During flu outbreaks, the highest infection rates occur among school-age children.  Children are important disseminators of disease in the community.  For every 100 children in U.S. elementary schools, influenza accounted for an estimated 20 days of work missed by their parents and 22 secondary illness episodes among other family members.  While the fatality rates are very low, infection rates in healthy children have averaged between 10% and 40% each year, with approximately 1% of infections resulting in hospitalization.  Hospitalization risk is substantially higher for children younger than 2 years of age compared to those older than 2 years.

The following is a list of vaccines available at GetzWell:

- 6-36 months of age: half size single dose preservative-free vaccine (Fluzone)

- 2 yrs and older: nasal spray flu mist vaccine (preservative-free)

- 3 yrs and older: full size single dose flu vaccine (preservative-free)

Some reasons you may want to vaccinate:

• Infants in the first 2 years of life are at a higher risk than older kids and adults of becoming infected with the influenza virus and suffer more severe disease and more frequent hospitalization.
• Healthy people living with either infants or the elderly may get vaccinated to decrease the likelihood of transmitting the virus to these high risk groups.
• Research has shown that preventing the flu decreases the chance of ear infections.
• The preservative-free Fluzone is available immediately on a first-come first-served basis.
• If you are traveling with the entire family over Christmas, ski week, or spring break you may want to be vaccinated to protect you and the kids from infection during these high risk weeks and having to cancel the trip.
• If you don’t know whether to reserve mist or shot, consider that mist is more effective in kids 2-6 years old as compared to the flu shot.  The shot is more effective at causing immunity in kids 6 and older and adults.

Flumist is safe for breast feeding mothers.

Some reasons not to vaccinate:

• Allergy to eggs.
• Low-risk (e.g. breastfed baby with stay-at-home mom without older siblings in group child care settings or school).
• Parents are able to stay home with sick infant/child who becomes ill with the flu, which allows for close monitoring and perhaps preventing the severe effects of the disease.

In an effort to protect the little ones, we will offer flu vaccine to parents and other family household contacts such as grandparents and nannies/babysitters. Remember to wash hands frequently with soap and water, use alcohol based hand sanitizers if you don’t have access to a sink, to cough or sneeze into an elbow or tissue, and stay home from work, school or daycare if you are sick.

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“Even though we were impressed with her when we met with her during my pregnancy, it was another thing altogether to watch her interact with our newborn. I really feel like we made the right choice.” Laura L.

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“Julia Getzelman is our pediatrician and we love her. We switched to her after we were unsatisfied with the more ‘old school’ practice we were taking our 3 month old to. She really takes the time to cover everything at the appointments and does not rush us.” Jenifer B.

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“Julia is the doctor that we all wish we had (pediatrician or otherwise). Kind, patient, smart, open to alternative practices and vaccination scheduling. She listens carefully to moms and trusts their intuition. So many other doctors write off new parents’ concerns about their babies as being hyper-nervous.” Lisa V.

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“We use Dr. Getzelman for my 4 month old son. We really love her. She is easy to talk to, very relaxed, and almost hyper responsive! She responds to email day and night, which is awesome. She is flexible regarding vaccines–we use an alternative vaccine schedule (more visits, less shots per visit) and she is great with that. Her background is in functional medicine–gut health, probiotics, etc.”
Rhian B.

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“We’ve been clients of Dr. Julia Getzelman for over a year and we’re THRILLED to be in her practice. She’s one of the newer breed of doctors who acts like a person, with a great sense of humor, and a welcoming manner that invites the participation of the parents in the entire process of raising kids healthy.”
Alex B.

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“We LOVE Julia and her staff…I cannot say enough! We started at another practice and after 3 miserable experiences switched to Julia. Her clinical skills are excellent and she is great with babies (our daughter is 5 months old). She gives us a lot of reading materials, etc. She is pro-active, not reactive! She responds to emails 24/7–it’s really unbelievable.” Jennifer K.

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“With Dr.G you never feel hurried, she knows all of her patients because of the small client base, and she frequently checks on patients via email. Also, Dr.G is really good with keeping the toddler happy and not forcing things to happen if the child does not want something poking his body.” Yukie F.

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“Dr. G is absolutely amazing, extremely knowledgeable, and my 16 month old is mesmerized by her.” Wayee C.

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“Julia is our (wonderful!) pediatrician; we joined her practice about a year and a half ago. Julia diagnosed our (now) 2yo’s dietary sensitivities and helped change him from a subdued boy that always, ALWAYS had a runny nose and hardly ever even tried talking, to a busy, active, happy, clear-breathing little guy who just yesterday told his dad a long, complicated story that lasted at least 2 full minutes.” Lara W.