Give your child the best protection against influenza this winter: get the influenza vaccination

Trust the Facts. That’s the message from NHS Western Isles health professionals this year, as they urge parents across the Western Isles to get their children vaccinated against influenza.

All children aged 2-5 are eligible for the free influenza vaccination, as well as children over six months of age with a medical condition which puts them in an ‘at risk’ group such as diabetes, heart or kidney disease, and breathing problems.

Every year thousands of children are hospitalised with flu. Even healthy children can become seriously ill from it. Protecting children can also stop it spreading to family, friends and others. More than 1.6 million doses of the nasal vaccine have been given to 2-11 year olds as part of the Scottish childhood immunisation programme. But more parents and carers need to take up the offer for their child to be vaccinated to protect public health.

The vaccine takes 10 days to work, so the earlier your child can get the vaccine, the better. The vaccine needs to be given annually to offer protection against the most common types of flu virus that are around each winter. Over the last few years, the nasal spray flu vaccine has worked very well at protecting young children against flu. It has also reduced the chance of them spreading flu into the wider community.

The vaccine is given to children as a nasal spray. A tiny amount of the flu vaccine is given into each nostril. It’s not an injection. It’s quick and painless and there’s no need to sniff or inhale the vaccine. Your child will just feel a little tickle in their nose.

Flu is not just a common cold and in some cases flu can lead to complications. These can include:

• bronchitis
• pneumonia
• painful middle-ear infection
• vomiting
• diarrhoea.

Flu can be even more serious for children with health conditions (for example asthma, heart, kidney, liver, neurological disease, diabetes, immunosuppression or a spleen that doesn’t work fully), and can make their condition worse. In the worst cases, flu can lead to disability and even death. The flu vaccine helps protect your child against flu and reduces the chance of your child spreading the virus to friends and other members of your family who are at greater risk from flu, such as grandparents or people with health conditions.

Nuala Healy, Organisational Lead for Screening and Immunisation at NHS Health Scotland, said: “We know that misinformation about vaccines online, particularly on social media, can influence the decisions parents make about vaccines. That’s why we’re urging parents in this campaign to trust the factual information about vaccines provided by the NHS at flufacts.scot or from your health professional. Flu is unpredictable but highly infectious, and the flu vaccine is the best defence we have against it.”

One Western Isles mum, whose two pre-school children have already been vaccinated this year, commented: “Children bring home all sorts of bugs from nursery or just playing with friends. The flu vaccination takes seconds, it’s a nasal spray, that doesn’t even cause discomfort. Now I know my children are protected from influenza, an infection that could really harm them. It’s a ‘no brainer’ for me in terms of protecting my children.”

Contact your GP practice today to make an appointment for your child.

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Notes for Editors:

The following groups are eligible for the free flu vaccine:

• Children aged 2-11 years old. 2-5 year olds and not yet in school will be vaccinated at their GP practice. 5-11 year olds will be vaccinated at school during the autumn term. Children must be aged 2 on 1st September 2019.
• Those over 6 months of age with a medical condition which puts them in an ‘at risk' group such as diabetes, heart or kidney disease, and breathing problems. For a full list of health conditions, see NHS Inform.
• Pregnant women (including those with at risk health conditions).
• Those aged 65 years of age and over.
• Unpaid carers.
• NHS Scotland workers.