Do you vaccinate your kids against the flu? If so, this is news you may want to hear. CDC regulations have been changing; they used to recommend that children 6 months to 2 years be vaccinated against the flu every winter, but recently they expanded that age range to 5 years old. A recent study found, however, that the nasal spray FluMist is more effective than the traditional flu shot in preventing influenza in some children.

When the 8000+ preschoolers involved in the study were given the vaccine in either form, less of them came down with the flu. But the group that was given the nasal spray version of the vaccine came down with the illness over half as often. Not only that, they developed fewer of the dreaded secondary ear infections that usually accompany the flu, and fewer lower respiratory infections as well. The flu shot uses a killed flu virus, while FluMist uses live, weakened viruses. In addition, by applying the vaccine through the nose, the upper respiratory passages build a greater amount of anti-bodies to the flu, which is important since that's where the flu bug lives and multiplies. Of course, there are some conditions: babies under the age of 12 months and children who have a history of wheezing should not be given the vaccine, due to risk of developing wheezing problems, and the traditional injected flu vaccine is the safer version for them.

That sound you hear? It's the cheering of thousands of kids who will get one less poke of the needle this year.