The arrival of the cold comes very well to certain viruses, such as the flu, and therefore these days "we release season" for these latitudes. For some years now, the Spanish Association of Pediatrics publishes its recommendations in this regard for families. Specific, the AEP Vaccine Advisory Committee has just published its recommendations for flu vaccination in the 2015-16 campaign.
The document insists on the convenience of vaccinating certain children with a higher risk of complications in the case of suffering from the disease, as well as those who live with them, both children and adults.
As a novelty, the document can be consulted with outstanding fragments that were not included in previous years, such as that which indicates that influenza vaccines have shown to have a very high safety profile, and this is demonstrated by numerous studies.
Let's see what are the key messages of these recommendations on vaccines in relation to childhood and adolescence. Who should get a flu shot?
Risk groups: children from six months of age and adolescents in certain situations or with underlying diseases.
Healthy children from six months of age, adolescents and healthy adults living with risk patients.
The vaccination of the family environment is insisted when there are infants under six months of age with risk factors, since they cannot receive the influenza vaccine.
Especially important is the recommendation for influenza vaccination in all health professionals, especially those working with children, as this would add a protective belt for these most vulnerable patients.
In addition, we are reminded that the World Health Organization (WHO) annually decides the flu virus strains that should include influenza vaccines and from the same document we can consult this year's. It also specifies who is included in the risk groups (such as those suffering from certain underlying diseases).
Other information that we find are practical aspects (dosage, conservation, administration and contraindications), as well as a list of existing vaccines.
Anyway, as we see a healthy child does not have to get vaccinated against the flu, but there is a section of population at risk that should not neglect these AEP recommendations on the flu vaccine. And, of course, we remind you all of these tips to prevent the flu in children.
