Go Get Your Darn Flu Shots!!!!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Kenneth F. Trofatter, Jr., MD, PhD
On top of that, I have spent most of the last 3 days worrying about my 9 year old daughter who has had a persistent fever as high as 104.5 degrees F. Her pediatrician tells us that Keegan has the first documented case of the flu seen in their office this year. She has all the typical aches and pains, an aggravating dry cough, and has not been able to hold anything down long enough for the medications she has been given to work. The vomiting has been more a function of the congestion and the low “vomit threshold” she has had since the day she was born. I have been worried sick about her because she has asthma, the residual of having been born at 34 weeks’ herself, and is at increased risk for superimposed bacterial pneumonia. Sometimes a little knowledge about medicine can create a lot of anxiety.
Anyway, please pardon the paucity of my posts so far this week. I can promise you that I have been putting together some good things for the very near future. And, if any of you have ideas for topics you would like to see addressed, please leave a comment to that effect.
By the way, the main reason I wanted to mention my daughter today is to remind ALL you pregnant women out there that it’s not too late to get your flu shot. I got my shot 3 weeks ago (hope they got the strains right this year) and am very glad now that I did. You guys (sorry folks, I was brought up in NJ) are at the same (if not greater) risk for complications as my daughter. And, I don’t need to be worrying about all of you too! Besides, there are no extra beds on my ‘High Risk’ floor this week.
2 Comments:
At Sat Aug 04, 11:03:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
Careful how you give advice that all pregnant women should get a flu shot. There can be fatal side effects as in my dad's case to receiving a flu shot.
At Sun Aug 12, 04:50:00 PM 2007,
Kenneth F. Trofatter, Jr., MD, PhD said…
To Anonymous Aug 4: I am sorry for your loss, but the benefits far outweigh the extremely small risk of a fatal allegic reaction in a pregnant woman. I am presuming that is what happened to your father, but correct me if I am wrong. So, my recommendation stands. Before any vaccine is given, patients should be queried about vaccine components to which they might have a sensitivity, but even then, unexpected reactions might occur. In most cases, the people administering the vaccine should be prepared to handle an anaphylactic reaction. Personally, I will NEVER let anyone give me another tetanus shot! Thanks for your comment! Dr T
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