order for me to give them a vaccine I have to be 100% convinced that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Just this last year it came out that the CDC is investigating a link between the flu shot and seizures in children. My personal belief is that I would rather nurse my children through the flu and have their immune systems stronger on the other side than put chemicals in their bodies that are being investigated for safety AND do not even protect them from all strains of the flu.

My Plea to You

Please make an educated decision. Don’t give your family the flu shot just because you see ads for it or scary news stories. And don’t refrain from giving your family the shot because of a fear either. Find out what the vaccine does, what is in it, and what its effectiveness is. Then decide which risks you want to take, because the reality is that no matter what decision you make there are risks associated with it. Every time I see a death reported in the news I want to know what strain they died from. Or if they even had the flu vaccine. Do they even know that (because it is never reported)? As unfortunate as a death of anyone is, especially if it is someone in your family, it is crazy to me to use that to try to force people to make a decision. Both sides are guilty of scare tactics, don’t let those tactics from either side force you into anything. And if your pediatrician is one of those who force you into doing anything to your child, please find another one. There are doctors out there who want to help you make decisions for your children and not just tell you what to do.

Please keep in mind that I am not a health care professional and I still strongly believe that each parent must make their own educated, informed decision for their family. I simply am sharing how we came to the decisions that we made for our family.

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