Panel urges wider use of children's flu vaccine

A federal panel recommended Wednesday that all children older than 6 months be vaccinated for influenza every year.

The recommendation, which is expected to be formally adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would make an estimated 30 million more children eligible for vaccination.

If heeded, it would be one of the largest expansions in flu-vaccination coverage in U.S. history. The flu vaccine has been available since the 1940s.

The shots would not be mandatory.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said all children should start getting vaccinated as soon as possible, acknowledging that many doctors already ordered their vaccine for the 2008-2009 season and may not be able to give the shots until 2009-2010. The flu season generally starts in the fall and continues through spring.

Current recommendations call for vaccination of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. The new recommendation expands the age range to 18.

Last year, 68 children died of flu in 26 states monitored by the CDC, 39 of them between ages of 5 and 17. So far this season, 22 have died.