| ■ New Immunization Recommendations for Children Unveiled | 2009.01.16 |
| Updated immunization recommendations for flu shots for children have been unveiled by three leading U.S. health groups. The revised 2009 schedule calls for routine annual flu shots for children aged 6 months through 18 years. The previous recommendation applied to children from 6 months to 59 months of age. The new recommendation increases the number of eligible children by approximately 30 million. "Vaccination is the best protection against influenza," Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, said in a news release issued Wednesday. "This important update to the childhood immunization schedule helps us extend protection from influenza and its complications to all children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years, not just those at highest risk of complications from influenza." |