what age were you when u had G/S? what did you go thru? I had it when I was 17, in 1988- I graduated in a wheelchair.

You shouldn't get a flu shot if you're allergic to eggs, for sure, or if you've ever had Guillain-Barre syndrome. But flu shots are NOT toxic. They're highly purified and many are preservative free.

Bryan's right.

Influenza is all over Minnesota right now, with many counties reporting illness. This is the peak season, and it takes a while for the flu shot to confer immunity. That's why public health specialists recommend getting the flu shot in the late fall or early winter, before the virus is circulating widely--you'll have time to build up antibodies and, hopefully, avoid the flu altogether.

"Flu season" just means we expect more reports of influenza cases during those months. But influenza viruses are always circulating, and it's possible to pick up a case of the flu any time of the year.

Influenza is an infectious disease. If you're exposed, you're vulnerable. Certain populations are more at risk, both for picking up influenza in the first place and for developing complications, but certainly it's possible for a healthy young adult, with no underlying medical concerns, to get the flu.

Well...First of all, I'm sorry your son wasn't feeling well.

If he got the flu shot a few months ago, and he got "the flu" last week, then there is no relationship between the shot and the illness. Kids under two actually need two doses of the flu shot to be completely protected; sounds like you maybe weren't given that information, or maybe your son picked up the actual illness before he could get the second shot?

Also, this year's flu shot doesn't provide complete coverage. One of the strains that's showing up all over first appeared right after scientists chose the strains for inclusion in this year's vaccine, and so wasn't included.

The illness you describe is exactly the reason that pediatricians recommend that kids be vaccinated against the flu. A course of influenza is scary, very uncomfortable, and takes a long time to get over.

Truthfully, though, your pediatrician is right: high fevers in young children are generally nothing to worry about, and doctors look at their other symptoms before recommending that you bring a child into the office or the ER. I can tell you this because my two girls run high fevers (>105) at the drop of a hat, and our older one gets febrile seizures. In the ER, they're only going to do the same course of treatment you can do at home, and you'll be exposing your little guy to every germ in the emergency department while you're at it. Our pediatrician always recommends alternating or combined doses of Motrin and Tylenol (ask your son's doctor for instructions about doing this, if you don't already know how), along with warm baths (to wet the head and chest and lower the temperature, but not to induce shivering), light layers of clothes, and fluids, fluids, fluids. Dehydration is the real problem, not the fever.

Sometimes kids act differently after an illness because YOU'VE been acting differently, or because they're not yet feeling 100%. But if you truly think something is wrong, by all means--take your son in and have him evaluated.