“What are the pros and cons of the flu shot?”

One of the pros of getting the flu shot, is that you are attempting to protect your child from an illness that could have a detrimental effect on his health.
One of the cons of getting the flu shot, is that the vaccine is created from the strain of the virus from the previous year, so depending on the mutations of the strain of the current year, its effectiveness can be low.

As pediatricians, we highly recommend that all children are vaccinated with all the vaccines that are available including the flu. The flu vaccine is good because it decreases the chances of your child getting the flu. Some kids can get very sick with the flu even if they are healthy and do not have any conditions. If, by chance, your child does get the flu even though he got the vaccine which is possible, his symptoms will go away faster if he is vaccinated. For example, if he gets the flu with the vaccine his symptoms may last for 4-5 days compared to if he does not get the vaccine, the symptoms can last 10-14 days. The con is that he can possibly get the flu and his arm might be sore from the shot, but otherwise, the flu shot is very safe.