With the recent media scare regarding several childhood fatalities from the flu, parents are naturally worried and are scrambling to get their kids a flu shot. In reality, however, for kids this flu season is not that much different from previous ones.
Should You Get the Flu Shot?
Flu Shot Recommendations – 2004
In past years the flu shot had just been recommended for infants with chronic heart, lung and immune diseases. It had also been “suggested” for healthy infants. The Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously this year that ALL infants 6 to 23 months, and their family members, should receive the flu shot. The Flu kills about 35,000 Americans each year, mostly elderly over 65. But these deaths do include some infants each year and the new plan is designed to prevent such deaths.
Just how common are flu deaths in infants? It is hard to say, because the Centers for Disease Control categorizes death from flu and pneumonia in the same group. So we don’t really know exactly how many infants died from the flu last year. Last year the media only reported several infant deaths from the flu.
Parents need to decide if they want to give their infant this extra shot each October or November (2 shots are required the first year it is given for it to work), or if they instead want to risk their child catching the flu, which in the vast majority of cases is troublesome but harmless.
Unfortunately, in the wake of this new recommendation for all healthy infants, there is a major shortage of vaccine this year. One company, that supplies about half of the U.S. Flu vaccine supply, had problems with the manufacturing and is unable to supply any doses for this year. This cuts the available doses from 100 million down to 50 million.
This makes it imperative that the shot is only given to infants, children, and adults who fall in a high risk category (anyone with chronic heart, lung, and immune diseases). The CDC now considers ALL infants age 6 to 23 months as high risk. But we are not so sure about this new policy.
In our office we will offer the flu shot to anyone in a high risk group who desires it, but we will not make it a routine shot for all infants and healthy children, even those age 6 to 23 months. We do not strongly recommend it.
Should You Give Your Child the Flu Shot?
Flu Shot Recommendations – 2003
With the recent media scare regarding several childhood fatalities from the flu, parents are naturally worried and are scrambling to get their kids a flu shot. In reality, however, for kids this flu season is not that much different from previous ones. There have been a few more tragic deaths from the flu early in the season compared to last year, and these deaths are being more widely publicized. This is leading to sudden panic among parents over an illness that has been around for generations. The truth is, for children, the flu has a fatality rate that is virtually zero. Millions of children catch the flu every year in the U.S., and of these millions there are only several deaths. These deaths are tragic, but they occur so rarely that parents shouldn’t live in fear of the flu. You could say that the chance of a child dying from the flu is "one in a million".
Is this year’s flu so much more dangerous than previous years? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that flu epidemics in Texas and Colorado, as well as other states across the country, are caused in part by a strain of the flu virus that tends to cause more deaths than some of the milder strains. Unfortunately, this strain was NOT covered in this year’s flu shot. Each year the flu virus changes slightly, a process called "drifting", so by the time the flu shot is developed for any given year, there are sometimes slightly different strains that have "drifted" into our population. The good news is that the flu vaccine protects against strains that are very similar to this year’s culprit, so some experts feel the vaccine is likely to offer some protection. So this year’s flu may be slightly more dangerous, but as stated above, fatalities are extremely rare.
So, should your child get the flu shot? The only people that are saying absolutely YES are the news media. The medical boards that decide vaccine policy are not saying that every child should go out and get a flu shot this year. The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ADIP - the board that decides vaccine policy for the U.S.) has just issued an official statement saying that starting NEXT YEAR (the 2004/2005 flu season) ALL babies ages 6 months to 23 months should get a flu shot. The Committee however, did not feel strongly enough to make this recommendation for THIS year, despite all the news hype and hysteria. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics (the board that decides health care policy for children) has not yet officially decided whether or not to even follow the ACIP’s recommendation for next year.
Furthermore, this policy is only going to apply to infants 6 months to 23 months. They are not making any recommendation for kids 2 years and older. The boards ARE saying that all kids CAN get the flu shot, but they haven’t said all kids SHOULD get the flu shot.
So, if the flu is as bad as the news media are making it out to be, why aren’t the medical boards that make policy advising that ALL parents should go out and get their kids the flu shot this year? Good question. I’m not on the board, so I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because, as medical professionals, they don’t live in fear of the flu. They know that for children the fatality rate is exceptionally low and don’t view it as a significant health risk to normal healthy kids.
So once again, should YOUR child get a flu shot? It’s really up to you and your doctor. There is no official medical recommendation that says yes, and the only upcoming medical recommendation for next year is for infants age 6 months to 23 months, NOT for older kids. It’s really a parent’s decision.
Personally, I give the flu shot to patients who ask for it, and to my patients with asthma or other chronic diseases, but I don’t offer or suggest it for healthy infants and children, simply because the medical boards haven’t made that recommendation yet.
It is officially recommended that all infants and children with chronic heart, lung and immune diseases get the flu shot. Also, adults over age 50 should also get the shot.
For infants and young children receiving the flu shot for the first time, a second shot is needed one month later for it to work well.
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