A Santa Clarita pediatrician is encouraging parents in the community to take their kids to get a flu shot as flu season gets underway this winter.

While Dr. Rochelle Feldman of Prima Pediatrics admitted that she was previously “laissez faire” about promoting the flu shot, she has since changed her mind after recent events.

“I never pushed it until I read the stats, and until last year, we lost a child to influenza in our practice,” said Feldman. “This year already in Hawaii, whose flu season starts earlier, two children have died.”

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Feldman continued that “the truth of the matter” is that influenza causes more deaths than any other vaccine-preventable illness in the United States, with those most at risk young children and the elderly.

“The younger (you are), the harder it is to fight off the flu,” Feldman said. “Almost all of the hospitalizations in our practice and in every other practice have been in kids who were very young… But there are still deaths of perfectly otherwise normal 8 and 9 year old kids from influenza.”

While some parents may argue that the flu shot must not be effective because they became sick with the flu just days after getting it themselves, Feldman pointed out that it is not possible for a flu shot to give a person the flu.

“With the shot, there is zero possibility (of it making you sick) because it’s dead — you can’t be infected with a dead virus,” said Feldman. “The real reason why that happens … is because they got it too late in the season.”

Flu shots typically take two to four weeks to build enough immunity to prevent the flu, making it vital to get it as early in the season as possible, according to Feldman, who recommends parents contact their pediatrician’s office today.

“Every pediatrician I know of has a flu shot-only visit,” she said. “In other words, you just have to see the nurse; you don’t have to see the doctor… Don’t wait.”

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio interview with Prima Pediatrics.

Prima Pediatrics

18520 Via Princessa

Canyon Country, CA 91387

661-424-9000

Prima Pediatrics – Canyon Country

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tacxS80FaxE

Santa Clarita Pediatrician, Pediatrician in Santa Clarita, Dr. Rochelle Feldman, Prima Pediatrics