Expanding Flu Vaccinations to Older Children Reduces Emergency Visits for Flu-Like Illnesses by 34%

[salvorhardin]

Vaccinating children aged two to four years against seasonal influenza resulted in a 34% decline in flu-like illnesses, found a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Preschool-aged children have influenza infection rates of 25%-43%, higher than other age groups. Vaccinating healthy children can help prevent spread of infection in the home and the community.

In 2006/2007, the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices expanded its recommendations to give the seasonal flu vaccine to children beyond the current target group of 6 months to 23 months of age. However, Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization did not, allowing a comparison of vaccination practices between the two countries.

Researchers from the Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and McGill University and the Montreal Public Health Department in Montréal, Quebec evaluated the impact of the expanded US policy on influenza-related visits to the emergency department at the Children's Hospital Boston compared with Montreal Children's Hospital. They looked at visits to the emergency department in 2000/2001 through 2008/2009 at the two hospitals.

Of the 1,043,989 visits to the emergency departments of both hospitals for all causes, 114 657 were because of influenza-like illnesses. The researchers analyzed the visits associated with flu-like illnesses and found that "both hospitals had strong seasonal fluctuations in visits related to influenza-like illness in younger age groups, with more subtle seasonal patterns in older pediatric age groups and similar seasonal epidemic increases, declines and peak timing of the epidemic curve," write Drs. John Brownstein and Anne Hoen, Children's Hospital Boston, with coauthors.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110919121800.htm

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[kestrel91316]

2. Ahhh, nooooo!!! Vaccines are EVIL!!!1!!11!!! Those older kids are gonna

become autistic!!!!!

[salvorhardin]

3. That's an overall reduction of emergency room visits for older children of 8.9%

Not bad for a $25 injection, that's mostly paid for by insurance plans and totally paid for by Medicaid. That's a potential savings of tens of millions of dollars, not to mention hundreds of thousands of days of school that wouldn't be missed and the unsuffered pain and discomfort of the children.