As the mom of an 11-month-old and a 3-year-old, I dutifully brought my kids to the pediatrician two months ago for their flu shots, based on last year’s recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control that children ages 6 months through 4 years get an annual inoculation.

But parents of older kids may not have realized that this year, the CDC updated and broadened its flu-shot recommendation to include children ages 5 through 18 years, as well. In short, the CDC now recommends that all children--ages 6 months through 18 years--get flu shots annually.

While the CDC recommends children receive the vaccine as soon as it becomes available (usually in the fall), you can have it in December or later because the disease usually peaks in January or February, and can occur as late as May.

Rates of infection are highest among children, according to the CDC, with children ages 6 months through 4 years at greater risk of suffering flu complications than older children.

It is also recommended that the people living with or caring for children younger than 5–and particularly those in contact with children younger than 6 months, such as childcare providers and babysitters–be immunized.

Since the flu vaccine is not approved for use in children 6 months and younger, and since the risk of flu complications is higher in these children than it is for any other age group, it is even more important that their family members and caregivers (including teachers, babysitters, and any other care providers) be immunized.

For more information on children and the flu, see the CDC’s special flu section, including details on flu vaccines for children and protecting infants from the flu.

Also see our Health blog on at-risk teens getting flu vaccine, and our report and poll on getting flu shots this year.

—Artemis DiBenedetto