Should you get a flu shot?

I got a flu shot today.  It didn’t hurt one bit.  Day Nursery Nurse Practitioner Joyce Martin has some good sharp needles and an excellent technique.  Joyce doesn’t visit our office very often.  She spends most of her time in our seven Day Nursery centers administering physicals and immunizations to our children.  Her services are offered at no charge as a convenience to our working and student parents.   During flu season,  Joyce expands her rounds with a special emphasis on our teachers.  Day Nursery staff were offered free flu shots this year.  Many staff members took us up on the offer.  While Joyce was here, she was telling me about the Indiana Immunization Conference she attended last week with Day Nursery Director of Operations Marsha Lindsey.  The event, hosted by the Indiana State Department of Health, was held to update providers on the most current, comprehensive, and best practice in the field of immunizations.  As you can guess, they heard a lot about the new recommendation from the experts that all children older than 6 months should receive a flu shot. On the Center for Disease Control website, information about the flu is the number one request of visitors.  The CDC says that each year an average of 20,000 children under the age of 5 are hospitalized because of the flu. Here’s a direct link to learn more about flu and children http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/children.htm and why it is important to have your child immunized.  Prevention is the best medicine!