According to Epidemiologists, one-third of children use FluMist.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this summer it will not recommend the nasal spray form of the flu vaccine because it has been ineffective.
And this year, the CDC says the nasal spray will be less effective.
The nasal spray vaccine effectiveness among children 2 through 17 years was 3 percent in 2015-16, compared with 63 percent for the injected vaccine, according to the AAP.
Kids will be able to avoid the sting this year, but Alberta Health is not recommending the FluMist vaccine as the preferred product, following recommendations set out by Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Influenza.
Experts aren’t sure why the nasal spray vaccine has performed so poorly.
“They looked through about a million soldiers every year”, he said, and saw that both the flu injection and the nasal spray worked – except in people who had received the vaccine the year before. When it first appeared in the early 2000s, it was considered to be more efficient against viruses than proper flu vaccines.
According to the CDC, studies have shown the Flu Mist hasn’t protected against certain influenza strains as well as regular flu shots in recent years. But the many hospitalizations and even fatalities resulting from the swine flu frightened people.
Though it’s not 100% effective Dr. Garlove says you should still get the vaccine with flu season right around the corner. FluMist is no longer available at most pediatric offices in the area but doctors say they hope that doesn’t deter people from getting vaccinated.
The CDC has recommended an annual influenza vaccination for everyone ages 6 months and older since February 24, 2010.
“If one person has the flu, and the rest around us had the vaccine, then it wouldn’t spread”, Janz-Navarro said.
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“Children, especially young children, transmit viruses very easily to each other and to adults”, Dr. Sabella says. “Protecting children from influenza with the vaccine, early in the respiratory season, is the best protection pediatricians and parents can provide”.
