Flu Vaccine Found Safe, Effective for Very Young

Study indicates doctors should consider flu shots before age 1

26 November 2010

A new study shows that the inactivated flu vaccine that's available for younger children is effective, even for those under two years old.

One of the first studies of the effectiveness of flu vaccine in young children suggests that vaccination should be considered for youngsters before they reach their first birthday.

Older adults are considered to have the greatest chance of dying from the flu, but young children are also very much at risk. Not so much of dying, but certainly of getting sick with complications that can require a hospital stay.

Only a few countries currently vaccinate young children against the flu. The United States is one. Another is Finland, where Dr. Terho Heikkinen of the University of Turku led this new study.

"The problem has been that there has been no clear data on the efficacy of the vaccine in the youngest children," says Heikkinen. "And therefore, many countries, although they think that influenza is an important illness in young children, they have been reluctant in moving forward in vaccination until some convincing data are available."

Heikkinen and his colleagues set out to provide that convincing data.

Children in their study ranged from nine months to just over three years old. As a whole, those who were vaccinated were less likely to get the flu. That was especially true among the youngest, those under age two. In that group, 12 percent of those who did not get a vaccination came down with flu, but only four percent who were fully vaccinated got the disease.