Requiring kids who enter preschool or day care to get flu vaccination could apparently reduce the number of flu-related hospitalization in young kids.
In a study "Impact of Requiring Influenza Vaccination for Children in Licensed Child Care or Preschool Programs - Connecticut, 2012-13 Influenza Season" published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) March 7, researchers evaluated the effects of a 2010 Connecticut law that required all children between six and 59-months old to receive at least one doze of influenza vaccine every year starting to attend a licensed child care program.
The researchers used multiple surveys including the National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) covering the 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 flu seasons, and the 2012-2013 National Immunization Survey to compare Connecticut's and the national flu vaccination coverage before and after Connecticut's vaccination regulation was implemented.
The researchers found that vaccination rates among children between six and 59-months old in Connecticut increased after the regulation took effect from 67.8 percent during the 2009-2010 influenza season to 84.1 percent during the 2012-13 flu season.
Of the 11 areas the researchers evaluated, Connecticut also showed the biggest decline in the number of flu-related hospitalization in children 4-years old and younger with a drop of 12 percent from the 2007-2008 influenza season to 2012-2013 flu season. The researchers also reported that the rate of influenza-related hospitalization in children 4-years old and below was lower in Connecticut than in all other areas they have surveyed.
"We found that of all the influenza hospitalizations in Connecticut, many fewer were in children 1 to 4 years old after the requirement than before the requirement," study author James Hadler, a clinical professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health told HealthDay. "That difference, we feel, has resulted in children attending daycare being better protected against influenza and its severe complications."
Hadler also said that vaccinating the children does not just protect them from flu but also prevent them from spreading it to others.
"Where there are a lot of susceptible people in a small space, like daycare centers and preschools, you have the potential for easy spread of influenza," Hadler said. "The kids get it; they give it to each other; they all take it home to their families. The families get it and spread it to other people."
