Pediatricians: FluMist Should Not Be Used In Any Setting For Kids This Year
Doctors are warning that the shot is the only way to go for the flu vaccine this season, after scientists found FluMist is only 3 percent effective in children aged 2 through 17.
Los Angeles Times:
Sorry, Kids, Your Pediatrician Wants You To Get A Flu Shot This Year
Sorry, little one, this news is going to pinch for a couple of seconds: This year’s flu vaccine will probably have to come in the form of a shot, not those two little puffs up the nose. Because when it comes to preventing the misery of the flu, that nasal spray vaccine has proved to be a bit of a flop. No, the adults don’t really know why. But when they went back over the past three flu seasons and did the math, they found that kids between 2 and 17 who got the vaccine made with live attenuated virus — the puff up the nose — were two-and-a half times more likely than children who got the shot (which uses an inactivated virus to teach the immune system) to get sick with the flu. (Healy, 9/6)
The Associated Press:
Sorry Kids: Docs Urge Flu Shots, Not Nasal Spray, This Year
"We're saying, 'Shoot, now we've got to do the poke again,'" said Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson of Seattle Children's Hospital and the AAP. But, "we know the flu vaccine is the best shot at prevention and protecting those who are vulnerable from serious and even life-threatening infections from influenza." (Neergaard, 9/7)
NPR:
FluMist Gets Thumbs Down From Pediatricians
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices found that FluMist was only 3 percent effective in children aged 2 through 17 during the previous flu season. "This 3 percent estimate means no protective benefit could be measured," the committee reported. In comparison, injected flu vaccines protected about two-thirds of the children in this age group. The CDC officially accepted that committee's recommendation on August 26, but didn't go out of its way to announce the policy. It posted its recommendation on a website. (Harris, 9/6)
