At a glance:
- By JAKE MILLER
- First large-scale analysis of optimal timing for flu shots finds October is the best month for children to get vaccinated against influenza.
- Study of 800,000 pediatrician visits leverages links between children's birth month, annual physical schedule, and vaccination timing.
Children born in October are most likely to be vaccinated for the flu in October - and are least likely to be diagnosed with influenza, according to results of the first large-scale study of optimal timing for the flu shot.
The study, by researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, amplifies public health guidance that encourages getting flu vaccinations in October for those in the northern hemisphere.
Findings are published Feb. 21 in the BMJ.
"There are a lot of variables when it comes to the timing and severity of flu season or a person's risk of getting sick, and many of those are out of our control," said Anupam Jena, the Joseph P. Newhouse Professor of Health Care Policy at HMS, physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, and senior author of the study. Christopher Worsham, HMS assistant professor of medicine and critical care physician at Mass General, led the study.
"One thing we have some control over is the timing of the shot," Jena said, "and it looks like October is indeed the best month for kids to get vaccinated against the flu."
