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Jupiter Images UnlimitedIn an effort to minimize sick time, many parents are taking children for flu shots -- twice this year, once for the seasonal flu and once for H1N1.

I have to leave work at 1 p.m. today. That's because I work downtown, and I have to drive back to my neighborhood to pick up my three children, at three different schools (elementary, middle and high) and truck them over to their pediatricians office for flu vaccination at 2 p.m. This is the seasonal flu vaccine, of which the office initially ran out, and I feel fortunate to have secured an appointment for them.

However...

I'm confused why I must take off work, and they must be taken out of school, to get a vaccination that will take less than 5 minutes to administer. Why don't doctors' offices, especially pediatricians', offer vaccination clinics in the evenings or on weekends? Retail stores offer convenient hours for flu shots, but most of those clinics are only for adults. Clinics run by the county health department offer evening and weekend hours, though spots are all taken now.

Many pediatricians and nurses who work in pediatric offices have children of their own. Unless they have special access to the vaccine stash or a spouse on kid duty during the day, I presume they, too, have to juggle their work day around getting kids out of school and taking them for flu shots. I'll bet they, too, wish a clinic was available in the evenings or on weekends.

I'm no practice manager, but there's got to be a better way. Scheduling nurses to offer the shots during non-business hours might not thrill the nurses, but it wouldn't be year-round, and it wouldn't even have to be every evening. Pick a few dates, advertise those dates to patients -- hope the vaccine arrives on schedule -- and, as Larry the Cable Guy says, git-r-done.

Help protect the kids without making (letting) them miss school, and without making parents miss work. 

Sports drinks and water, broth, humidifier are among the items you should have on hand.

Jupiter Images UnlimitedYou can save yourself some worry by assembling a "flu survival kit' now, while you're still healthy.Items you should stock now, so you’re prepared in case influenza (or even a rotten cold) brings you down: (List courtesy of St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center’s Joe Bick, manager of infection prevention and control, and Dr. Sally Klemens, epidemiologist, with help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

* A working telephone.

* A cool mist humidifer (for small children).

* Suction bulb (for small children).

* Medications to lessen symptoms, including acetominophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve).

* Soap for handwashing, plus alcohol hand rub.

* Tissues, paper towels.

* Surgical face mask (to limit spread to others).

* Sports drinks and water for drinking.

* Broth.

* Household disinfectant.

* A good book – or something to read, or watch, while convalescing.

Your friendly neighborhood health & fitness editor would also add some of her favorite feel-better aides -- warm, fuzzy socks; fleece jammies; cider or tea for hot beverages; lozenges to ease throat pain (but not for little kids); lip balm; hand and body lotion (since alcohol cleansers can be drying); and bubbles for a warm bath. 

What else makes you feel better when you're sick? What have we left off this list?

Sports drinks and water, broth, humidifier are among the items you should have on hand.

Listen to Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Dr. Cynthia Morrow speak about how to deal with pandemic flu at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 during the broadcast on WCNY of the Thursday Morning Roundtable. Morrow will explain who is at risk, preparedness measures, and guidelines to help lower your risk of the viral infection. Morrow has been County health commissioner since...

Listen to Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Dr. Cynthia Morrow speak about how to deal with pandemic flu at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 during the broadcast on WCNY of the Thursday Morning Roundtable. Morrow will explain who is at risk, preparedness measures, and guidelines to help lower your risk of the viral infection. Morrow has been County health commissioner since...

Listen to Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Dr. Cynthia Morrow speak about how to deal with pandemic flu at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 during the broadcast on WCNY of the Thursday Morning Roundtable. Morrow will explain who is at risk, preparedness measures, and guidelines to help lower your risk of the viral infection.
Morrow has been County health commissioner since 2005. She is also an assistant professor of medicine and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Upstate Medical University. 
 

By Jim Mulder Flu may be more prevalent this year, but there’s still time to mount our defenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides this advice: *Get vaccinated. The vaccine to protect against seasonal flu is available now. The H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine is expected to be available by late October. *Wash your hands. Do this frequently,...

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardChris Nicita, a cashier at Price Chopper in the Western Lights Plaza, signs in people for get their flu shot. Pharmacists are now allowed in New York State to give flu shots. There was a steady flow of people from 10am until noon to get the flu shot. Price Chopper will be offering the flu shots again on Monday October 5th from 10 am until noon. The cost is $30.

By Jim Mulder

Flu may be more prevalent this year, but there’s still time to mount our defenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides this advice:

*Get vaccinated. The vaccine to protect against seasonal flu is available now. The H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine is expected to be available by late October.

*Wash your hands. Do this frequently, especially after you cough or sneeze. Wash with soap and water or clean with alcohol-based hand cleaner. When you wash your hands, do it for 15 to 20 seconds.

When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. If using gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. The gel doesn’t need water to work.

This comes to us from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It's important reading if you have a compromised immune system, or if anyone in your family does. And it applies to seasonal flu as well as H1N1 "swine" flu vaccinations.... MILWAUKEE - While vaccinations for both the seasonal flu and H1N1 are among the best prevention...

(AP Photo/Yanina Manolova)Radha Chatterjee, right, Walgreens pharmacist, injects a flu shot into customer Michael Sokoll in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. Drugstore operators are beginning their seasonal flu shot campaigns several weeks early this year, saying they expect greater demand for the vaccine in a year when the swine flu strain has dominated the news. The vaccine is intended to prevent the seasonal flu and is separate from vaccines for swine flu.

This comes to us from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It's important reading if you have a compromised immune system, or if anyone in your family does. And it applies to seasonal flu as well as H1N1 "swine" flu vaccinations....

MILWAUKEE - While vaccinations for both the seasonal flu and H1N1 are among the best prevention tools available to prevent complications from the flu, should patients with immune deficiency be given the vaccines?

In general, there are two different types of vaccines. These are usually referred to as live or killed vaccines. Live vaccines contain live bacteria or a virus that has been modified. This means they've lost their disease-causing ability or are administered by a route that prevents them from causing clinical disease. Killed vaccines are just what the name says--the bacteria or virus in the vaccine is dead.