Flu vaccine reduces a child’s risk of flu-related intensive care hospitalization

A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published on the Journal of Infectious Diseases, showed that flu vaccine reduced children’s risk of intensive care unit flu admission by 74 percent. The authors of the study analyzed the medical records of children, aged between 6 months and 17 years, hospitalized during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 flu seasons with acute severe respiratory illness. Among them, those who tested positive for influenza were compared with those who tested negative (hospitalized controls) and those without an influenza-related hospitalization bur from the same geographic region (community controls).

The results showed that only 18 percent of flu cases were fully vaccinated and that these children were 74 percent less likely to be admitted to a pediatric intensive care units for influenza. The study also reported that more than half of the children had at least one underlying chronic medical condition, meaning they had a higher risk of incurring into serious flu-related complications.