Federal health agencies have stopped multimillion-dollar campaigns urging Americans to get vaccinated against flu and other respiratory viruses this fall, The Wall Street Journal reported, according to a KFF Health News summary of the report. The agencies have also scaled back informational materials sent to clinicians and pharmacies ahead of respiratory virus season. The change comes after two of the deadliest flu seasons for U.S. children since national tracking began.
For parents, the practical question is simple. Fewer public reminders do not change how flu spreads or who gets seriously ill, but they can make it easier for a child's annual shot to slip past. Only about half of U.S. children were vaccinated against flu last season, and most children who died of flu were not vaccinated.
