First, let me say that I have trained as a pharmacist and a medical doctor, and I have three children of my own. I am not anti-vaccine, nor am I a sheep who trusts everything the medical community brings to the altar.

The flumist vaccine is a live, attenuated virus. By attenuated, this means something has been done to make it “weaker” than the regular virus.

What they have done is called “cold adaptation”. This means that the flu virus in Flumist has been engineered to live in cold environments like the nose. Environments “relatively” warmer than the nose (lungs, muscles, etc) are theoretically fatal to the virus, as would be a feverish body.

So, the virus is supposed to live out its days in the nose, allowing the host (us, our kids) to build up immunity and kill it, without the virus having the option to even infect the rest of our body. We would then have immunity against those strains of the virus contained in the mist.

I think an inner ear infection secondary to the virus is not likely, but certainly possible. An underlying secondary infection may have been brewing and having resources compromised by fighting a localized live virus may have given it the chance it needed to flourish. I don’t argue a mother’s intuition–it, and persitence can trump a physician’s initial assessment. Always stick with your gut.

As for adverse reaction forms being filled out by physicians, it’s like Bigfoot: I’ve heard it exists, but I’ve never seen the proof. I’ve never filled them out, because vaccines are not a part of my particular practice. I think most doctors don’t fill them out because of a few reasons: First, it commits them to saying a vaccine is less than benign. Second, it’s extra paper work. Third, they’re collegues may think they’re weird if they blame a reaction on a product the rest of the medical community has given virtual immunity (pun intended) when it comes to side effects.

My advice for concerned parents, when it comes to vaccines or any other medications is this:
1) Stay informed. YOU make health decisions for your children. If you aren’t informed, you leave it to the medical community and your kids may be treated like cattle.
2) Politely inform your pediatrician that you try to stay as informed as possible about the things your kids are taking. Doctors take this seriously. We know we aren’t perfect, though some idiot doctors try to project so on people they think are not educated. Don’t be stupid about this though…if you come off as pompass, your doctor will clam up and you won’t get the best from him/her. Don’t tell them how to practice.
3) If your doctor can’t handle the above, find one who can. They’re out there.