CNN Reports 34% Of Parents Are Ditching Flu Shot For Kids

Thirty-four percent of parents in the United States say they are not likely to get their kids a flu shot, according to a report by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. The report is headline news on CNN, which has prompted controversy over dwindling numbers of parents trusting the flu shot.

The report polled a total of 1,977 parents.  The parents needed to have as few as one child. The parents were asked if they’d get a flu shot followed by clarity as to why or why not.

The poll resulted in 48%, or nearly half of the parents, saying they’d abide by the guidance of their children’s pediatricians.

Absurdly, 21% of the parents claim they have no recall of their doctors suggesting the flu shot at all.

“To me, the biggest takeaway is that there is a group of parents who look like they have a gap in expert guidance around whether kids should get flu vaccines, specifically whether their kid should get flu vaccine,” said Sarah Clark, co-director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at the University of Michigan.

The poll suggested that “negative” versus “positive” news as an implication in the parents’ decisions. Those who heard mostly negative feedback regarding the flu shot were less likely to get the flu shot for their children. Likewise, more positive comment density led to increased likelihood of flu vaccination.

The CDC said last flu season, 57.9% of children between the ages of 6 months and 17 years received flu vaccines, less than the year before.

One of the most ludicrous and awkward comments to the CNN news came on CNN’s Twitter post of the article. One man went full authoritarian, saying he doesn’t want to hear the “my body my choice crap.”

Seriously.

Don’t throw that, ‘my body my choice crap’ my way. When you choose to not vaccinate your children and yourself, you’re at risk of dying from a disease that is 100% curable.

But, of course 179 children dying from flu like illnesses isn’t something we should be concerned about. pic.twitter.com/KpHGDbDnza

— Dom Colosimo (@italianslugga) November 19, 2018