TOPIC:

Hi everyone, I have a 7 year old son who was diagnosed with ITP about a year and a half ago. His platelet count is steady around 70 with no bruising etc. I have noticed since his diagnoses that he is not getting sick - his friends and cousins have had strep, flu, ear infections, bronchitis etc and he does not catch any of these illnesses. We did the flu shot last year and he jumped to 98 platelets. Right now he is back to the 70's.

I am wondering if I should skip the flu shot this year, in the hopes that if he gets the flu his immune system will concentrate on killing off the virus and leave his platelets alone. A hematologist mentioned this to me last year as a possible outcome of contracting the flu or another virus and that his immune system could "reset". She also said it operate the other way - his platelets could actually drop. I am seriously considering skipping the shot this year and would like to know if anyone had any experience or opinion on this.

Thank you.

It's impossible to know what sort of reaction your son would have if he got the flu. The doctor is right, counts could respond by going up or down, or they could stay the same.

The same is true with the flu vaccine. Thrombocytopenia is often listed as a side effect.

The following events have been spontaneously reported during post -
approval use of Flublok (trivalent formulation)
They are described because of the temporal relationship, the biologic plausibility of a causal
relationship to Flublok (trivalent formulation) and their potential seriousness
.
"Because these events are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to vaccine exposure.Immune system disorders: anaphylaxis, anaphylactoid reactions, allergic reactions, and other forms of hypersensitivity."

www.flublok.com/media/1158/quadrivalent-pi-clean-17mar2017.pdf

Personally, I believe that the flu shot is mostly ineffective and that natural immunity is best. A healthy individual has little chance of contracting the flu and would be able to fight it. I've never had the flu shot and have never had the flu.

I am an adult with ITP. I took the flu shot in 1016 but ended up getting the flu in January 2017. I had undergone a treatment in December to reset my system. The illness combined with treatment caused my count to crash to the point I was hospitalized.
That does not mean it would happen with your son. My experience was a little more complicated due to the December treatment.

I get the flu shot every year. My platelets are unaffected by the shot, but they do drop when I am sick, so it's a no-brainer for me.

Being 66 years old and having 4 heart stents accumulated over the years, I have to be mindful of my age and cardiac issues as well as my ITP. I have been getting annual flu shots for 20 years without ill effects. 4 weeks ago I got my 2017 and it did not affect any of my CBC counts.

Diagnosed 28 years ago, have been receiving a yearly flu shot for 25 years and my platelets are unaffected by the shot. As to resetting the immune system if one gets the flu - all I can say is I did get a flu [real flu] and it did not reset my immune system so that I no longer had ITP.

It is mentioned that Thrombocytopenia is often listed as a side effect of the vaccine - but if you check out IVIg, a treatment for ITP, you will see "Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: easy bleeding/bruising"!

You as a parent have to do what you feel is right for your child!