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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Now Recommends Flu Shots for Infants

Federal agency also continues to target seniors and those with chronic illnesses

The flu season is almost here. Generally speaking, the virus is particularly prone to strike from December through February, so the best time to get a flu shot is during October or November. People for whom the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) particularly recommend flu shots include adults over the age of 65 and individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

Beginning this season, along with its longstanding recommendations about what groups of people should especially get flu shots (detailed below), the Atlanta, Georgia-based CDC, which is the lead federal agency responsible for protecting the health and safety of people in the United States, also especially recommends that infant children ages 6 months to 23 months, and anyone who cares for and/or lives with them, receive a flu shot.

CDC bases its recommendation on the results of studies published in 2000 by the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Pediatrics, which concluded that otherwise healthy children under 2 years of age are more likely to be hospitalized for serious flu complications than are older, healthy children. (The Food and Drug Administration has not approved the influenza vaccine for use in children less than 6 months old.)

CDC also notes that children getting a flu shot for the first time will need two doses given 30 days apart. The first dose primes the immune system; the second provides immune protection. Therefore, parents are urged to begin the process sooner rather than later.

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also recommends that people in the following categories get flu shots for the coming season.

People at High Risk for Complications from Flu

• People 65 years and older
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house those with long-term illnesses
• Adults and children 6 months and older who have chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma
• Adults and children 6 months and older who needed regular medical care or were in a hospital during the previous year because of a metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS])
• Children between 6 months and 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (If given aspirin while they have the flu, they are at risk of a severe illness called Reye syndrome.)
• Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season

People 50 to 64 Years Old 
Nearly one-third of people 50 to 64 years of age in the United States have one or more medical conditions that place them at increased risk for serious complications from the flu. For that reason, since 2000, it has been recommended that all people 50 to 64 years of age get vaccinated each year to increase the number of high-risk 50 to 64 year olds who are protected against the flu.

People Who Can Give the Flu to Others at High Risk for Complications

• Anyone (including children 6 months and older) who lives with someone in a high-risk group
• Doctors, nurses, and other employees in hospitals and doctors’ offices, including emergency response services
• People who work in nursing homes and long-term care facilities and have contact with patients or residents
• People who work in assisted living and other residences for people in high-risk groups
• Anyone who provides care to those in high-risk groups (including children under the age of 2)

Pregnancy, Flu and Flu Vaccine
Pregnant women are at increased risk for complications from the flu and are more likely to be hospitalized from flu complications than non-pregnant women of the same age. Because of the increased risk for flu-related complications, the ACIP recommends that women who will be pregnant during the flu season get vaccinated. One study conducted among more than 2,000 pregnant women vaccinated at varying stages of pregnancy found no adverse fetal events associated with vaccination with the inactivated vaccine. Thus, the ACIP recommends that vaccination with the inactivated vaccine can take place in any trimester.

Vaccine Information for Other Groups 
Anyone in the general population who wants to lower their chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated.

People who provide essential community services (such as police officers and firefighters) should consider getting vaccinated to minimize disruption of key public-service activities during flu outbreaks.

Students who live in dormitories or anyone who lives in an institutional setting should be encouraged to get vaccinated because crowded living conditions may mean that the flu can spread more easily.

It is safe for breastfeeding women to get vaccinated. Antibodies against influenza viruses are passed in breast milk and may offer additional protection against the flu for infants.

Who Should Not Get a Flu Vaccine Before Talking with Their Doctor

• People who are have a severe allergy to hens’ eggs
• People who have had a severe reaction to a flu vaccine in the past
• People who previously developed Guillain-Barré syndrome in the six weeks after getting a flu shot
• Children less than 6 months of age