Consumer Welcome

Whether you are a parent or grandparent, older brother or sister, teacher or caregiver, or just someone who cares about the children in your life, you play an important role in keeping the kids you care about healthy. Children depend on adults to make important health decisions for them, like scheduling doctor check-ups and making sure they receive their influenza vaccination every year.

Vaccination against influenza is important because it is the best way to avoid this serious infectious disease. Influenza is a real health threat that can confine you to bed for days, lead to hospitalization and even death. The disease can be severe in infants, children and adolescents.

In fact, each year influenza causes approximately 20,000 hospitalizations and nearly 100 deaths in American children younger than 5 years of age, and despite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, influenza vaccination rates in young children remain disturbingly low. For example, influenza vaccination rates drop significantly after Thanksgiving, even though the number of influenza cases typically does not peak until February.

We need you to help protect those you care about by making sure they—and you—get vaccinated against influenza every year. Vaccination is safe and effective. Because of the need to protect children from influenza, the CDC recently expanded pediatric influenza vaccination recommendations to include all children 6 months through 18 years of age. The CDC along with the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that infants, children and adolescents be vaccinated throughout the fall and winter. Learn more about influenza and the benefits of vaccination by exploring the resources on this Web site.

It is easy to get vaccinated, just ask your health care professional, or visit http://flucliniclocator.org/ or http://www.aafa.org/flu.cfm to find an influenza clinic near you.