Flu Bubble

Inoculating schoolchildren may protect entire community from influenza.
The New York Times (3/10, A16, McNeil) reports, "An unusual study done in 49 remote Hutterite farming colonies in western Canada has provided the surest proof yet that giving flu shots to schoolchildren protects a whole community from the disease." It also "validates the American government's decision to vaccinate children first during the recent swine flu pandemic," maintained Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In short, researchers at McMaster University discovered that immunizing "children and adolescents aged three to 15 years with the trivalent influenza vaccine formulated for the 2008-2009 influenza season conferred 61% indirect protection against influenza among persons who did not receive the study vaccine," the Los Angeles Times (3/9, Dennis) "Booster Shots" blog. Thus, "if there are constraints in quantity and delivery of vaccine, it may be advantageous to selectively immunize children in order to reduce community transmission of influenza," maintain the authors of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.