Flu Vaccine Reduced Risk of ICU Admission for Children by 74 Percent says Study

The results of a recent CDC study showed that receiving the Flu Vaccine reduced the risk for children being admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU) for the Flu by a dramatic seventy-four percent. The results of the study were published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

This is the first such study to estimate the effectiveness of getting vaccinated and its corresponding relationship to flu admissions to pediatric intensive care units (PICU).

According to the CDC, this data “illustrates the important protection flu vaccine can provide to children against more serious flu outcomes.”

The study was based on information from the medical records of 216 children age 6 months through 17 years admitted to 21 PICUs in the United States during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 flu seasons. It was discovered that flu vaccination reduced a child’s risk of ending up in the pediatric intensive care unit for flu by an estimated 74 percent. These findings show that while vaccination may not always prevent flu illness, it protects against more serious outcomes.

“These study results underscore the importance of an annual flu vaccination, which can keep your child from ending up in the intensive care unit,” said Dr. Alicia Fry, a medical officer in CDC’s Influenza Division. “It is extremely important that all children – especially children at high risk of flu complications – are protected from what can be a life-threatening illness.”

The CDC recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older and especially for children at high risk of serious flu-related complications. The agency points out that children under the age of five, as well as all children who suffer from chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes or developmental delays, are at high risk of serious flu complications.