Last updated on August 24th, 2019 at 12:26 pm
If you have any reluctance about having your children receive their annual flu vaccination, look at the chart below:
Children die from the flu virus–282 innocent children died from the flu in 2009-10, 122 in 2010-11, 34 in 2011-12. So far this flu season, 6 children have died. The number varies from highs during pandemic years, such as in 2009-10, and lower in non-pandemic years.
The CDC predicts that 2012-13 could be serious, and the current flu vaccine protects against 3 subtypes of the seasonal flu in North America:
- A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like
- A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like
- B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like
There are no valid excuses for avoiding a flu vaccination. Just in case you believe the myths about the flu vaccine, they’re not true. The vaccine does not itself cause the flu. The vaccine is safe for pregnant women. And most of the other myths have been solidly debunked.
Get a flu vaccination for your kids. Because Vaccines Save Lives.
Key citations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2012-2013 Influenza Season Week 49 ending December 8, 2012.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Final estimates for 2009–10 Seasonal Influenza and Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccination Coverage – United States, August 2009 through May, 2010.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevention and control of influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)–United States, 2012-13 influenza season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012 Aug 17;61(32):613-8. PubMed PMID: 22895385.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Misconceptions about Seasonal Influenza and Influenza Vaccines.
Visit the Science-based Vaccine Search Engine.
