The flu shot is not mandatory but is recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics for all children age 6 months to 59 months (this is new from last year's recommendation of 6 months to 23 months)and all kids at any age who are high risk (asthma, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) That being said, if there is enough vaccine supply, any child, whether high risk or not, should be allowed to have it if parents wish--all depends on if there's enough vaccine left after immunizing the high risk groups. Don't see it becoming mandatory in the near future. This is often a school issue as well, and a mandatory yearly shot might be difficult to enforce.
As for the Prevnar vaccine, it protects against streptococcus pneumoniae, a serious bacterial cause of meningitis, pneumonia, blood infections, and even ear infections. Some daycare centers require it, probably varies statewide. It is a 4 dose series given before 2 years of age. After 2 years, children tend to be out of the high risk age for this bacteria, so it is only routinely recommended for high risk children beyond the age of 2, up until age 5 (kids without a spleen, poor immune systems, etc.) Healthy older children can certainly still get the disease, but most insurance companies won't cover it for beyond 2 years of age in a healthy child.
Most pediatricians routinely give Prevnar to infants as do many family practioners (though probably not as much as pediatricians). It only takes seeing one child with meningitis and residual deafness and cognitive delays to realize how important it is to prevent the disease if we can. Prevnar is a very safe vaccine and does not contain thimerosal.
Unfortunately, vaccines have gotten a bad rap in the recent years. Because we've done such a good job preventing disease, many people have not had to witness the horrible effects of these infections. Just ask an elderly person about the effects of polio or someone who lost their hearing after developing mumps or a baby boomer who watched their infant die of haemophilus influenza meningitis, something we fortunately rarely see anymore. On the other hand, we still see babies hospitalized with Pertussis and children hospitalized with complications from chicken pox ("flesh-eating strep"), so it's important to keep as high of immunization rates as possible. Obviously, being a pediatrician I'm biased, but until the naysayers start publishing true scientific data using controlled trials that provide evidence of harm from these vaccines, I'll continue to follow the scientific evidence of their effectiveness and safety. In fact, the researcher in England who first suggested a link between MMR vaccine and autism (which has since been refuted many times) is now being investigated for professional misconduct for his publication.
Hope this helps. Did not intend for this to become soapboxey. Am just a Cathe fan who enjoys perusing these forums.
