Thursday, February 15, 2007

Flu vaccine option for those with needle phobia may be more effective

By ABC News

Last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control officially recommended that children aged 6 months to 5 years get the annual flu vaccine.

Studies have shown that young children are hospitalized for flu just as often as the elderly.

Now new research may offer a better, more kid-friendly solution to the flu shot: an inhaled flu vaccine.

The nasal vaccine, marketed as FluMist, is already available to adults and kids older than 5 years. Now a new study shows it's safe and effective for babies and very young children.

Doctors vaccinated more than 8,000 babies and young kids and found that FluMist was better at protecting children from the flu than the usual shot.

Kids who got the FluMist vaccine were half as likely to get the flu. Plus, with no needle, FluMist is an attractive alternative for parents of young children.

The study did find a higher risk of hospitalization in infants under 1 year , so the authors conclude FluMist should be limited to children 1 year and older.

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