Most at-risk teens don't get flu shot

BOSTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- From 1999 to 2002, 11 percent of adolescents with high-risk conditions received flu shots during all four seasons, U.S. researchers said.

"Influenza vaccination has been recommended for adolescents with high-risk conditions -- asthma and other illnesses -- for well over a decade," lead author Mari Nakamura, a clinical fellow in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston said in a statement.

Each year, between 20 percent and 40 percent of children and adolescents come down with the flu. For children with certain high-risk conditions, this can lead to severe illness, hospitalizations and, in some cases, even death, the researchers said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends all adolescents vulnerable to influenza complications get vaccinated.

The study charted vaccination rates from 1992 to 2002 for 18,703 adolescents with asthma, cardiac disease, immune system disorders and other high-risk conditions who received care at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and were insured through Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found vaccination rates improved during the study period, from 8 percent to 15 percent. More than 56 percent of adolescents received no flu vaccinations during this four-year period.