And so it was announced by Andrew Lansley this week that all children from 2 to 17 should be offered the flu vaccine.
it would save lives, prevent children being hospitalised and save costs
Really?
This initiative is going to cost, apparently, £100Million a year. One hundred million Pounds a year. Spent by an already stretched NHS.
Lansley and NHS reform has been much in the news recently and now we have this?
This is absurd.
Why are we so obsessed in this country with killing germs? Not all germs are deadly. Not all germs are indeed harmful.
Hand sanitisers are available for sale on every counter in shops.
Adverts are rammed down our throats about chemical sprays killing 99% of all germs.
Why?
Dirt never killed anybody.
Okay okay I know about MRSA and unclean water in Africa and all that nonsense but in the day to day running of our lives and bringing up our kids, it isnt really an issue is it?
Will I be vaccinating my healthy kids against flu? No I will not.
It is unlikely that flu will kill them if they catch it and who is going to administer this vaccine? The school nurse who has enough to do already? Or my poor overworked local practice nurse?
And there need to be two doses, both given in a nine week window in October. Pity the poor sods in our town that have a real ailment then. It is hard enough to get an appointment as it is without all this on their plates.
I tihnk the idea is not so much to protect already healthy children, but to halt the spread of flu and to protect those with undiagnosed diseases where a dose of flu could be fatal to them. Flu still kills many thousands of people a year, and the fewer healthy people who catch it, the less likely those unhealthy ones are to also catch it. Until last year, I had been living for years with a condition unknown to me, in which a dose of flu could have been fatal. How would you feel if I’d bumped into one of your children in Waitrose, caught flu from them and died?
Thats a valid point Jane but if my kids had flu they would be at home in bed.
I think a lot of people claim to have flu and actually just have a nasty cold. And I agree, yes, flu kills. But I dont see how just innoculating kids is going to eradicate that.
Surely I should be innoculated? I will be the one dragging myself out to Waitrose because I have to, and bumping into you.
I’m vaccinated now so you can’t kill me. Well, not that way. I must say, my first reaction was that they should be concentrating their efforts on identifying and vaccinating vulnerable groups, My Mum is 86 and has never been offered or summoned for a vaccination.
Just a touch hard in your criticism here, MummyB; to my certain knowledge disease epidemics thrive when kids return to school after hols and anything that inhibits the spread of a disease must surely be welcome?
Wrt the procedure I don’t think GPs will be tied up squirting stuff up nostrils – there’ll be opportunities for “Aerosol Monitors” and the like with the Head Girl at the front of the queue vying for the honour. Can’t see the NHS service to the rest of us suffering much. Sorry, not proven.
Oh, but going back to your kids being at home in bed, not everybody is so responsible. And so many infectious diseases are at their most infectious before you are even aware that you have them.