Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines

Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)

Vaccination Recommendations:  children and adolescents aged 6 months--18 years

All children aged 6 months--18 years should be vaccinated annually.

Children and adolescents at higher risk for influenza complications should continue to be a focus of vaccination efforts as providers and programs transition to routinely vaccinating all children and adolescents, including those who:

• are aged 6 months--4 years (59 months);
• have chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (except hypertension), renal, hepatic, cognitive, neurologic/neuromuscular, hematological or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus);
• are immunosuppressed (including immunosuppression caused by medications or by human immunodeficiency virus);
• are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and therefore might be at risk for experiencing Reye syndrome after influenza virus infection;
• are residents of long-term care facilities; and
• will be pregnant during the influenza season.

Note: Children aged <6 months cannot receive influenza vaccination. Household and other close contacts (e.g., daycare providers) of children aged <6 months, including older children and adolescents, should be vaccinated.

Flu vaccine recommendations for young children update, July 2010

Young children who were not immunized against the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) will need two doses of the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine to assure they are protected, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The seasonal vaccine will include a pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus, as well as an A (H3N2)-like virus and a B -like virus.

60 million Americans had been infected with H1N1 as of June 2010.

"The underlying principle is that all children age 6 months through 8 years need to have at least two doses of the 2009 H1N1 antigen," said Anthony Fiore, MD, MPH, medical epidemiologist for the CDC's Influenza Division.

He said children could receive the two doses from the monovalent H1N1 vaccine or the upcoming 2010 trivalent seasonal flu immunization. The CDC advises that children younger than 10 get two doses of the 2009 H1N1 antigen. He added that children who got two doses of the H1N1 vaccine still need a seasonal 2010-2011 trivalent dose.

H1N1 vaccine safety

The Vaccine Advisory Board said there is no significant difference in safety between the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. Researchers are continuing to monitor reported effects of the H1N1 immunization.

As of June 24, H1N1 had infected 60 million Americans, about 20% of the population, according to the CDC. Nearly 12,000 died, and about 265,000 were hospitalized. H1N1 disproportionately affected young people, who are not typically casualties of seasonal flu, which kills about 36,000 Americans each year.

Although there now is little H1N1 and seasonal flu activity in the U.S., the CDC expects a 2009 H1N1-like virus to circulate during the 2010-11 season.