herd health
ddobbs | March 11, 2010Helen Branswell, ace flu reporter, delivers the goodsl:
TORONTO A landmark study looking at how to limit the spread of influenza has shown what experts have long believed but hadn't until now proved: Giving flu shots to kids helps protect everyone in a community from the virus.
The study, led by Dr. Mark Loeb of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., showed the risk of catching the flu was lowered by nearly 60 per cent in communities where a substantial portion of kids aged three to 15 got flu shots.
That level of indirect protection is nearly as good as what healthy adults might expect…