School-Age Children Added to Flu Vaccination List
May 19, 2001
According to studies conducted in Japan, vaccinating school-age children protects the elderly from influenza. School-age children make up the largest group of people that spread the disease. During the mid-1970s to the 1980s, the Japanese government vaccinated all children in school. During this period, the death rate associated with influenza dropped by almost 43,000 people a year. After the program was discontinued, the death rate returned to its higher level, claiming many elderly victims.
In the United States, some doctors believe that a similar program could help control the disease. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults over the age of 50 and any patients suffering from chronic medical problems, such as asthma, be given an annual flu vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering adding children under the age of five to the list of patients who should be given the flu vaccine. Some medical health professionals worry that this will create a problem for medical centers that could be bombarded with millions of patients seeking the vaccine.
In addition, pharmaceutical companies would need to increase the production of the vaccines. This could be a problem, as pharmaceutical companies only have six months to prepare the vaccines once it is determined which strains are prevailing during the flu season.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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