FLU SHOTS RECOMMENDED TO AGE 18

(09/29/2008)

Health officials hope raising the recommended age for children to get flu shots will help stem the tide of the virus during the upcoming season. Shots for other risk groups is the same. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has raised the recommended age for flu shots to children from the age of 6 months to 18 years old. Previously, the age recommendation had been 6 months to 5 years old. "A school setting is probably the most common place for transmission of influenza virus from person to person," said Jeff Neccuzi, director of the immunization program for the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health in Charleston. Getting enough additional doses of vaccine to cover the added ages does not concern health officials. Last year, a record-breaking number of flu shots were manufactured — about 113 million doses in the United States — and this year, a projected 130 million to 145 million will be made.

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