Gestapo Guidelines Elevated for Toxic Influenza Immunization in Children
" ... children younger than 9 years receive 2 doses of influenza vaccine
in
their second season of immunization if they only received 1 dose in the
previous season ..."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/572661
Guidelines Updated for Influenza Immunization in Children CME
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Disclosures
Release Date: April 8, 2008; Valid for credit through April 8, 2009
Credits Available
Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)T for physicians;
Family Physicians - up to 0.25 AAFP Prescribed credit(s) for physicians
Authors and Disclosures
Laurie Barclay, MD
Disclosure: Laurie Barclay, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial
relation****ps.
Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Disclosure: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd, has disclosed no relevant financial
relation****ps.
Brande Nicole Martin
Disclosure: Brande Nicole Martin has disclosed no relevant financial
information.
April 8, 2008 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued its
2007-2008 recommendations for influenza immunization in children. The
revised guidelines, developed by the 2007-2008 Committee on Infectious
Diseases, are published in the April issue of Pediatrics.
"The purpose of this statement is to update the current recommendations
for
routine use of influenza vaccine in children, which were originally
published in a condensed format in April 2007," write Joseph A. Bocchini,
Jr, MD, and colleagues from the 2007-2008 Committee on Infectious
Diseases.
"Highlights include (1) harmonization of the recommendation of the
American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) that children younger than 9 years receive 2 doses of
influenza vaccine in their second season of immunization if they only
received 1 dose in the previous season; and (2) additional detail on the
recommended storage, dosage, and administration of live-attenuated
influenza
vaccine (LAIV), including the recent licensure of LAIV for children as
young
as 2 years."
The revised AAP guidelines recommend annual influenza immunization for all
children with high-risk conditions who are at least 6 months of age, all
healthy children ages 6 through 59 months, all household contacts and
out-of-home caregivers of children who have high-risk conditions and of
healthy children younger than 5 years, and all healthcare clinicians.
To help prevent influenza-associated complications, the committee mandates
increased efforts to identify and immunize all children at high risk and
all
healthy children ages 6 through 59 months and to inform their parents when
annual immunizations are due. Previously unimmunized children between 6
months and 9 years of age should be given 2 doses of influenza vaccine,
administered 1 month apart, beginning as soon as local availability
permits
during the influenza season.
Children in this cohort who received only 1 dose for the first time in the
previous season should be given 2 doses in the current season, but this
recommendation is only applicable to the influenza season that follows the
first year that a child younger than 9 years receives influenza vaccine.
Children who then also fail to receive 2 doses the next year should
receive
only 1 dose per year from that point on.
Even after influenza activity has been do***ented in a community,
influenza
vaccination should also continue to be offered throughout the influenza
season. The influenza vaccine may change from year to year based on global
surveillance of circulating virus strains. In the 2007-2008 vaccine, 1 of
the 3 strains differs from that in the previous year's vaccine.
Plans to immunize all children for whom influenza vaccine is recommended
require expanding outreach and infrastructure developed by all healthcare
clinicians, influenza campaign organizers, and public health agencies.
When
vaccine supplies are delayed or limited, administration of influenza
vaccine
must take priority.
Immunization against influenza is recommended throughout late winter and
early spring because the influenza season often continues into March.
Because of widespread resistance of influenza A virus strains to
amantadine
or rimantadine, healthcare clinicians should not prescribe these antivirus
medications for influenza treatment or chemoprophylaxis during the
2007-2008
season and most likely beyond. However, influenza A and B strains remain
susceptible to oseltamivir and zanamivir, and these medications can still
be
prescribed for treatment or chemoprophylaxis.
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