My son getting sick every month

[elle]

You should really seek your pediatrician's advice before starting your young child on a bunch of vitamins and herbal supplements - too much of some of these actually be quite harmful for little bodies (for example, it is easy to overdo the amount of iron your kid gets).

Re: the flu shot, it is highly effective in preventing the seasonal FLU, but will not protect against most cold viruses. There is a BIG difference between a cold virus and a flu virus. The flu is almost always accompanied by a high fever and is much more dangerous for a small child, the elderly and others with lower immunity. Not sure if doctors in HK give children as young as four annual flu shots (which btw are changed yearly to cover current strains of the virus), but it's worth getting your pediatrician's view on whether it is appropriate for your child.

Cara's advice above is good - it is common for children to catch all kinds of stuff this time year. One of the best things you can do for your child at this age to prevent the spread of germs is teach good hand washing hygiene manners. Wash hands (correctly and with soap) every time you touch your face, each time you come inside from playing, after coughing/ sneezing, after toilet, before meals, etc.

[sunrays]

My Daughter is 4 too and I give her half a tablet of Redoxon with zinc sugar free orange chewable tablets. You can get them from Mannings or Watsons. If she is very sick I will give a whole tablet. If you give too much they will get a bit of diarrhea. They taste good too. Turmeric however doesn't. It is a spice used in Indian cooking. I just get it from Jason's ...Spice Island is the best brand we have found here. as I said, it does not taste good but my daughter is so used to taking natural medicines she doesn't make any fuss.

[newbiekt]

Babies/kids can start having the annual flu vaccine from 6 months according to my paed, although they have it in 2 doses when they are under a year old. I have had both my 19 month and 6 month sons vaccinated against flu. They have runny noses and coughs seemingly constantly. I put Vicks or Karvol on their chest and feet before they go to bed if they have a cold and that seems to help. I know the feet thing sounds weird but it seems to work!

[penguinsix]

Dear penguinsix,
The airpurifiers are available from Fortrex, aren't they? I am going to check out today to buy one, but i am not so sure about the flu shots, do you think they are really so effective, since there's always different virus around us. I was thinking how I should raise my son's immunity so he would not be so easily affected by different diseases

We bought our air filters online direct from Alen's website. I don't know if they are carried at any retail places nearby. I've seen the IQAir at Bumps to Babies, but you can expect to pay a pretty penny. They really are high end.

We get the flu shot annually, as they change the strains that comprise the shot every season. That said there are still plenty of other things that they seem to catch, but I prefer to play it safe and get the vaccine rather than have them suffer through a bout of the flu, which in rare but not non-existant cases can be extremely dangerous.

There is a good doctor's blog that I read frequently that had an article about 'boosting' the immune system and how it is a bit of a misnomer. Still (despite their sarcasm) they did recommend the basic healthy precepts of a good diet, clean house, clean hands, lower stress, etc.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=1828

Time to go crank up the filters to full power. Today's air is really quite atrocious.