The children's nasal spray flu vaccine is safe and effective. It is offered every year to children to help protect them against the flu.
Flu is caused by the influenza virus. It can be a very unpleasant illness for children. It can also lead to serious problems, such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
Children can catch and spread the flu easily. Vaccinating them also protects others who are vulnerable to flu, such as babies and older people.
Other groups of children with long-term health conditions should have the flu vaccine every year. This includes children with:
- weakened immune systems (including those on steroids or with problems with their spleen)
- chronic heart or lung problems
- diabetes
- asthma
- chronic kidney or liver disease.
It is especially important that these children are vaccinated because they have the greatest risk of becoming very unwell if they get the flu. Children aged from six months to two years who are at risk from complications of the flu should be given the inactivated (injected) flu vaccine rather than the intranasal vaccine.
Common myths about flu and the flu vaccine
'Flu isn't serious, so my child doesn't need a flu vaccine'.
'My children never get ill, so they don't need the vaccine'.
It is tempting to think that flu is no worse than a bad cold, but in fact it is a serious disease that can infect anyone and can cause serious complications. For people at risk of complications e.g. grandparents or other vulnerable household members, flu can lead to hospitalisation or even death. Flu leads to hundreds of thousands of GP visits and tens of thousands of hospital stays a year.
'Last year my children had the flu vaccine but they got ill anyway, so it doesn't work'.
No vaccine is 100 percent effective, including the flu vaccine. However, the vaccine usually prevents about half of all flu cases. For people who get flu after being vaccinated, the disease is often less severe than it would have been. It is important to remember that the flu vaccine only protects against flu, but there are other illnesses that have flu-like symptoms that you can still catch after getting the flu vaccine. It takes up to two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, so you could still catch flu if you are exposed to the virus during this time. Getting vaccinated as early as possible in the season can help to prevent this.
Use this video to explain to your child why they are taking the flu vaccine.