Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519172045.htm

 

Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu,

Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2009) — 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 will be presented on May 19, at the 105th

International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

 

Flu vaccine (trivalent inactivated flu vaccine—TIV) has unknown effects on

asthmatics.

" 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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