Parent's guide : Are you ready to fight "Flu Season" ?
Dear Parents ,
Winter is here along with peak of cold and flu season . How can you keep your child from catching this nasty virus ?
You have two primary weapons to fight it :
1. Good hygiene : The best thing you can do to prevent catching whatever is going around is to encourage regular "HAND WASHING" especially before meals .
Also teach your child to sneeze or cough into a tissue or his or her bent elbow. Remember , coughing into the hand will just spread those germs around on the next thing he or she touches -- which may well be the face . Encourage good hygiene with sticker charts or rewards . Keep hand sanitizer within easy reach , but supervise younger kids when they use it . "Older children, such as school-age kids can be given small bottles of hand sanitizer to carry with them in their backpacks" .
2. Your second germ fighting weapon is "FLU VACCINE" : Babies ages 6 months and up can get the injected flu shot . Generally , kids ages 2 and up can have the nasal spray unless they have asthma or a very stuffy nose at the time of visit . Flu shot is like using car seat belt . Most of the time you will be safe without wearing seat belt but it can save one's life when it's on ! Same way , most season your child will be fine without a flu shot but you can prevent a bad flu attack by the shot .
Good news: Some kids with egg allergy can now get the flu vaccine . " We used to shy away from giving flu shot to the kids with history of "EGG ALLERGY" ! But many kids outgrow egg allergies . If your child can tolerate scrambled eggs with no reaction, they can get vaccine normally . Even if they get just a mild rash , we will still give the vaccine and just observe them carefully .
Muhammad Ali (Manik ), M.D.
Dear Parents ,
Winter is here along with peak of cold and flu season . How can you keep your child from catching this nasty virus ?
You have two primary weapons to fight it :
1. Good hygiene : The best thing you can do to prevent catching whatever is going around is to encourage regular "HAND WASHING" especially before meals .
Also teach your child to sneeze or cough into a tissue or his or her bent elbow. Remember , coughing into the hand will just spread those germs around on the next thing he or she touches -- which may well be the face . Encourage good hygiene with sticker charts or rewards . Keep hand sanitizer within easy reach , but supervise younger kids when they use it . "Older children, such as school-age kids can be given small bottles of hand sanitizer to carry with them in their backpacks" .
2. Your second germ fighting weapon is "FLU VACCINE" : Babies ages 6 months and up can get the injected flu shot . Generally , kids ages 2 and up can have the nasal spray unless they have asthma or a very stuffy nose at the time of visit . Flu shot is like using car seat belt . Most of the time you will be safe without wearing seat belt but it can save one's life when it's on ! Same way , most season your child will be fine without a flu shot but you can prevent a bad flu attack by the shot .
Good news: Some kids with egg allergy can now get the flu vaccine . " We used to shy away from giving flu shot to the kids with history of "EGG ALLERGY" ! But many kids outgrow egg allergies . If your child can tolerate scrambled eggs with no reaction, they can get vaccine normally . Even if they get just a mild rash , we will still give the vaccine and just observe them carefully .
Muhammad Ali (Manik ), M.D.
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