Every year, usually during the flu shot season, questions arise about the need for vaccination especially of healthy young people. People question whether it reduces the risk of infection and its complications. What seems to be lost in the discussion is the health effects of the flu on specific age groups, in particular young children.

A study, entitled “The Underrecognized Burden of Influenza in Young Children.” Published in the July 6, 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine looked at this very issue and presented compelling data. To discuss influenza virus and the results of the study I pleased to introduce

• Dr. Katherine Poehling, M.D., M.P.H. Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Division of General Pediatrics Pediatric Acute Care Clinic (PACC) at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.