Many children not getting second H1N1 dose

BATON ROUGE, La., Jan. 15 (UPI) -- With H1N1 waning, many U.S. parents have failed to have their children get the second dose of the H1N1 vaccine, health officials say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children under age 10 receive two doses of H1N1 vaccine -- about one month apart -- while adults are advised to get one dose of the vaccine. A third wave of H1N1 is possible, the CDC officials say.

Up to 80 percent of children under age 10 who got a first dose of the H1N1 are overdue for the second dose of the vaccine in some states, USA Today reported Friday.

"My fears are people have truly lost interest in H1N1," Frank Welch, medical director for pandemic preparedness in Louisiana, told USA Today. Eighteen percent of the 97,778 children in Louisiana have received the booster, 25 percent are overdue, and the rest are coming due.

USA Today surveyed 14 states that require all H1N1 doses be recorded in registries and among the 10 that responded 83 percent of the 168,497 children in Georgia who got a first dose are due or

overdue for their second.

In Texas, 80 percent of 311,000 children are overdue for their second dose of H1N1 vaccine and in Michigan, 24 percent of 271,550 children have received a second dose, about 60,000 are overdue, and some 146,000 are due or coming due.