[lisam631]

My son came home in May and had his first flu shot in December. The ped wants him to come back in for a booster since it was his first time to get a flu shot.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone else been asked to do this?

Lisa
DD China home 11/05
DS Guatemala home 4/08

[DPline]

I'll have to look and see if I can find the thread (or maybe it was a PM?) where Avoel (who is a pediatrician) explained it to me, but basically if the child is under 9 years old the first time they have the flu shot they need to have two to build up immunity.

Hopefully she will be on and explain it better, but that is the basics.

[AdoptAmiga]

Yes. When my kids got their first flu shots, they needed to get the booster a few weeks (maybe a month??) later.

[mevertin]

My son had a flu shot in Guatemala last year at about six months. I did not take him for a booster when he came home so this year he had a flu shot in November and a booster in December. The doc said they do it for all kids if it is their first shot.
Mary
mom to Bobby 11, Bridget 10, Angela 8, Eddie 4 (home from Guatemala in 2005) and Naldo 20 months (home since Feb. 08)

[cmfayz]

Yes, the first year my kids had the flu shot, they needed to come back for a second one. After that, it's once a year.

[sheababy]

yes-DD got hers at 7 months and had to come back in the next month for the booster. After that it is only once a year.

[avoel]

Yes, in order to build adequate immunity the very first time a child under the age of ten is exposed to the flu vaccine they need two doses a month apart.

If the first season a child is given the vaccine they only receive one dose due to lack of supply, timing etc, the second season, if they are still under 10 years of age, they should receive 2 doses to be fully protected.

[devildogwife]

Yes, completely normal.

[stephjoel99]

We got the booster for my 2, 5 & 6 year olds - but not my 9 year old. :-)

[kaynig]

This is normal. The same happened with both my children.