Push to Vaccinate Kids

There's more of a push to vaccinate kids. Here's the latest:

FROM ABC: The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated the childhood vaccination schedule. A yearly flu shot is now recommended for all children aged six months and older, and the Academy is now calling for a second dose of the rotavirus vaccine to protect children against the leading cause of severe diarrhea.

The Academy also published a special article in response to concerns from parents about the safety of vaccines. It says that parents should not delay vaccinations or withhold vaccines from their children.

A large study previously found no additional health risks for children who received vaccines. Children who don't receive vaccines on schedule are at an increased risk for catching infectious diseases.

Young children who aren't vaccinated can also suffer severe injuries and even death. Before the pneumococcal vaccine became part of the schedule in 2000, there were an average of 200 deaths of children under five, every year in the US.

Source: Published in Pediatrics, the Journal of the American Academy of
Pediatrics.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Ineffective Flu Shot?

Did you give your kids the flu shot? It may have been all for nothing. I often wonder if the strain of flu in the shot is the right one. There are a lot of strains. Several doctors I have interviewed have said when referring to immunization shots you have to look at the risks versus the benefits. Most doctors believe the risks outweigh the benefits when it comes to childhood immunization shots, but some of them are not as adament about the flu shot. I found the following article on MSNBC saying this year the flu shot may not be as effective as you think.

The influenza vaccine given to Americans may not protect as well as expected, U.S. health officials said as the number of flu cases increase nationwide.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said slightly more than half of the influenza virus strains reported to its surveillance system are not good matches against the strains included in this flu season’s vaccine.

The number of states reporting widespread flu activity jumped to 31 last week compared with 11 the week before, the CDC said. But Dr. Joe Bresee of the CDC’s influenza division said there are no indications this flu season is worse than usual.

“Seasonal flu activity was slow to start this year but has increased sharply in recent weeks,” Bresee told reporters.

One measure officials use to gauge the severity of the season is the number of flu-related child deaths. Bresee said the CDC has heard of six U.S. children who have died from the flu, a relatively low number compared with recent years.

Flu viruses mutate and change all the time, so every year a different vaccine is created as officials predict which particular strains will circulate.

The vaccine is designed to protect against three influenza strains — two from Type A, an H1N1 and an H3N2 version, and one for Type B.

Bresee said about 30 percent of the overall strains of influenza in the United States may be a Type A strain that emerged in Australia called H3N2 A/Brisbane. It emerged too late to be included in the flu vaccine offered in the United States beginning in September and October.

The Type B strain chosen for this year’s vaccine also was not a good match for most of the B virus strains seen in the United States this flu season, Bresee said.

“While a less-than-ideal virus match between the viruses in the vaccine and those circulating viruses can reduce vaccine effectiveness, we know from past influenza studies that the vaccine can still protect enough to make illness milder or prevent flu-related complications,” Bresee said.

Bresee noted that decisions on the composition of the annual vaccine are made about nine months before it is made available to the public in the fall, and it is sometimes hard to know that far in advance which strains will circulate.

Flu vaccines take months to make.Bresee also said some resistance is being reported to the antiviral drug Tamiflu, made by Switzerland’s Roche Holding AG and Gilead Sciences Inc of the United States. Of the viruses tested in CDC flu labs, 4.5 percent are resistant to the drug, Bresee said.

Influenza kills an estimated 36,000 Americans in an average year, and puts 200,000 into the hospital, the CDC said.

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NewsAnchorMom Jen