Now, however, a new study unassociated with any pharmaceutical companies provides even better evidence of flu vaccine’s effectiveness in children. A study in Pediatrics today, funded by the Western Australia Department of Health, tracked 2,001 children for four years (2008-2012) and found the vaccine to be particularly effective for children under 2 years old – the same group for which we had the least data previously. There are a number of strengths to this study aside from the funding source*. (Funding from pharmaceutical companies does not mean the data in a study is invalid, but I’m aware that many are less trusting of pharma-funded research.) For one thing, the study was prospective, which means the researchers followed children forward in time rather than asking their parents after the fact whether the children have been vaccinated and whether the children have experienced a flu-like illness.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:13:13 +0000
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