Flu Shots...Important Information

      

With flu season rapidly approaching...We want to provide some information to our readers about this year's flu shots to answer some important questions.

Flu shots are recommended for all children (and ALL adults) over the age of 6 months.  The flu can be a serious illness in any child and in the elderly, regardless of their previous health status.  If you have a child under 6 months, the best way to protect them from the flu is to get yourself immunized.  Unfortunately, the most devastating effects of the flu can be seen in infants, so be sure to protect yourself and your baby.

Essentially, the only TRUE contraindication to the flu shot is an egg allergy (or a history of Gullian Barre Syndrome within 6 weeks of a flu shot, though this is RARE).  The intramuscular vaccine is manufactured inside of eggs, so egg allergy means no vaccine and even more frequent hand washing.

Though the H1N1 pandemic officially ended this summer, there is still a risk for this type of flu.  This year's flu shot is a COMBINATION of the H1N1 shot and the seasonal flu vaccine.  Though there were (unwarranted) concerns early last year about the safety of H1N1 vaccine, millions and millions of doses were given last year with no increase in adverse events reported.

For kids:  Who needs what and when...

< 6 MONTHS		NO SHOT
6 MONTHS-8 YEARS	NO PREVIOUS SEASONAL FLU SHOT	2 SHOTS
	PREVIOUS SEASONAL FLU SHOT, NO H1N1 SHOT	2 SHOTS
	PREVIOUS SEASONAL FLU SHOT, AT LEAST 1 DOSE OF H1N1 SHOT	1 SHOT
>9 YEARS	REGARDLESS OF PREVIOUS IMMUNIZATION STATUS	1 SHOT

 There is even more recent data proving that there is NO association of autism with vaccine preservatives (thimerosal).  However, there is plenty of preservative free vaccine available.  All vaccines for children under 36 months is preservative free.  The preservative free vaccine is in the individually stored syringes and does not need to be drawn up by the nurse.  

We strongly recommend a seasonal flu shot for all of our adult patients as well, regardless of previous health status.  

The best time to get the flu shot is EARLY IN THE SEASON.  The immunity will last well beyond this flu season and there is no sense in being unprotected early in the season.   And don't forget the importance of hand washing!

Click here for more information from our friends at the CDC.

We HAVE received our shipment of INFLUENZA VACCINE and our fridge is stocked with immunizations for both adults and children.  The intramuscular vaccine is available and this is a KILLED form of the flu virus.  You CANNOT get sick from the flu shot.

Stay healthy!!

Exciting Changes Coming to Novi Docs...

We are constantly striving to improve our practice to provide the best care possible for our patients.  You may have recently noticed some improvements to our NOVIDOCS website including the updates posted to this blog.  We hope that you will check in with us frequently to find information that will help to keep you are your family healthy. 

We are finding new ways to keep our patients posted on happenings in our office.  You can now sign up to receive email updates when we post to our blog on the left side bar.  Become a fan on facebook and we will be posting our blog updates on this page as well.  Feel free to send us comments about anything posted on the blog, including suggested topics for postings; we would love to hear from you.  However, please remember that the blog and the website is only set up to provide patients with information, and should not be used to email your provider or ask personal medical questions that you would not want viewed by our "community".

The most important change that we are preparing for at the office is the addition of our ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD.  That means that our office is going paperless, completely changing over from paper charting to computer charting.  The purpose of this is to provide you with the most current and best medical care possible.

The 'big switch' is scheduled to go live the first week in October.  We will be implementing many changes in our protocols including appointment scheduling, new forms and new ways of routing work in the office.  So, bear with us during this time; we may experience some growing pains along the way. Our ultimate goal is clear, to make your medical care more precise and more efficient.

We know that you will be satisfied with the end result.