Parents who get their kids flu shots cut down on their chances of having to haul them in to the emergency room. According to the results of a study by American and Canadian researchers, recommendations that preschoolers receive the vaccinations have caused ER visits to drop by more than a third.

Reuters reports that, compared to a Canadian hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston reported a 34 percent drop of visits caused by flu-like symptoms since 2006, when the U.S. government started recommending flu shots for preschoolers. The hospital contributed to the study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The research team theorizes that one of the reasons the flu rate dropped was because youngsters stopped passing the disease on to older siblings.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone older than six months receive a flu shot.

Giving flu vaccine to tots cuts ER visits [Reuters]

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