Get your flu shots -- and make sure the kids get theirs - because it could save millions in health care costs. That's the bottom line of a new study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Making sure at-risk children under 5 get flu shots -- something usually associated with the elderly -- could help cut the rapidly rising cost of health care, the Cincinnati researchers found.
After analyzing data in three U.S. cities over three flu seasons, they found that 90 percent of the highest-cost hospitalizations for children were linked to the flu. Children with the highest-cost visits were more likely to have high-risk conditions, emphasizing the importance of having these children immunized, said Children's researcher and study author Gerry Fairbrother. With the average cost of an influenza-related hospitalization for a child running about $5,500, the potential economic impact of simple flu shot is enormous. "It’s vital to protect their health and to avoid the high costs of hospitalizations that are preventable," says Dr. Mary Staat, a co-author.
The study was one of several presented by Children's researchers at the recent annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies. Other topics researched included the impact of lead on children older than 6, the impact of unemployment on health care coverage for children and some surpsising barriers to day-care children getting enough outdoor activity.
Writer: David Holthaus
source: Jim Feuer, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
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