It look's like you don't have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now.
Washing your hands and coughing or sneezing into your elbow are important things to do to avoid getting the H1N1 virus at work. But what you don’t know is that the virus could already be invading your home if you have kids around the house. KSMU’s Kristian Kriner spoke with experts about getting the vaccine for the number one demographic responsible for spreading the virus: children.
Doctors say babies like these, who are in a daycare, are more likely to contract the new H1N1 virus than any other age group.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, children will be the first age group to get the H1N1 vaccine, because they are at the highest risk.
Jaci McReynolds is the spokesperson for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
She says the health risks associated with the actual vaccines for H1N1 and the seasonal flu are very low, so she recommends that all kids get vaccinated.
“Any child from the age of six months all the way up to young adult age 24. The vaccine is not licensed for children six months or younger, so it is very important for family members, caregivers and siblings of six months or younger to be vaccinated for seasonal flu and H1N1,” McReynolds said.
McReynolds says children who are under 10 years old will have to have a two dose shot and kids older than 10 years old will only need one shot.
Local pediatricians say they are expecting a H1N1 vaccine to be available for kids sometime in October.
Robert Steele is a pediatrician and the chairman for the advisory committee of child immunizations in Missouri.“Any vaccine what you are trying to do is introduce the body to parts of what the disease is without the actual disease. Your then body responds to that, makes antibodies which protect against the disease when you actually do come in contact with the disease,” Steele said.
He says the CDC will release a H1N1 nasal spray vaccine first and then it will release the shot.
Steele says often times, children are the ones infecting adults with the virus, because children are in constant contact with other children, and their germs.
“All children are at risk. The ones under two years of age are at the highest risk of hospitalization due to the complications of the flu. But all children are at risk for those complications as well, which is why the recommendation is to immunize all children regardless if they are in daycare or school at the time,” Steele said.
Steele says people need to remember to get the seasonal flu shot as well as the H1N1 shot when it is available.
He says he doesn’t expect a major outbreak of the H1N1 virus, but he says everyone should be prepared just in case.
For KSMU News, I’m Kristian Kriner.
