Influenza, also called flu, is a contagious viral infection of the nose and throat. Flu can spread easily through coughing and sneezing. • Flu can cause secondary complications such sinus and ear infections and pneumonia or make chronic medical conditions like asthma worse. (CDC, 2016b) • The flu is a serious disease; much more dangerous than the common cold for children. • The best way to protect children from flu is to get them vaccinated each year. • Anyone can get sick with flu • Every year in the United States: • Flu results in approximately 20,000 hospitalizations in children younger than 5 years of age (CDC, 2017a) • On average, 100 children die from flu; many of whom were otherwise healthy (CDC, 2017b; Flannery et al., 2017). • On average in the United States, children miss approximately 38 million school days every year due to flu (Adams et al., 1999). • Flu is not the same as the “stomach flu,” which is a viral infection of the stomach and intestines that will typically goes away on its own within a few days. • Most pediatric flu deaths since 2004 have occurred in unvaccinated children; therefore, increasing flu vaccination rates among children and adolescents could prevent flu-associated deaths (Flannery et al., 2017).
*From the National Foundation of Infections Diseases |
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