Allergies and nasal congestion may continually bother your child, thus parents would often resort to nasal sprays. These sprays may be ideal to soothe your child's stuffy nose, but it was revealed that flu shots are more effective when it comes to avoiding and alleviating nasal congestion and other respiratory concerns.
Flu vaccines or vaccines, in general, are often avoided by anti-vax parents with the impressions that vaccines actually do more harm than good. One for the alternatives that most politicians would usually offer is the nasal flu mist.
Though the nasal flu mist, or the FluMist may seem like a more harmless option, CDC advisory strongly suggests that health care providers should highly prohibit the consumption of these mists. Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist highlighted the downside of the FluMist.
"To everyone's surprise and increasing consternation, this vaccine has performed quite poorly compared to the injectable vaccine that lasted exactly a year," Dr Schaffner told CNN during an interview.
FluMist was released in the market in 2003, wherein it was approved by FDA. It nasal mist contains weakened influenza virus, thus making it less effective. Its main purpose is to work on the immune system, but it was said to fail effectively as it was not able to execute its purpose. Though FluMist lacks the approval of the CDC, it is still highly preferred by most anti-vax parents as it is perceived as the less harmful version of flu shots.
In line with the ongoing debate on the FluMist Nasal spray and the flu vaccines, AAP shed light into the question as to which works best. It was mentioned that flu shots are more ideal and effective when it comes to giving your child the better health care option.
"New research shows that the flu shot provided significantly better protection in recent flu seasons compared with the nasal spray vaccine," CDC stated. "We want to provide children with the best protection possible against flu, and these recent studies show the flu shot is likely to provide a higher level of protection."
