ALERT: 'Parents Urged NOT to Wait for FluMist and Arrange Flu Shots NOW to Avoid Outbreak.'

The power to prevent thousands of MD children from getting influenza this season lies in the hands of local parents, says Dr. Keyvan Rafei, Baltimore ‘Top Doc’ and Medical Director at urgent care pediatric chain KinderMender.

Parents of elementary school children in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, and Howard counties were counting on their kids receiving nasal spray vaccine FluMist in November. Because of a manufacturing delay, most of those sprays won’t be available until mid-December.

And Rafei says it’s just not safe to wait that long.

“The last two years of CDC research show that flu cases begin to rise in mid-November,” said Rafei. “The flu vaccine requires two weeks to build immunity. If parents wait for FluMist to arrive in December, their children won’t build immunity until much later in the year, when the chances of contagion are much greater.”

“The time to vaccinate is now. Achiness, fever, and other flu symptoms are much more painful than a quick flu shot.”

Parents are urged to schedule flu shots with their pediatricians before mid-November.

About Dr. Keyvan Rafei

Dr. Keyvan Rafei is the Medical Director and founder of KinderMender Walk-In Pediatric Center. He has more than 11 years of experience in pediatrics and pediatric medicine, having worked as the Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Chairman of the Pediatric Asthma Program at the University of Maryland Hospital for Children. Named one of Baltimore’s “Top Docs,” Dr. Rafei is best known for his regional and national work on pediatric asthma care and prevention.