Concerns Raised as Too Few U.S. Children Have Received Flu Vaccine

THURSDAY, Dec. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In new data posted this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 37 percent of children had received the influenza vaccine as of Nov. 30 — down from 43 percent at the same time last year. This decline is raising concerns among pediatricians, who are already seeing an uptick in flu cases this season.

“I always have a little bit of dread when flu season is around the corner,” Kristina Bryant, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Norton Children”s in Louisville, Kentucky, told NBC News. “Children experience illness and suffering during flu season, and much of that can be prevented through vaccination.”

For the entirety of the last flu season, just over half of children — 55 percent — received the flu shot, marking the lowest rate in 12 years.

Alicia Budd, head of the CDC domestic influenza surveillance team, told NBC News that while flu vaccination rates were slowly increasing before the pandemic, they have not rebounded since. This year”s flu shot covers the two most common strains of the virus circulating, H1N1 and H3N2. Budd emphasized that any strain of the flu can be dangerous for children.

The CDC continues to recommend that everyone aged 6 months and older get a flu shot every year.

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