Kids who died from flu last season: Most skipped vaccine
Maggie Fox NBC News
57 minutes ago
Half of Americans are still failing to get vaccinated against influenza, even though it kills thousands every year, health experts said Thursday. But they've got plenty of scare stories to help persuade people think perfectly healthy 8-year-old boys dying in the intensive care unit, or pregnant women gasping for breath as they deliver premature babies.
Flu killed
more than 100 kids last season, and 90 percent of them had not been vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
But theres progress: now, 90 percent of doctors and nurses have been vaccinated against the virus, which protects them and their patients from flu. Policies
requiring vaccination as a
condition of employment have helped get the numbers this high.
Only a third of young and middle-aged adults have been vaccinated, and that was a
big mistake last year, says Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University. Flu hit young and middle-aged adults hard last year and just over 100 children died, he told a briefing sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. There is simply no reason to take the risk.
Everyone over the age of 6 months should get vaccinated against flu every year, the CDC says. This year, 150 million doses will be available.
Influenza vaccines are safe, plentiful and we have more vaccine options than ever beforeat least one is right for everyone, Schaffner said. People should not wait to get vaccinated if their first choice is not available." Among the vaccine options are the traditional flu shot, a nasal spray vaccine, an intradermal vaccine given with a much smaller needle, a high-dose vaccine for people age 65 and older and an egg-free vaccine. more at link:
http://www.today.com/parents/kids-who-died-flu-last-season-most-skipped-vaccine-1D80157067