That Time of Year

Yep, it's true, it is that time of the year to get your flu shot. Being a respiratory therapist I must get on my soap box and encourage everyone to get their shot. Many people claim, falsely I might add, that you get sick from the shot. WRONG! There is no longer a live virus in the shot, it is all synthetic and will not make you get the flu. Anyone allergic to eggs though can not get the flu shot. We are already seeing some positive flu nasal swabs coming in which is a little early in the season and I am sure that RSV is soon to follow. When the little ones get sick, congested and snotty the best advice that I can offer is a cool mist humidifer, saline up the nose, bulb syringe suctioning the nose and the most important tip of all is this...if your child is congested, steer away from dairy products, especially milk or formula. Pedialyte is a miracle worker and what we do at the hospital is we water down milk and formula half and half with unflavored Pedialyte. Milk tends to make the mucus thicker and the Pedialyte helps to thin it down and make the mucus easier to cough up. Also, if your child gets a croupy, barky cough...take them outside in the COLD AIR! They will not catch a cold from being outside in the cold air...the cold makes the airways dilate, reduces swelling of the airways and makes breathing easier...thus the cool mist humidifier. I got my flu shot today and aside from a sore arm, the shot itself did not hurt so get out there and get immunized!