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 Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests
Source: Science Daily Date: 5/26/09
The inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization
than
their peers who do not get the vaccine, according to new research that was presented on May 19, at the 105th International Conference of
the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.
"The
concerns that vaccination maybe associated with asthma exacerbations
have been disproved with multiple studies in the past, but the
vaccine's effectiveness has not been well-established," said Avni
Joshi, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. "This study was aimed
at evaluating the effectiveness of the TIV in children overall, as well
as the children with asthma, to prevent influenza-related
hospitalization."
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend
annual influenza vaccination for all children aged six months to 18
years. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (3rd
revision) also recommends annual flu vaccination of asthmatic children
older than six months.
In order to determine whether the vaccine
was effective in reducing the number of hospitalizations that all
children, and especially the ones with asthma, faced over eight
consecutive flu seasons, the researchers conducted a cohort study of
263 children who were evaluated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota from
six months to 18 years of age, each of whom had had
laboratory-confirmed influenza between 1996 to 2006. The investigators
determined who had and had not received the flu vaccine, their asthma
status and who did and did not require hospitalization. Records were
reviewed for each subject with influenza-related illness for flu
vaccination preceding the illness and hospitalization during that
illness.
They found that children who had received the flu
vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to
children who had not received the vaccine. In asthmatic children, there
was a significantly higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who
received the TIV, as compared to those who did not (p= 0.006). But no
other measured factors—such as insurance plans or severity of
asthma—appeared to affect risk of hospitalization.
"While these
findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do
not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations," said Dr.
Joshi. "More studies are needed to assess not only the immunogenicity,
but also the efficacy of different influenza vaccines in asthmatic
subjects."
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