<p>Thanks, y'all, for the support. I know that part of my angst is the distance away, and part is that this is the first year my daughter has really been on her own. I can make suggestions, but self-care is up to her. Letting go is hard to do. All I can do is suggest gently.</p>
<p>What's the best strategy? I've e-mailed son with asthma urging him to contact the health service and get a shot. Every year he gets nailed by a respiratory infection and he's living in a dorm. (Two kids on his floor already have mono.) Any suggestions for making the suggestion urgent but not alarmist?</p>
<p>Sac:</p>
<p>Did he list asthma on his health form?
Send him the post from my HMO (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) to take to the health service in case he is asked why a healthy young man should get a shot.<br>
I don't think the issue is that high-risk patients are more likely to get flu, but that, if they do get flu, it will worsen their existing condition.</p>
<p>Sac,</p>
<p>Great minds think alike. I had been reminding my daughter to get a flu shot at Columbia's Health Services (she has asthma) and she told me that they were saying that they have no vaccine. Heck, it is a university where there are many people who live permanently in the community and use the clinic(s) as their main health facility. I couldn't believe that they wouldn't have vaccine for "at risk" people so I called them this AM to make sure that my daughter had her facts straight. The person that spoke with me said that the company that Columbia purchases their vaccine from had not yet released any to the school. She told me to have my daughter call later in the month to see if they had any.</p>
<p>I am hearing stories about hospitals not receiving any vaccine, let alone colleges. My GP received 500 doses and felt very lucky. She is only dosing her at risk patients.</p>
<p>Thanks for that info on Columbia, Elleneast. Sounds like you live close enough for your daughter to go home for a shot if necessary.</p>
<p>Marite, I doubt he did put asthma on his form because he rarely thinks about it. I agree it's not that people with asthma are more likely to get flu, but that if they do get it it's harder for their lungs to deal with it. My son, like many others I'm sure, has mild asthma that is rarely triggered -- except by mold or viruses. They set up an inflammatory reaction that closes down the lungs. What I do think makes it more likely for him to get flu in the first place is living in the dorms -- not to mention not having Mom to shoo him off to bed at a decent hour so he can escape hearing her say for the thousandth time: "Sleep is the best medicine."</p>
<p>Sac, it would have held if he had had some documentary evidence to put him on the list of people who should get a shot. My HMO is going to start providing flu shots next week according to the schedule that was mailed out just before news of shortages hit. Let's hope that Columbia receives some soon.</p>
<p>Momofthree-I've offered a prayer for your daughter. Let us know what happens with her shot. I've never had a flu shot and never considered it. Though, I know my older relatives are always confirming with each other that they've gotten their respective shots each fall......and badgering me about getting one. Isn't it better for people who aren't high risk to avoid them and allow our own immunities to function? Or, does this rule not apply to the flu? I never get it......knock wood.</p>
<p>Sac - Unfortunately, my GP is not my daughter's. She is at the mercy of Columbia Health Services.</p>
<p>I never get the flu either, Momsdream. I've not had it since 1972! I did get a mandatory flu shot every year from 1982-1986, when I was a weather observer in the Navy, but I've not had a flu shot since then. I've gotten almost cavalier about the flu, in that, I've always escaped unscathed when many around me were falling like flies. I've almost convinced myself that I'm immune---LOL! I was diagnosed with type II diabetes this year, but I don't intend to ask for a flu shot unless my doctor recommends it.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Isn't it better for people who aren't high risk to avoid them and allow our own immunities to function? Or, does this rule not apply to the flu?<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>This rule doesn't apply to any disease. In fact there is no such rule. Vaccines do not interfere with your natural immunities. In fact they stimulate your natural immunities to give them a head start in responding to the infection when it comes along so that your body maintains the upper hand with the virus.</p>
<p>You've been very fortunate not to have contracted influenza in the past, but don't assume that means you are immune. It more probably means that you didn't get an exposure sufficient to produce anything beyond an asymptomatic subclinical infection.</p>
<p>Poetsheart, good for you, but your escape is probably not due to the vaccine from years ago - flu shots don't work like tetanus shots. When I said I thought old vaccinations gave some protection from this year's virus, I meant a shot from last year or the year before.</p>
<p>As reported on NPR, several states, including CA, are "rationing" - that is advertising fines and other penalties for providers who give shots to people not in the CDC high risk group. The CDC high risk definition has changed, when I get to work I'll post a link or the revised def.</p>
<p>don't count on any college health centers getting the vaccine. I work in a hospital which has not been able to get any so far, even though we saw our first flu patients in the emergency dept this week. I had to wait in line for 2 hours, but I was able to get a shot yesterday through the health department because of having asthma. College students with risk factors may also have to go outside their health center.</p>
<p>Two links that may be of interest from the CDC:
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/0405shortage.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/0405shortage.htm</a>
and
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r041012.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r041012.htm</a></p>
<p>More measures may be taken, simply because a large number of "low cost" providers will be shut out of Aventis redistribution - they are meeting their established hospital/health dept contracts first, which is understandable, many of those were pediatric hospitals.</p>
<p>I just called my local pharmacy, the one that has the flu shot fair with balloons every year. They will be getting in FluMist in a week, which is when my kids happen to be coming home. However, I would think kids on campus could call the local pharmacies there and see who will be getting FluMist.</p>
<p>Sac, my S also has very mild asthma (probably wouldn't have been diagnosed if his dad wasn't a pediatrician.) I guess he won't be getting flu shot at Columbia either! My H is big on vitamins and getting enough rest to help immune systems cope. We can'tdo much about the latter, but the last thing we did on Parents weekend was take him to the Duane Reade to buy vitamins. Now, we hope he takes them!</p>
<p>I called my GP about flu shots. I'm scheduled for a check up soon, at which point the GP will determine if I fall in the high risk category. If I am, I will get a shot. There is a fine for administering a flu shot to people who are not in the high risk category, though I am assured that my HMO has plenty of shots.</p>
<p>Elleneast and Momsdream, do you have any idea what the general supply of flu shots is like in Philly? DD is at Penn. Many thanks, and thanks for the kind post, Momsdream!</p>
<p>Garland -- I despair of the sleep, but we did make sure our son has a supply of Vitamin C and he also stocked up on cranberry juice (as well as chocolate, of course, which in our family is considered medicinal) while we were there. I think he has some echinacea tea in case of colds. Any other particular herbs or vitamins your husband recommends?</p>
<p>Sac: Offhand , I can't think of any. Will ask him when he's awake. The usual stuff a bout handwashing etc. He's not big on OTC cold "remedies" though I think they're sometimes useful (what do I know, I'm just Dr. Mom). Since I posted earlier, S called with news of a cold and a landslide of schoolwork piling up (plus band trip to Penn. this weekend) aaarrggh. So much for prevention. Or rest.</p>