Influenza is responsible for approximately 50 to 60 million infections and illnesses yearly, many of which occur among children. To address the issue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a Clinician Outreach and Communications Activity call on how to prevent and control pediatric influenza on Oct. 1.
Flu season is mainly December through March, but can peak as early as October and November, said Hank Bernstein, DO, MHCM, FAAP, professor of pediatrics at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ. According to Bernstein, there has been an increase in deaths and hospitalizations among children because of the H3N2 flu strain, which is targeted by this year’s flu vaccine formula. Bernstein noted that children under 5 years old are hospitalized due to influenza more than children ages 5 to 17. More than 140 influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported by 40 states during the 2014-15 influenza season, according to a June 5 CDC study.
According to the National Institutes of Health, because the flu declines over a period of time, annual vaccinations are vital and should continue to be offered throughout the season and even past January. Everyone ages 6 months and older is recommended to receive an annual flu vaccination, with rare exceptions.
Lisa Grohskopf, MD, MPH, medical officer with CDC’s Influenza Division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that some children in the 6-month to 8-year age range may need two doses of trivalent or quadrivalent influenza vaccines, traditional flu vaccines that protect against three to four different flu viruses. Health care providers can advise parents as to how many doses their child needs.
Influenza shots can protect mothers and their fetuses from complications of influenza, too, which is why the vaccine has been given to millions of pregnant women over the years, according to CDC. Pregnant women are more susceptible to complications of the flu as compared to those who are not pregnant; therefore, efforts to vaccinate pregnant women need to be implemented, according to CDC.
According to a Sept. 18 CDC study, approximately 50 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated before or during their pregnancy during the 2014-15 flu season. To protect pregnant women and their fetuses from the flu, clinic-based education about flu vaccine safety and efficacy should be implemented, the study said. Systems should also be in place to ensure that health care providers suggest and offer the flu vaccine to all pregnant women.
In addition, infants younger than 6 months need people around them to be vaccinated to minimize flu exposure, Bernstein said, as they are too young to get vaccinated. He said providers should consider treatment options for children who are suspected to have influenza and who have siblings younger than 6 months so they do not pass on the flu.
“The best way to prepare for the flu season as far as patient care is to encourage the vaccinations and keep people from getting it in the first place,” said Scott Needle, MD, chief medical officer of the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida.
APHA supports and promotes child vaccinations to help prevent influenza. Learn more at www.APHAGetReady.org and www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/vaccines.
To read a transcript of the CDC call or watch the archived webcast, visit http://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/transcripts/2015/call-transcript-100115.asp.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
