Children of any age with high-risk medical conditions should be vaccinated against the influenza (flu) virus every year. For high-risk medical conditions, click here. Healthy children 6 months to 18 years of age are also at risk from the flu and should get the flu vaccine annually. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its recommendation for annual flu vaccination to include all children ages 6 months to 18 years.

Current flu vaccines are not approved in children under 6 months of age (who are especially vulnerable to the flu). However, immunization of persons with whom these infants have close contact (such as family and household members) may provide some protection against the flu in these children and is strongly recommended.

Persons who have close contact with children with high-risk medical conditions or with healthy children ages 6 to 59 months should also receive the flu vaccine.

All children and household contacts of children 6 months to 59 months of age (especially household contacts of infants younger than 6 months) should be immunized against the flu in October or early November. PAMF patients in these groups may receive flu vaccine from their primary care doctors or at one of PAMF’s early flu shot clinics.

PAMF will offer thimerosal-free seasonal flu vaccine at all locations for two patient groups (per a California state law effective July 1, 2006): children under 36 months of age and pregnant women. For patients not in these groups, thimerosal-free vaccine will be available at some PAMF locations. A thimerosal-free vaccine given by nose (live attenuated intranasal vaccine) is also available for healthy children ages 2 to 18 years of age at an office visit with their medical provider.

Parents should note that all children 6 months to 8 years of age who are receiving the flu vaccine for the first time this season (2009-2010) will need two flu immunizations approximately one month apart to be considered fully immunized against the flu. Children 8 years of age or younger who got their first flu vaccination last season (2008-2009) and had only one vaccination will also need two vaccinations this season.

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