| ■ Kids With Allergies Shouldn't Skip Flu Shots, Experts Say | 2010.10.01 |
| FRIDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The flu vaccine is safe for children with food allergies, experts say, as long as precautions are taken. That assessment is being offered by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, who noted that up to 3 percent of American kids harbor an allergy to eggs, raising concerns among parents who worry that the egg-based flu vaccine may spell trouble. "Some parents are understandably concerned about allergic reactions to the flu vaccine and in the past may have opted against it, but the risk of catching the flu far outweighs the risk for an allergic reaction to the vaccine, and even children with egg allergies can be immunized safely," Dr. Robert Wood, director of Allergy & Immunology at Hopkins Children's, said in a news release from the center. The issue of allergy risk is perhaps more front and center this year than in the past, given that this flu season U.S. health officials for the first time have decided to call for the vaccination of all children 6 months of age and up. |