Flu shots?

Hello again everyone. I have not posted in quite a while as we have been fortunate that Evan has been progressing very well in his Prednisone treatment. He had his very last dose of Prednisone almost one month ago and will go for a blood test next week. His levels have been steady at the 280-290k range for the past few months. His Dr does keep reminding us that the real test will likely come when his immune system has to fight something off and that has left me with a question: should ITP patients be getting a flu shot? I realize that he will get sick eventually but I am wondering if there is an advantage to trying to prevent this for as long as possible. I also think that I would feel better in knowing that if he were to get the flu and it caused his ITP were to recur, that at least his flu symptoms might be minimized and this might spare him a bit of discomfort. I do plan to get his Dr's opinion when we next see him but I would also appreciate any advice from those of you who have experience with this. Thanks so much!

My daughter was given an OK from her hema to get the flu shot but only a dead virus shot. But she was also given a no to all the other shots, so she's a little bit behind in her shots in general. But we chose not to even do the Flu Shot. Kids will get sick for sure. But I don't want to risk putting something in her that could make her levels drop very low.

Our team wants to wait for my daughter's flu shot, but we are new to ITP, just diagnosed in Sept. My daughter(5yr) started at 1 and did not respond to IVig, only to prednisolone. You mentioned Evan has had good counts and no prednisone for one month, how long was he on prednisone before that? My daughter did one week of twice daily dosing getting up to 143, followed by a drop to 20 when she went completely off it. Then back on a smaller dose she did well, 205, but when they stepped it down further her numbers dipped, 105. Her team wants to step her down even more to see how she handles that. Given her counts we are waiting for the flu shot and when she does get it, only the shot, not the nasal mist.

Evan started Prednisone over Easter weekend (April) at a dose of 60mg per day. He stayed at that dose for approx 2 months and then gradually weaned off that dose by 10 mg every month. He tolerated it well and we didn't notice any fluctuations in his counts even when he managed to catch a fairly significant cold virus just before he was completely weaned off the steroids, which was a big relief. If his pediatrician is not concerned about possible effects from the flu shot then I think we will likely proceed with getting the shot.

EvansMom, thanks for responding. I have hope that we get to where you are someday.