Kids with neuro disorders no more likely to get flu vaccine

(HealthDay)—Although children with neurologic conditions are at high risk for complications of influenza infection, only half were vaccinated during the 2011 to 2012 influenza season, according to a report published in the Sept. 13 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Michael J. Smith, M.D., of the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and colleagues conducted an online survey of parents of children with neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders to examine vaccination practices for the 2011 to 2012 influenza season.

The researchers found that about 50 percent of 1,005 children with a neurologic condition received influenza vaccination or were scheduled to be vaccinated. Approximately half of physicians recognized intellectual disability (46 percent) and epilepsy (52 percent) as high-risk conditions for complications associated with influenza virus infection.

"Vaccination coverage levels among children with neurologic conditions are comparable with those of healthy children, despite the fact that they are at increased risk for poor outcomes," the authors write.