HOLLAND, Mich. - A flu shot alternative is back on the table after the Center for Disease Control approved its use for this upcoming season.
Looking back at least year's flu season isn't easy for Lakeshore Health Partners family physician, Dr. Peter Christensen said.
"It was a rough year, whether you got the shot or not."
The vaccination didn't cover last year's flu strain. In Ottawa County, the weekly season high of flu cases was at 600 with flu outbreaks in eight different schools. Nationwide 180 kids died from the viral infection last season. The CDC says about 80 percent of those children did not get the vaccination.
Another option is back on the market FluMist, a nasal spray that was introduced a few years ago before it became ineffective.
"The H1N1 strain of the vaccine mutated to the point where the vaccine didn't cover it," Christensen said.
"They went back and they reformulated the vaccine.Tthey put a different H1N1 strain in this new one. They presented the data to the CDC and it looks like this new one is actually going to have really good H1N1 coverage."
The CDC has approved its use for this upcoming flu season, an opportunity Christensen says to vaccinate those who have feared the needle, like most children.
"The CDC wants to vaccinate as many people as possible, so they're saying, 'Hey if the science holds out and more people get this one then it's back to the win-win,'" Christensen continued.
The Ottawa County Department of Public Health tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE FluMist is another option but they say it will likely come later and have a limited supply available. They stress the most important thing is to just get vaccinated.
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