More Child Flu Shots, Fewer Doctor Visits

Vaccinating even half of U.S. children could eliminate an estimated 650,000 doctor’s office visits and 2,250 hospitalizations in a year, a study found.

We found that only 12 to 42 children need to be vaccinated to directly prevent one outpatient visit for the flu, study first author Dr. Elizabeth Lewis said in a statement. And since the vaccination of some children in a preschool or daycare setting also reduces the chance that unvaccinated children would be exposed to the flu virus, the effects of vaccination are probably even greater than we found.

Lewis, now with Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, worked on the study while at Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children between ages 6 months and 5 years receive an annual flu shot. Research has shown that flu epidemics spread to adults from younger children.

Children should be vaccinated to protect their own health, the health of grandparents and other family members, and the health of other children they are around, said Lewis.

The findings are published in the journal Pediatrics.