By Lucie B. Amundsen

I hate taking my kids for shots. Everything will be going great at the doctor’s appointment and then the friendly pediatrician disappears and a nurse they’ve never seen before comes in with a tray of needles. Clearly, the party’s over.

When my 5-year-old boy had his recent round of kindergarten shots it was hellish. He left with a 4-inch self-inflicted slice wound (note: one should never try to grab the needle protruding from ones arm) – and the memory of several healthcare workers holding him down. He’ll probably have flashbacks when he watches Clockwork Orange as an adult. In short, the experience did nothing to further his love of the medical community.

After the trauma, Milo sniffled for a good two hours and wouldn’t even eat the lollipop from the doctor’s office. You know it’s bad when they refuse the sugar bribe. At the time I thought I might have irrevocably broken our trust, but he bounced back and didn’t even hold a grudge against the transportation-providing mom. Instead he acted like I was driving the get-away-minivan.

At times, revisionist history isn’t a bad thing.

But now that fall is upon us, I must embrace that protecting the children from the flu trumps mental scarring. Because here is where I have to ’fess up: Last year I wasn’t all over getting us flu shots. I’ll chock part of it up to avoidance. I mean I have the boy that needs to be anesthetized before getting his teeth worked on. (Really, just like the dog.)

Although I did end up doing a late vaccination for my cold-prone daughter, it wasn’t an impressive showing on my part. I knew I had screwed up when I read about three Minnesota children dying of flu-related complications last year – and none of them had been vaccinated. 86 kids died nation-wide.

In response to the deaths of older children, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) now includes children from 6 months all the way up to the age of 19-years-old on their vaccinate list. (This is a boost from their former recommendation that only included children up to age 5.)

And it is important. Kids, with their developing immune systems, are up to three times more likely than adults to get the flu and are more susceptible to flu complications including pneumonia, ear and sinus infections, and dehydration.

It’s also good to note that kids under the age of 9 who have never been immunized before need two doses. That’s because young children don’t develop an adequate level of flu-fightin’ antibody the first time they get the vaccine. And although you can still get sick even if you have had the shot, chances are you’ll get a much milder version of the illness if you’ve been immunized.

You’d think I’d have more respect for this virus. My paternal grandmother, Marie, lost most of her family, including her parents and a great number of her siblings, to the influenza epidemic of 1918. And this wasn’t in some far-off exotic locale; it was in Canada. 50 million people died worldwide from this strain. I’m betting she’d tell me to suck it up and get in line for a shot.

So this year, we’re all over it. Our daughter was recently diagnosed with asthma and this new label has bought us all a trip to the flu shot clinic. Because her respiratory condition makes her especially vulnerable to flu-related complications, the whole family needs to be vaccinated. And it’s a really good idea for other reasons, too.

I chatted up my favorite pediatrician, Michael Hobbs with Pediatric Services. And while I think he has a fairly light touch when it comes to doling out the meds, he’s clearly on board with flu vaccines. He’s frustrated with the recent upsurge of preventable flu outbreaks. “To make it work, you have to reach a certain threshold of vaccinated people,” says Hobbs. “The flu is a perfect example of how [non vaccinators] can shoot themselves in the foot.”

Hobbs also clued me into the needle-free version of protection known as Flu Mist. Although I had heard about it, I thought its claim to fame was easing the poke-phobic. Turns out this nasal spray version of the vaccine has been shown to be more effective in preventing influenza in children than the flu shot. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it isn’t recommended for kids with asthma as it may cause wheezing. So it looks like Mom, Dad and Belle will be getting pricked in late October – a good time to get vaccinated - but Milo will sneak by with just a puff in the nose. (That couldn’t have worked out better for Milo, the staff who administers the shots and the driver of the get-away-minivan.

Flu vaccine is in good supply this year and readily available through the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency (MVNA). They set up shop in grocery stores across the state, accept most health insurance and recently dropped the cost for those paying out of pocket to under 30 bucks a pop. (All proceeds from the MVNA’s flu shot program support home nursing services for the poor.) To find a location visit their website, ww.mvna.org.

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