MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – New Hampshire health officials say that flu shots should be given to all babies between the ages of 6 months and 23 months starting this fall.

In another change, all people age 50 and over are now recommended to receive the vaccine. Before this year, the recommendation applied to people age 65 and up.

The recommendation for infants was made by federal officials based on information derived from recent medical studies. Before now, the only children recommended for the flu vaccine were those who had major risks.

Officials say what prompted the change is the realization that infants can have a very severe reaction to influenza.

“Based on upon some new data, published in the year 2000, two studies have showed that otherwise healthy children under 2 were more likely than others to be hospitalized for serious complications from influenza,” said William Kassler, state medical director.

Kassler added, “Another wrinkle is that for kids in this age group (6-23 months), a booster shot is recommended if it is their first time. The second dose (which is the annual shot) is administered a month later.”

The combination of the two shots will provide longer and more complete coverage, Kassler said.

Kassler said last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 152 deaths were flu-related in children under the age of 18, most of them under the age of 5. None of them were in New Hampshire.

Several were infants with certain chronic illnesses, but “40 percent of the 152 were kids who were previously healthy,” Kassler said. “Out of those who died, the majority of them had not had a flu vaccination.”

New Hampshire residents gave birth to 14,048 babies in 1999 and 14,590 babies in 2000, according to the Bureau of Health Statistics and Data Management, the most recent information available.

If these statistics bear out at the same level through 2004, an unofficial estimate shows the state could be looking at approximately 25,000 to 28,000 infants to vaccinate over the coming flu season.

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Information from: The Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com

AP-ES-09-12-04 1130EDT