Parents have been susceptible for years about the effects of the flu vaccine, however a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has discovered that the vaccine can reduce a child's risk of "developing a life-threatening influenza infection."
According to the CDC, the flu vaccinations may not always protect an individual from the virus but it reduces a child's risk of being hospitalized by 74 percent. The vaccine reportedly protects the recipients from the "more serious complications of infection."
"These study results underscore the importance of an annual flu vaccination, which can keep your child from ending up in the intensive care unit," Dr. Alicia Fry, a medical officer in CDC's Influenza Division, said reported by FOX News. "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 information analyzed within the report were from the recorded flu seasons of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. During the two seasons, researchers studied the medical records of 216 children from 21 pediatric intensive care units throughout the country. The children aged between six months to 17-years-old.
The study reported that a total of 44 children tested positive for influenza and 55 percent were infected with a life-threatening case of the virus, but also had at least one underlying chronic health condition, which would decrease the vaccines effectiveness.
The remaining 172 tested negative for influenza. Researchers also looked at 93 children from the community who were not hospitalized during those flu seasons, as "community controls."
According to the CDC, children who were vaccinated decreased their chances of being admitted into the ICU by 74 percent. However, among the kids hospitalized for the flu only 18 percent had been fully vaccinated against the flu, which is considered a very low number. In the community controls group 51 percent had received flu shots.
CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccination for every child aged six months and older. Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, muscle aches, headaches and diarrhea and vomiting.
This study was published in the issue of Journal of Infectious Diseases.
