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Two doctors who lost their young son following the flu last year wish their parents to listen to their message, born of considerable grief and suffering: Immunize your child against the flu .
Drs. Laura's son Leon and Anthony Sidari, 4, were not vaccinated against the flu last year. He died on Christmas day, less than 48 hours after he started to feel sick.
"I did not know that a disease could kill so quickly a child who was previously healthy," said Laura, a psychiatrist. "It has been a hard road for us, and we are very private people, but we try to help other families."
Leon is one of 185 American children who died during the 2017-2018 influenza season, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a historic record.
According to the CDC, about 80% of these children have not received a flu shot.
Laura and Anthony, rheumatologists, wanted to be vaccinated in a pharmacy with Leon and his brother, 2 years old. They lived in Texas, where state law prohibits pharmacists from vaccinating people under the age of 7.
The couple, busy with their third newborn child, Cameron, still decided to vaccinate Leon against influenza while he was going to the pediatrician: at the annual visit of Tristan, scheduled for January 3.
Leon died 10 days before this appointment.
"It was not even in my radar as something that I really had, really needed to prioritize," Laura said. "He just slipped through the cracks."
The story of Sidaris is all too familiar to Dr. Flor Muñoz.
For 20 years, Muñoz, a specialist in children's infectious diseases at Texas Children's Hospital, has been working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to increase children's flu immunization rates.
Rates are not excellent: according to the CDC, only 47.8% of children aged 6 months to 17 years have been vaccinated in the past year, which recommends that they be vaccinated.
The problem: although adults can be vaccinated against flu in pharmacies or even at work, children do not have as many options.
In most states, pharmacists who vaccinate children are subject to limits or a total ban. Flu vaccination clinics in schools are the exception rather than the rule.
According to the National Association of State Pharmacy Associations, only 13 states allow pharmacists to vaccinate children of any age.
"It's frustrating, it looks like we're not learning," Muñoz said.
There is no medical reason why children should not be vaccinated against influenza in a pharmacy, said Muñoz, also an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Some states change their laws. New York prohibited pharmacists from vaccinating people under the age of 18 against the flu virus. This year, after the historic flu season, the state has changed its laws to allow vaccination of people 2 years and older.
"Good for you, New York!" Muñoz said. "More needs to be done to make this happen in other states. There should be more than one push. "
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said more should also be done to help local health departments more easily offer influenza vaccination clinics. Currently, he said, it is difficult for these departments to buy large quantities of vaccines and charge insurance.
"We have to do more to make things easier," he said.
Sidaris do their part. Last month, they sponsored a "Say Boo to the Flu" event in their hometown, Albion, New York, where 59 children were vaccinated.
Although the CDC is promoting influenza vaccines by the end of October, it is particularly important to get vaccinated well before the holidays, Muñoz said. Influenza activity can peak in December and holiday gatherings allow the virus to spread more quickly. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to be effective after receiving it.
"Leon is my reason this season, and every season, to get the flu shot on time," Laura Sidari wrote on her Facebook page. "Planning holidays and fall celebrations can wait, but not the flu shot."
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