It’s October Already: Did Your Child Have Their Flu Shot Yet?

October is here, and with it comes shorter days, cooler temps, pumpkin-spice-everything, and vibrant fall foliage — along with the official start of the dreaded cold and flu season. Now’s the perfect time for everyone aged six months and older to get their annual flu shot. 

The Center for Advanced Pediatrics offers a full scope of childhood vaccines for babies, kids, and adolescents — including the annual flu shot at our convenient flu shot clinics in Norwalk and Darien, Connecticut. Here, our team takes a closer look at the timing and benefits of this yearly immunization. 

What’s seasonal influenza?

Influenza is a highly contagious virus that causes upper respiratory infection and illness. Of the many strains of influenza, two types — influenza A and B — are seasonal, meaning they resurge to circulate very strongly every fall and winter, often alongside other strains that are unique to the season.  

The flu season timeline 

“The flu” circulates through populations across the globe all year long, becoming more active and widespread during the cold-weather months of each hemisphere. In the United States and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, seasonal flu activity typically:

• Accelerates rapidly in October
• Peaks between December and February
• Tapers off gradually through May 

The onset and duration of any given flu season can vary from the standard trend, depending on that year’s circulating strains and other factors. Seasonal flu activity may start earlier, ramping up in September instead of October; it can also peak later or longer.

Seasonal flu dangers 

Flu symptoms tend to come on suddenly and often more intensely than those of other respiratory illnesses, like the common cold. The flu can cause:

• Fever; having the chills
• Cough and sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Body aches; headache
• Fatigue and weakness

The flu may also cause diarrhea and vomiting in some kids (a symptom that rarely affects adults). While most kids recover completely within 7-14 days, sometimes, the virus lingers, worsens, and leads to complications. 

Every year in the US, millions of people get the seasonal flu, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized, and thousands of people die from flu-related complications. While many are older adults, some are children.

Children aged two and younger (especially infants) are in the high-risk category for flu complications, as are kids with certain chronic health conditions, like asthma. 

Annual flu shot benefits

Flu shots use viral protein strands or a small amount of inactivated flu virus cells to teach the immune system how to identify the pathogen and mount a rapid defense against it. 

Flu viruses replicate, attack cells, and cause illness through their antigens. The immune system destroys foreign antigens through immune cells called antibodies. When the body hasn’t yet encountered a specific pathogen, its antigens are more likely to cause illness as the immune system figures out how to mount its defense. 

The flu shot effectively gives your child’s immune system a running head start, teaching it how to produce antigen-destroying antibodies against specific seasonal flu strains. This head start translates to a significantly lower risk of:

• Infection 
• Severe illness
• Health complications
• Hospitalization or death

When your child gets the flu shot, it also helps break the chain of transmission to reduce community spread. When more people are vaccinated against the seasonal flu, high-risk individuals who can’t get vaccinated, like newborns, are more protected, too. 

Optimal flu shot timing 

With immunity-boosting protection that lasts all season long, the flu shot is one of the easiest and most effective ways to safeguard your child’s health before this contagious virus starts its cold-weather pattern of increased, widespread circulation.

Ideal vaccination timing is late September or early October, just before seasonal flu activity typically increases. It takes about two weeks for your child’s immune system to develop the antibodies it needs to defend itself against a seasonal influenza infection. 

If your child gets their flu shot by mid-October, they’ll have strong, season-long protection by the end of the month. A November flu shot is still beneficial, but a later vaccination means living with a higher risk of infection and illness through the early part of the season.   

To schedule your child’s flu shot at one of our clinics in Norwalk or Darien, Connecticut, contact The Center for Advanced Pediatrics by phone or online today.