The UPCOMING flu season could be the start of something big.
Not "big" as in the severity of flu. By all accounts, this year's influenza vaccine should be more successful than last year's only partly effective one. And it's too early to tell whether the flu this season will be especially widespread.
We mean "big" in terms of a grand, new experiment in the nation's approach to preventing flu outbreaks -- a push to vaccinate children, who are not only hospitalized at high rates because of the flu but appear to be efficient disease carriers as well.
Over the last decade, public health officials have been expanding the recommendations on which age groups of children should get the flu shot. This year marks the first time in history that flu vaccination is recommended for everyone age 18 and younger, with the exception of infants 6 months old and younger.
The main question is: Will parents go for it?
Although most adults have been included in flu vaccine recommendations for years -- and still are -- the emphasis on stopping the spread of flu has clearly shifted from reducing deaths in the elderly to stopping the spread of flu among kids.
Physicians hope that vaccinating kids en masse will not only spare thousands of them from the aches and pains of flu, missed school days and hospitalizations, but also will hinder the spread of illness throughout the rest of society -- parents, grandparents, baby-sitters, neighbors, teachers, coaches, office workers, healthcare personnel, bus drivers, and on and on.
"This is the concept of herd immunity," says Dr. Stephen C. Aronoff, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Temple University in Philadelphia. "The more people you vaccinate, the less likely you are to see infection in people who are not vaccinated."
For example, a vaccinated child won't pick up the virus at school, bring it home to Mom and Dad, who then infect their co-workers, clients and any others with whom they come in contact, including elderly people. Children, because of their biology and their not-too-great hygiene, are germy little beings who have the potential to spread flu far and wide.
Flu vaccination guidelines made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have undergone major revisions over the last 20 years as more evidence points to children as carriers of the disease. In 2004, a recommendation was added that babies age 6 months to 23 months be vaccinated. In 2005, the CDC tacked on vaccination for age 24 to 59 months (with the exception of some children with illnesses such as reactive breathing disorders).
