Interviewer(s): Timothy Price
Interviewee(s): Participant 01

Timothy Price: We will go ahead and get started. What we're going to start with is I'm going to read you a consent form. So this is just a series of statements to kind of let you know, just make sure you agree to participate in the study and everything. So what I'll ask you to do is I'll read you the statement and then if you could just say yes or no, if you don't agree. So the first statement: I confirm that I've read the participant information sheet for this study. I've had the opportunity to consider the information to ask questions and to have these questions answered satisfactorily.

Participant 01: Yeah

Timothy Price: I understand that my participation is voluntary, and that I am free to withdraw at any time without giving any reason I also understand that I can decline to answer any questions during the interview.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: I understand that information collected during my interview may be looked at by other researchers from Newcastle University who are working on or assisting with the study. I give permission for these individuals to have access to that information.

Participant 01: Yep.

Timothy Price: I understand that the information collected during the interview may be shared with other researchers for use in future research or teaching purposes that the data will be thoroughly anonymized first.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: Understand that the interview will be audio recorded typed out and then all of my identifying personal details will be removed.

Participant 01: Yeah

Timothy Price: I understand the direct quotations may be taken from what I say and used in research and publications, but that I will not be identifiable from these quotations.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: I agree to take part in this study.

Participant 01: Yeah, excellent.

Timothy Price: So if you could. Oh, sorry. There are two other two other items here. If You would like to receive a copy of the research findings. Upon completion of this study. Please say yes now.

Participant 01: Yeah, sure.

Timothy Price: Great. And can I send those to the email address that I have on file for you.

Participant 01: Yeah, that'd be great.

Timothy Price: Awesome. So it will be a little while until we have that, the study will be concluding in August. So you'll receive the email in or around around that time frame.

Participant 01: Okay.

Timothy Price: All right. And would you like to receive a hard copy of the study documents by now. So that would be the consent form and the participant information sheet.

Participant 01: No, that's okay, let's just keep it paperless.

Timothy Price: Alright, sounds great to me. So the last thing, if you could just say your name and today's date for me.

Participant 01: Uh, What's today's date. [Laughter]

Timothy Price: That's going to be the hardest question I ask today. Today is June 4.

Participant 01: Okay, [Participant 01] and June 4.

Timothy Price: Thank you. And I am Timothy price. And as you said, it is June 4

Great. Alright, so we've got that out of the way. So now we can dive into some of my questions for you here. Like I said you can stop the interview at any time. Also, if you want to take a break. If you have something you need to do. That's totally fine, just let me know. As you answer the questions I'm going to be quiet on my end. It's just so that the recording picks up what you're saying. So I'm still here, even if you're not hearing me talking.

Participant 01: Okie doke.

Timothy Price: So my first few questions or to help me get to know your child a little bit better and to help me understand kind of what you know about the flu. So I see from the expression of interest survey that you have two children. One of them is five and the other is two years old. Is that right?

Participant 01: yeah.

Timothy Price: So can you tell me a little bit about your children, especially the two year old as they're in the preschool age?

Participant 01: Ooh yeah, what can I tell you about them? Um, they're going a bit stir crazy right now. [Laughter]

And....

Timothy Price: What are their names?

Participant 01: [DAUGHTER] is the five year olds and [SON] is my two year old and that's [DAUGHTER] with an E and [SON] with a K. I've cursed both of my children to have to spell their name for the rest of their lives. [Laughter]

And they are... really cool. And they are... Really different and I really love seeing that. And so when [DAUGHTER] was the same age, she was a lot further ahead and sort of vocabulary wise and talking wise and things like that. But then certain motor skills, motor skills wise [SON] is, is sort of quite a lot more ahead, than she was at that age. And I just, I love seeing how different they both are and them turning into really cool little people.

Timothy Price: Yeah. It's so funny, you know, little kids as they start to start to grow up, just how quickly you know they become their own little people. Yeah, it's really cool. Thank you for sharing that. So what kind of things have they been up to since the lockdown started?

Participant 01: Oh, we've been doing some baking and we've done some clay modeling and we've done plasticine and done a lot of playing out in the garden. You want to just one second – [Participant 01 is speaking to their child].

And what else we been doing with them. Yeah, playing out in the garden has had some picnics out there, they've had on, what's on a couple of days where it was more warmer they've had their little paddling pool out and and scooters and that kind of thing. So yeah.

Timothy Price: That sounds, that sounds, that sounds nice. I'm sure it's, you know, a lot of work, having the kids at home all the time that that sounds like a good way to spend the time.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: so, would you please tell me kind of what you know about the flu as a sickness?

Participant 01: Um, well, I think everybody kind of knows what the symptoms, um and things like that. I think a lot of people probably think they have the flu when they just have got a bad cold. Which isn't necessarily, I suppose, about the virus itself. but more I suppose people's understanding of the virus.

Timothy Price: Yeah, no, that's great to hear.

Participant 01: Um, I understand a little bit of sort of about the vaccine science and about how there's lots of different strains and I believe if my understanding is correct, they tend to for the next year's vaccine, they tend to look up data and see what strains have been most prevalent in the year before and that's how they then um, decide how they're going to do the vaccines year after and things like that. I know that there is obviously the option of the injected vaccine and also a nasal spray that is especially useful for children and that's probably the extent of my knowledge, right there.

Timothy Price: That's great. Um, so do you think about flu as like a serious illness or not so serious. Can you give me a sense for sort of how you think of it in that way.

Participant 01: Mm hmm. Sort of both? In terms of, I know it can be a dangerous disease. I know it, and I know that it can have at quite serious um. sort of outcomes, especially for anybody with other underlying health conditions, the elderly and sometimes children. But again, I think that's more in line with the children that again have underlying health conditions and from a personal point of view uh, It's not something that would worry me particularly getting it, but also from a personal point of view I maybe should be a little bit more worried than I am because I don't have a spleen. Um, yeah, it's kind of one of those it's it's it's not something that keeps me up at night, but I am aware that it can have, it can have, quite severe outcomes.

Timothy Price: Yeah. Um, so you sort of got to answering my next question, which is, do you worry about your children getting the flu or not so much?

Participant 01: Again about the same. I'm aware of the issues, especially with my eldest, more so than my youngest. She has the same thing that I have which, the reason I don't have a spleen is hereditary sperositosis which is basically a condition that affects the red blood cells but because it affects the red blood cells it also effects the spleen and how that works, and things like that. And, and basically, one of the things that people with Hs bodies' does to kind of compensate is it massively over produces red blood cells. And, um, so if there is any, any other infection or anything that comes into that, what can happen, and luckily we have quite mild cases, but what can happen is because the body has to start producing more antibodies to fight off whatever infections or virus thats there and the red blood cell count can then drop quite severely and and I've had, I've had to have three blood transfusions, basically because of that. And and my oldest child has has that now it's not normally for something as simple as the flu. Again, that's more because of the fact that we have quite mild versions of it. The three times. I've had to have a blood transfusion once was human papillomavirus, once was glandular fever, and the last time was kidney infection. And so it is, it is something that I would definitely keep an eye on were they are ill, even if it's just like a cold or something like that. And it might be flu. I do tend to keep a closer eye. And especially on my eldest just to watch out for other things you know that, and that would actually be more likely to show anemia because it's more likely that it's it's the flu itself isn't going to be a major issue. But the other things that that can affect in her body would be something that I would watch out for. So I would look out for, you know, pale skin lethargy, all the things that goes along with anemia rather than just the usual things that you would look out for, for cold and flu.

Timothy Price: Yeah, great. Thank you very much. So again you're doing great, you're leading me right into my next question here. So can you explain to me just a little bit like what you think getting sick with the flu is like for children like maybe some of the symptoms that they have. How long would you expect them to be sick, things like that.

Participant 01: High temperature, stuffy nose, blocked up, all of those sorts of things, sinus issues in terms of possibly headaches and things like that And then, you know the those are kind of the things that kind of crossover from from colds and then obviously, you've got kind of joint pain and and lethargy and things like that as well. I would say, that I think it's probably more difficult with children, because especially young children because obviously they can't necessarily say I have a headache and I have, joint pain, I have. So I think it's, it's a lot about seeing how affected they are by the symptoms that they have, because obviously you can have a cold or flu symptoms. But they can be kind of generally finding themselves, still wanting to eat, still wanting to play and then obviously you have kind of the next step up from that where, you know, they just want to sleep. They just want to have cuddles. They don't really want to eat. Ff they do eat, they just want to eat certain things like maybe just a favorite foods and things like that. So I think it's about not just looking for symptoms so much with children, but looking at how they're affected by it.

Timothy Price: Yeah, it sounds like I think as a parent of a young child, part of what you're doing is you know, asking them how they're feeling but also just sort of comparing their behavior to how they how they normally are.

Participant 01: See exactly, yeah. Yeah, and also comparing how they are when they're, you know, pre medication versus post medication. You know they have a temperature you give them some calpol, Do they perk up while they have that calpol in their system and kind of go back to be a bit more normal while they have that calpol or does that not necessarily help or they just not majorly help. And so that's another thing that I would probably look out for, as a parent, is how much is this, the meditation, that we're able to give our children. How much is that helping? And and things like that.

Timothy Price: Yeah, well, that's great. Thank you. So when you want to learn about a sickness, like the flu. Where do you go to get more information on those things?

Participant 01: Oh, good ol' Doctor Google. [Laughter]

Yeah. And yeah, I use internet and I would use, I don't actually have a copy of one right now, just do some personal circumstances of having to move quite quickly But, there's like the the Orange Book that you got from the health visitor that I'm pretty sure if I remember correctly, that that has some information about flu in. It's basically just like a sort of minuture first aid booklet and specifically for parents to spot things and children. I don't know whether you know about the Orange Book.

Timothy Price: No, I'm not familiar. You may have, You may have noticed from my accent I'm not from the UK. I'm an international student from the US, but that sounds like a great resource.

Participant 01: Yeah, so I mean it's it's it's if I remember correctly, it's maybe about 20 pages long and it has a you know a quite a broad range of things in that book. Everyday things you know, colds, flus, temperature, sickness and diarrhea, you know, cuts, bruises just all that kind of stuff.

Timothy Price: Yeah, just sort of general health information for parents.

Participant 01: Yeah, things like you know well, you know "if they have these you're fine, ff they have this maybe think about ringing 111, if they have this go to A&E."

Timothy Price: Yeah, and that's something you get from your child's GP?

Participant 01: Yes. And do you know we got it rather than from the GP, but from the health visitor. So I don't know if you know about how visitors, but they work alongside and GP surgery but they are kind of specifically there to look at all families if they need any help with the kids. So, you know...

Timothy Price: Yeah, sure. So my next question. Have you ever talked to a health care professional about the flu, specifically the flu and your child. So have you ever talked to your child's GP or to the health visitor about the flu?

Participant 01: No, not particularly. I mean, If they've been particularly ill for sort of an extended amount of time, which I would say probably more than I week, and, you know, or they have a particularly high temperature that doesn't really seem to be coming down. Or, like I said, there's other symptoms if maybe they've had calpol and they're still really lethargic and not wanting to do anything. I would maybe speak to either the house visitor or the GP. But again, I wouldn't say thats specifically about flu necessarily. I would never ring up and say "I think they've got the flu" I would just say they have been symptoms.

Timothy Price: I see, yeah. So my next set of questions is to help me learn a little bit about your thoughts around the flu vaccine and whether or not you think it's something that could be helpful for your child. Um, so what do you think the benefits are of having your child get the flu vaccine?

Participant 01: pretty much the same as every other vaccine out there, it's you know it's, it's they wouldn't use vaccines if there was no benefit. I get that, my understanding is obviously with flu, It's a bit of a lottery in terms of how the vaccine is is chosen and... But I would, I would, I would always advocate for vaccines.

Timothy Price: Yeah. Do you think there are downsides to having your child get the flu vaccine, and if so, what do you think there's downsides are?

Participant 01: Um, upsetting them is a downside. [Laughter]

Timothy Price: Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure that it is.

Participant 01: Um, yeah and so yeah just kind of their, their understanding of it, making sure that they're not going to be too upset. It's, you know, something that I would watch out for. Downside again is is maybe the fact that, and some people say, once you have a vaccine you then get a bit ill. And which, I don't know whether that is just coincidence. I don't necessarily hold much stock in that. But it would still be something that I would look out for just not in terms of all look the vaccine has caused this just in terms of "oh they're ill, I've got to look after them". And I, Yeah I don't, I don't think that there are downsides necessarily that I would say that's definitely a downside from the vaccine because I don't, I haven't personally looked into correlation versus causation versus coincidence, in terms of when you get ill after the vaccine. Does that make sense?

Timothy Price: Yeah, no. That makes perfect sense. Thank you. And have you ever talked to your child's GP or and other health care professional about whether or not you're preschool age child, so whether or not [SON] should get a flu vaccine?

Participant 01: No, again it's not something that I've particularly talked about, and it is something I've talked about for my five year old because when they, when they turn school age so far, they would, their care for things like flu vaccines. Would get transferred over to a school nurse. My children are actually homeschooled. So, if you would normally access the school nurse through what school they go to. Because they don't go through school, I need to access anything like flu vaccine or anything or any other vaccines, they may need that normally be dealt with via school, school nurse that route, I have to access that in a different ways. So I have discussed with a health visitor about my five year old. And about how, what do I do now if I did want the vaccine, how would I go about that. And now I didn't actually get any answers, so I can't really actually give you any further and based on that again, personal circumstances, I had to move out of an area, particularly quickly and I didn't ask them long before I moved out of that area. So I didn't actually end up getting the answers and then there's been a whole kerfuffle with the whole Coronavirus thing and I haven't actually got a new GP in my new area. So that's fun.

Timothy Price: Sure. I'm sure this is a complicated time to be doing anything like that.

Participant 01: One second [Participant is speaking to their child]

Okay. Sorry

Timothy Price: Yeah no problem, I'm sure it's always a challenge to get a little bit of quiet time with two kids in the house.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: Um, yeah. So it sounds like you sort of started that conversation with You know, with a medical professional, but then some things came up and you just you weren't able to sort of complete the process is that, am I understanding?

Participant 01: Pretty much, yeah.

Timothy Price: So my next set of questions, in your survey here, you indicated that your two year old, [SON], has not had a flu vaccine in the past year. Is that right?

Participant 01: no. That's more to do with personal circumstances if I'd gotten a new GP. It's probably something that I would have said, “I've got kids to they need, you know. Do they do any vaccinations. What's your recommendation?” that kind of thing. And so that's, again, that's kind of more personal circumstance. Yeah. Rather than thinking that they not need it or anything like that. Yeah. Yeah. So it was something that sort of...

Timothy Price: If I'm understanding correctly, it sounds like it was something that just sort of happened, rather than a decision that you made.

Participant 01: Pretty much, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Timothy Price: Okay, so again, again, we moved right into my next question here. So the question is, How important was it to you that your child not received the flu vaccine this year?

Participant 01: Oh no, not important at all like, it's not something that I would be like, "Oh no, they can't have it". No, not at all. I would I would, I would ask, I would ask my GP and say, "Is it recommended. What's the best thing to do" and things like that. And he, you know, discuss the fact that he doesn't currently have any underlying health conditions. Versus, obviously, you know, discussing the other side of that and the and the fact that my older one does have those underlying health conditions and what their advice, what their advice would be either way and then I would make a decision from that.

Timothy Price: Absolutely. All right, that's great. Thank you. Um, so my last few questions are sort of more general, they are just to help me learn about your thoughts around vaccination as a whole. We've talked about that a little bit. So maybe a little bit repetitive and I apologize for that.

Participant 01: That’s okay

Timothy Price: So has [SON] received any of the other like recommended vaccinations for-

Participant 01: Every single one. Except for chickenpox, because I think you have to go private for that.

Timothy Price: I see, okay, but like all all of the normal-

Participant 01: All of the normal routine ones that they get, they've had. they've had them. And they've had on schedule in, in the way that it's set out in this country.

Timothy Price: Sure, yeah. Um, so can you, with the decision to have your children vaccinated fully on schedule. Was that something that you talked to your their GP about was it. How did you decide that they should have those vaccinations.

Participant 01: To me it wasn't even something that needed to be decided or discussed. The proof of vaccine is, is shown across the world. I wasn't, it wasn't even something that would have crossed my mind to, to even think of it as a decision, if that makes any sense yes. Just, you just do it.

Timothy Price: No, that that makes perfect sense to me. I completely understand what you're saying.

Participant 01: Yeah.

Timothy Price: My next question, have you personally had the flu vaccine this year?

Participant 01: Yes, because I only had my spleen, out, in. Oh. In fact, it might have been last at the very end of last year. Ah, I can't remember the exact date. I had my spleen out in February and it was at least six weeks before that, might have been at the very end of last year.

Timothy Price: Sure. So it was sort of like, it sounds like that may have been, was it in preparation for the procedure?

Participant 01: Yeah, pretty much. I had, I didn't just have the flu vaccine. I had a bunch of other ones to make sure that they were all up to date as well in preparation for that operation.

Timothy Price: Yeah. And so in years past, you typically get the flu vaccine or was this sort of, you know, was it an unusual situation because you're going to have this procedure?

Participant 01: It was an unusual situation. And I think because of the health condition I have I probably would have been a candidate for having the flu vaccination, but It wasn't something that I necessarily felt like I needed. if I did have a cold symptoms or the flu or anything like that I tended just to kind of have it one of those things where, well I'll cross that- [Participant is speaking to their child]

Uh, Um, I'm sorry where was I going with that?

Timothy Price: No, that's, that's totally fine, you were saying about how it is something you know, you were saying it isn't a priority, something that if you started feeling ill you would deal with it then.

Participant 01: Yeah. And yeah, and if if it being something whereby I felt... majorly affected by it I would have possibly gone to my GP and spoken about it and things like that. I, I, it's I don't feel like I was particularly in more affected by it, than the average person and that was why I kind of didn't see it as priority. However, now that I've had my spleen out I will be getting it! [Laughter]

Timothy Price: Yeah. So, do you know anybody who has gotten seriously ill because of the flu or had a child, you know, maybe a friend who has children, that has had one of their children get seriously ill because of the flu?

Participant 01: Not personally, no.

Timothy Price: So that concludes my questions. Is there anything else that you want to say about the flu or the flu vaccine or vaccination in general really just anything that I didn't ask that you'd like to speak to this is sort of your time to say anything else that you think I should hear.

Participant 01: I don't think I've kind of pretty much covered everything that I would want to say, yeah.