This year's flu shot was up to 78% effective at preventing hospitalization in kids, early data finds

A healthcare worker places a bandage on a girls' arm after a vaccine.

This year's flu shots have dramatically reduced hospitalizations for seasonal influenza, early data suggest.

For kids and teens, the shots were at least 63% effective against flu hospitalizations, and up to 78% in some regions. That's according to data pulled from two networks of health care centers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitors to assess flu shot effectiveness.