Parents are being urged to take their children aged between two and 17 to their GP and pharmacy to get their annual flu vaccine.
The vaccine for children is administered by a nasal spray and give them the best protection from flu - a disease that children are twice as likely to catch than adults. The spray is put into each nostril once.
Children with chronic health conditions are also recommended to get it but if any parent is in doubt, they should talk to a trusted health professional such as their GP. The flu vaccination is offered to children aged between two and 17 free of charge.
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While most children who catch flu have mild symptoms, it can sometimes lead to serious complications such as pneumonia or bronchitis in some children. Children, especially young children, are also more likely than adults to get severe complications of the disease.
Dr Aparna Keegan, Specialist in Public Health Medicine and Flu Lead, HSE National Immunisation Office said: “Flu is a serious illness that can be dangerous in children too. The nasal spray flu vaccine is a very safe and effective vaccine and helps your child’s immune system produce antibodies that fight infection. It cannot give your child the flu. If your child has had the flu vaccine and they come into contact with flu virus, these antibodies will help them fight the flu and reduce the risk of getting sick or needing to go to hospital."
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD said: “The flu vaccine is a key measure in protecting the community and our health services over the winter months. I would like to encourage all those who are eligible to get the flu vaccine to do so as soon as possible; and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage parents with children within this age range to get their children vaccinated against the flu this year.
“Not only will the flu vaccine help protect your child against flu, it will also help protect more vulnerable family members. It is important that we all do what we can to avoid serious illness and hospitalisation this winter.”
In Ireland, between 2009 and 2019, the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reported:
- 4,750 children needed hospital treatment because of complications of flu
- 183 of these were admitted to intensive care
- 41 children died.
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