Flu Vaccine Recommended for All Children
February 28, 2008
Flu Vaccine Recommended for All Children
 
An advisory committee that recommends immunizations for children voted yesterday that all children 6 months to 18 years of age should have annual vaccinations for influenza. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said the recommendation for influenza vaccinations should take effect “as soon as feasible, but no later than the 2009-2010 influenza season,” with providers urged to begin offering the vaccinations in the upcoming 2008-2009 flu season. “The new recommendation will help parents understand that all children can benefit from vaccination and further encourages providers to start vaccination of children through age 18 next year,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ACIP noted that new data from a vaccine efficacy study show that children younger than 9 years of age who receive flu shots for the first time should have two doses. Recommendations by the ACIP become recommendations of the CDC once they are accepted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.