3 of 4 kids who’ve died from flu this year weren’t vaccinated, say federal doctors

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Of the 63 American children killed by the flu virus so far this season, just 13 had been vaccinated. 

Top government doctors — including the Surgeon General, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and acting head of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — found this lack of vaccination so alarming that late Thursday afternoon they offered a joint briefing on the matter.

“Getting a flu shot is the same kind of sensible prevention as buckling your seatbelt,” said Health Secretary Alex Azar.

Before today, the effectiveness of this season’s vaccine wasn’t officially known, but now the CDC says the vaccine is 36 percent effective, overall. Read more…

More about Science, Health, Cdc, Flu, and Influenza A H1n1