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2009

Flu Shot Now Recommended for Kids Up to Age 2

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is encouraging all healthy children, ages 6 months to 2 years old, to get a flu shot. The AAP is encouraging parents, siblings, and caretakers of children to receive a flu shot, as well. Previously, only children considered "at-risk" were encouraged to be vaccinated.

This policy is in line with new government recommendations and is based on new data that shows young children with hospitalization rates from the flu similar to those for adults over the age of 50. In fact, the number of hospitalization for children under 2 years of age is in the tens of thousands, according to Dr. Cody Meissner, an AAP member who was on the committee that wrote the new policy.

Although the flu vaccine isn't licensed for babies under 6 months of age, they also are at risk for hospitalization, which makes it extremely important for family and caretakers to get a flu vaccine so that they do not pass the virus to children in their care, according to Dr. Meissner, who is chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.

Flu season runs from November to April, so it's imperative to talk with your child's pediatrician about the flu shot as soon as possible. Young children should get two flu shots that are given four weeks apart to make sure they are protected. One shot yearly is recommended for older children, who, more than likely, have been exposed to the flu virus before and have developed some level of immunity, Dr. Meissner says.