ages children should get shots
A: Children with certain health problems may need to avoid some vaccines or get them later. In most cases, children with cancer, those taking oral or injected steroids for lung or kidney conditions, or those who have problems with their immune systems should not get vaccines that are made with live viruses. To protect these children it is very important for others to be vaccinated. For children with a recent history of nerve disorders, the pertussis part of the DTaP vaccine may need to be delayed. And with the latest flu shot recommendations, experts now advise flu vaccines for everyone, including healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 49, so basically everyone over the age of 6 months should get a flu vaccine each year. Flu Shots - Other Recommendations However, call your child's doctor right away if your child has. 1  A very high fever (>103°F) and is younger than 3 months. 2  Hives or black-and-blue areas at places where the injection was not given. 3  A seizure. So clearly, all children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years should get a flu vaccine each year, but that is especially important for high-risk groups, including: children age 6 to 59 months pregnant women and women who will be pregnant during flu season (usually October to March) Continued changes to the flu vaccine recommendations have continued over the years, including: 1  encouraging vaccination of healthy children between the ages of 6 and 23 months when feasible for the 2002-03 flu season. 2  that vaccination of healthy children between 6 and 23 months became a formal recommendation for the 2004-05 flu season. Remember, the latest recommendations are that everyone should get a flu vaccine. So clearly, all children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years should get a flu vaccine each year, but that is especially important for high-risk groups, including: 1  children age 6 to 59 months. 2  pregnant women and women who will be pregnant during flu season (usually October to March) 3  adults age 50 years and older. Remember, the latest recommendations are that everyone should get a flu vaccine. So clearly, all children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years should get a flu vaccine each year, but that is especially important for high-risk groups, including: children age 6 to 59 months. Q: Do vaccines even work? It seems like most of the people who get these diseases have been vaccinated. A: Yes. Vaccines work very well. Millions of children have been protected against serious illnesses because they were immunized. Most childhood vaccines are 90% to 99% effective in preventing disease. When a large majority of children have been vaccinated, it is expected that most who get the disease will have been vaccinated. While we now have a universal flu vaccine recommendation, where everyone who is at least six months old is supposed to get a flu vaccine each year, just 11 years ago, in 2001, flu vaccines were only targeted to children and adults in high-risk groups. For example, if you have a 3-year-old and a 10-year-old, they should both get a flu vaccine. Or, if one child in your family has asthma, everyone in your house should get a flu vaccine. The child with asthma is in a high-risk group, and everyone else is a household contact.
All children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years should get a flu vaccine each year.