Flu Season is here and it’s time to protect you and your kids

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Keeping their children healthy is at the top of the priority list for parents. And with flu season picking up many are wondering when should my kid get the shot?

“It’s been recommended, and I tend to agree with them to get it as low as you can. Six months is the earliest because kids are reservoirs for carrying a lot of viruses,” said Dr. Jacob Skiwski.

But many people don’t know that if your child is two or younger, they need 2 shots.

“You’ve got to let the body of the patient’s immune system know this is what the flu looks like, and then the second time this is what you do for the flu is make antibodies. So you get the introduction to it and then you have to have another dose to give the response of antibodies so that you don’t catch it,” said Dr. “Ski”.

And it’s not just the little ones who have to take precautions. Schools are trying to stay one step ahead of the virus.

“It’s important, because there are so many complications that can come from the flu and we need the children here so they can learn and the teachers healthy, so they can be here to teach the students and for me to be here in order for me to keep them healthy,” said Nikki Higginbotham.

It is a good idea to go ahead and get the shot early.

“It takes about ten days to two weeks for your body to make the antibodies response, so that if you got a shot now and got exposed to the flu, you’re still gonna catch the flu, because the shot has not had time to work in your system. My suggestion is getting it somewhere around October, early part of November, not wait until January,” said Skiwski.

Marie Burgess is a teacher at Stokes-Beard Elementary. She has already gotten the shot this year to hopefully keep herself and her students well.

“I wanted to get it before the flu season began and sometimes in schools, since we do deal with most with more germs than a lot of other professions, the flu season kind of lasts longer for us,” said Burgess.

Dr. Skiwski says you get the shot, not just to protect yourself, but also those around you.