Should kids with autism get the flu shot?

Wow, here’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Should we give our autistic child (son) a flu vaccine? Growing up with a mom who was a nurse, I have NEVER been a big fan of the flu shot. My mom never got a flu shot and still doesn’t. I have never gotten a flu shot, and neither has my husband.

Well, last winter, both of our kids got the flu. Our youngest son, age 4 (who does NOT have autism), was very sick and refused to take most medicines that could help him, so he was very very sick and ended up getting Rocephin injections for an ear infection. He continued to have a cough for about 4 – 5 months after he got over the flu. And since then, he has gotten almost every single little illness that comes around, as if it totally killed his immune system. So this year, we DID decide to get a flu vaccine for our son without autism, in hopes that he will not get the flu, or at least get a “lesser” version of the flu.

Our oldest son with autism (Asperger’s Syndrome), also got the flu last winter. He was 6 at the time. He did cooperate and take medicine such as Tamiflu and motrin to help his high fevers. But, we have opted NOT to get a flu shot for our son with autism, even though our youngest son did get a flu shot. However, our son with autism does take olive leaf extract for chronic strep.

Our son with autism has had various testing done that shows his body does not properly “detox” some substances the way that other people’s bodies normally would, thus makely things like vaccines possibly more harmful to him. Cigarette smoke is also more harmful to him than to others (and of course cigarette smoke is dangerous for everyone, but testing has showed he is more likely to get cancer from smoke that most folks, due to the fact that his body cannot “detox” as easily as most folks can.)

We do give our kids a lot of supplements and vitamins (based on blood testing to see what vitamins and minerals they are low on), so we are hoping that the additional supplements will help ward off the flu this year for our autistic son, or at least give him a less severe bout of the flu this year.

What about YOU? Are you taking the flu shot this year? Will you be giving your kids with autism a flu vaccine? Would love to hear your comments and opinions on why or why now!