Troubling Numbers About Flu Shots at Daycare Centers

Before dropping your child off at daycare, there's a question you may want to ask.

"Has everyone here gotten their annual flu shot???"

A new study found that only about one-in-four daycare centers requires that all of the children in attendance have their annual flu shot. The study also found that only 13% of child care centers required their employees to get the annual vaccine.

“When kids are in close proximity to each other in child care centers they spread infectious diseases very efficiently,” comments lead author Dr. Timothy R. Shope of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

“We can’t depend on child care directors’ experience or knowledge for implementing their own influenza vaccine requirements,” Dr. Shope says. “If we’re concerned with the public health of children and preventing influenza morbidity and mortality, we have to legislate the issue.”

Read more about the study here.

Image courtesy Getty


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