Kids can get 3- or 4-strain flu vaccine
September 12, 2013
With a new version of the flu vaccine that protects against four virus strains coming out this fall, in addition to the usual three-strain formula, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids should get either one.

"We don't have a preference," Dr. Michael Brady, chairperson of the AAP's Committee on Infectious Diseases, said.

But while the new four-strain vaccine is rolling out, if supplies are limited in some areas, parents should not delay getting their kids immunized to hold out for one version of the vaccine or another, the committee emphasized.

Currently, both the AAP and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that everyone six months old and older get vaccinated against the flu.

The CDC estimates that about 20,000 children younger than five years old are hospitalized every year because of complications from the flu.

Last flu season, 158 children's deaths were tied to the virus.

Previously, flu vaccines only protected against three strains of the flu - two strains of influenza A, which usually causes more cases of flu and more severe illness each year, and one strain of influenza B, which is less common but also circulates in multiple versions.

This year, some vaccines will include protection against a second strain of influenza B.

Still, the AAP doesn't recommend that parents wait for the four-strain vaccine to become available in their area.

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Posted by Ken at 4:50 AM