Flu Shots

During each winter's flu season, a flu outbreak appears. Each year there are two flu seasons because of the occurrence of influenza at differing times in the North and South Hemispheres. It’s often estimated that 36,000 men and women die every year from influenza and supplementary opportunistic illnesses and difficulties in the United States alone. Internationally, seasonal influenza takes the life of an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people each and every year. Most deaths in the developed world happen in adults age 65 and over. An evaluation at the NIAID division of the NIH in 2008 stated that "Seasonal influenza causes more than 200,000 hospitalizations and 41,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, and is the 7th leading reason for death in the United States." The financial expenses in the U.S. have been predicted at over $80 billion.

In Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (which advises the Public Health Agency of Canada) presently recommends that each person aged 2 to 64 years gets flu shots once a year, and that children between the age of six and 24 months, and their families, should be considered a key concern for the flu vaccine.

The amount of yearly influenza-related hospitalizations is many times the quantity of deaths. "The high cost of hospitalizing young children for influenza creates a significant economic burden in the United States, underscoring the importance of preventive flu shots for children and the people with whom they have regular contact..."

In the United States, the CDC suggests to clinicians that

In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting influenza can get flu shots. Vaccination is especially important for people at higher risk of serious influenza complications or people who live with or care for people at higher risk for serious complications.

Immunization in opposition to influenza is suggested for most people in high-risk groups who would be expected to experience problems from the flu. Precise recommendations for flu shots include all kids and teens, from six months to 18 years of age;

In expanding the new upper age limit to 18 years, the aim is to reduce both the time children and parents lose from visits to pediatricians and missing school and the need for antibiotics for complications...

In the event of contact with a pandemic influenza bug, seasonal flu shots may also present some resistance against both the H5N1-type (avian influenza) H5N1 infection and the 2009 flu pandemic (the H1N1 "swine flu.")

Injection of the vaccine through flu shots of school-age children has a clear defensive effect on the adults and elderly with whom the children are in contact. The guidelines in the U.S. are likely to soon cover all Americans except newborn babies and young toddlers.