Annual flu vaccinations should be given to all children ages 6 months through 18 years, a federal advisory panel said Wednesday.
The panel's decision represents a call for roughly 30 million more kids to get vaccinated. If heeded, it would prompt one of the largest expansions in flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panel's advice is routinely adopted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues vaccination guidelines to doctors and hospitals.
The panel -- and the CDC -- have in the past recommended flu shots for people considered to be at highest risk of death or serious illness from the flu. That list includes children ages 6 months to 5 years of age, adults 50 and older, and people with weakened immune systems.
Kids ages 5 to 18 get flu at higher rates than other age groups, but they don't tend to get as sick from it. Of the 36,000 estimated annual deaths attributed to the flu, only 25 to 50 occur in children in that age bracket, CDC officials said.
But kids who stay home sick from school cause parents to stay home, so reducing the illness in this group should cut down days of lost work in their parents and adult contacts, some experts said.
Experts believe the recommendation may also reduce illness in adults and the elderly, although studies haven't clearly established that will happen.
Labels: CDC, Flu Shots, Kids
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:14 AM
