December 14, 2009

We strongly encourage parents to vaccinate their children against both the H1N1 and seasonal influenzae. If your child has received their first dose of H1N1 vaccine, and is under 10 years of age, they require a second dose, at least 21 days after the first. You may email us at kidsfirstpeds@yahoo.com to set up a nurse appointment. We will send you a confirmation email. We are also able to offer H1N1 vaccine to parents and other caregivers. The CDC recommends that parents and other household contacts of infants under 6 months be vaccinated against both H1N1 and seasonal influenzae.

Please do not send any medical questions to the above email; our nurses are available by phone to answer any questions.

November 16,2009

We are pleased to announce that we have received a shipment of H1N1 vaccine. We are scheduling a Flu Clinic for Sunday, November 22. PLEASE DO NOT call the office to schedule an appointment. Appointments may be made online at kidsfirstpeds@yahoo.com

Please indicate the names of your children and your home or cell phone number. Please indicate the time you would like to come in: 9AM-10 AM
10 AM-11AM
11 AM-12 PM
12 PM-1PM
We have both Flumist and injectable vaccine available. Children age 2 and older may receive Flumist unless they are on a controller asthma medicine, in which case they should receive injectable. If your child has previously received Flumist for seasonal flu, they may also receive Flumist for H1N1 as long as there has been 1 month between doses.

We strongly recommend all children ages 6 months to 18 years of age receive H1N1 vaccine.
We believe the vaccine is safe and effective, and are giving it to all our staff, as well as our own children. If you would like more information regarding the vaccine, please go to www.cdc.gov for more information.

FLU VACCINE

Kids First Pediatrics strongly encourages vaccinating all children 6 months and older to both seasonal influenza and H1N1 (swine) flu. Children with severe egg allergy should contact their allergist about receiving flu vaccine.

We currently do not yet have the H1N1 vaccine. We anticipate the Illinois Department of Public Health will be shipping it to us soon, but we do not have an exact date. We will post it here on the blog as soon as it is available.

We have seasonal Flu Mist nasal spray for children 2 years and older. Flu Mist cannot be given to children with severe asthma. We also have injectable seasonal flu vaccine for children between 6 months and age 3 years. We are out of injectable flu vaccine for children older than 3 years, and we are not sure if more vaccine will become available. If your older then 3 year old child requires injectable flu vaccine, we encourage you to obtain it through chain pharmacies such as CVS or Walgreens. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. This shortage of injectable flu vaccine is nationwide, and appears to be caused by the increased manufacturing of H1N1 vaccine.

Symptoms of influenza (either seasonal or H1N1) include fever, headache, sore throat, cough, and muscle aches. It is NOT recommended to use antiviral medication, like Tamiflu, for the vast majority of children with the flu. We recommend using fever reducers, and offering plenty of fluids. Please call if your child's fever lasts longer then 3 days, if they have decreased urine output, or are lethargic. Complete guidelines and flu information may be viewed on the CDC website (www.cdc.gov).

PLEASE be patient with us - we have had a substantial increase in phone calls and sick visits. We will continue to work hard to provide care for all children who need to be seen.

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