The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) strongly recommends vaccination for people who are at a higher risk of complications from a bout with the flu.
These groups include:
- People 65 years or older
- Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
- Adults and children who have asthma, or chronic lung or cardiovascular disorders
- Adults and children with chronic metabolic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, kidney and blood disorders, or immunosuppression, including those caused by
- medications
- Children, up to 18 years old, who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy, which may increase their risk of developing Reye syndrome
- Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the flu season.
In mid-September 1999, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) announced it was lowering its recommended age for flu vaccination from 65 years old to 50. In doing so, the AAFP is going beyond the guidelines laid down by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the most widely accepted national authority on immunization
