Panel recommends all kids get flu shots
- on 03.15.10
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Panel recommends all kids get flu shots
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -- All children - not just those under 5 - should get vaccinated against the flu, a federal advisory panel said Wednesday. The panel voted to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children except infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies.
That means about 30 million more children could be getting vaccinated. If heeded, it would be one of the largest expansions in flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history. The flu vaccine has been available since the 1940s.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said all children should start getting vaccinated as soon as possible, acknowledging that many doctors have already ordered their vaccine for the 2008-2009 season and may not be able to give the shots until 2009-2010. The flu season generally starts in the fall and continues through spring.
The panel's advice is routinely adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues vaccination guidelines to doctors and hospitals.
Flu shots were already recommended for those considered to be at highest risk of death or serious illness from the flu, including children ages 6 months to 5 years, adults 50 and older, and people with weakened immune systems
The panel said that should be expanded to include children up to age 18.
Children ages 5 to 18 get flu at higher rates than other age groups, but they don't tend to get as sick. Of the 36,000 estimated annual deaths attributed to the flu, only 25 to 50 occur in children in that age bracket, CDC officials said.
But children who stay home sick from school cause parents to stay home, so reducing the illness in this group should cut down days of lost work, some experts said.
Experts believe giving flu shots to more children may also prevent the illness from spreading to adults and the elderly, although studies haven't clearly established that will happen.
Shots are not the only option. A nasal spray vaccine, FluMist, is approved for healthy people ages 2 to 49.
Panel members waffled a bit on whether to make the recommendations kick in immediately. Some public health professionals pushed them to make the clearest endorsement possible of the flu vaccine, concerned that the public is losing faith in flu shots because this year's vaccine was not well matched to circulating viruses.
Indeed, a few argued that the committee should recommend flu shots for every healthy person, rather than adding another set of children now and maybe young adults in a few years.
"Creeping incrementalism, I believe, continues to foster confusion" about who should get the shot and how important it is, said Dr. Gregory Poland, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert.
The head of the panel, Dr. Dale Morse, asked for a report on universal vaccination of adults.
Meanwhile, vaccine makers said they expect to be able to produce enough doses next season to accommodate an extra 30 million children, but panel members had concerns about how the doses would be given to so many.
There's no other vaccine that's given to nearly all kids every year. Most schools aren't set up to do it, and physicians groups said they weren't sure if doctors were ready to handle a flood of children seeking vaccinations every year.
"This is the only vaccination that pediatricians in my community don't want to have to give," said Dr. Carol Baker, a Baylor College of Medicine professor who sits on the panel.
Baker said she still felt the recommendation should go into effect for the next flu season. But groups representing pediatricians and family physicians said they wanted more time to plan for a possible crush.
Maybe they shouldn't worry. Some experts noted that only a fraction of people recommended to get flu vaccinations actually go through with it.
"We probably will need to have low expectations for coverage in the first few years of implementation" of the ages 5-through-18 recommendation, said Dr. Tony Fiore, a CDC epidemiologist.
Before the vote, the panel heard a presentation of a study that found the vaccine was 75 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations from the flu in children 6 months to 23 months.
"We haven't had data showing prevention of severe outcomes like that in that age group before," Fiore said.
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What I don't understand is, why they stick with this trivalent vaccine,
one strain for H3,H1,B each season.
They could be more flexible, two H3 strains for some season or 4-valent
or 2 different 3-valents (6 strains in total). Or different vaccines for
different countries.
At least for some groups.
What I don't understand is, why they stick with this trivalent vaccine,
one strain for H3,H1,B each season.
They could be more flexible, two H3 strains for some season or 4-valent
or 2 different 3-valents (6 strains in total). Or different vaccines for
different countries.
At least for some groups.
Thanks gsgs.
We hope than that new seasonal flu epidemic will not escalate in an pandemic.
For the multi-valent questions, seems that the human body injected with more than 3 diferent strains can have more dificulties with build up an effective immunity to all strains (if I'm not wrong).
Maybe the idea for different vaccines for different areas, parts of continents, will work, like it works the North-South different distribution.
The catch why is that not implemented is probably "only" money.
The corps don't want "throw" money to build more vaccine productions sites, nor the bodies act to shorten the needed strains evaluation time to less than 4 months (situation dependable) because of vaccine vasting (read - money), at the same time when the govs don't want to collect separate (individual) private money health taxes for such an development of things.
An "catch22" question (mash-ing ...)
Questions for the FT flu scientific component, or who knows it:
Why is that "soon as possible" if the 07-08 north vaccine don't match the new propagated strains?
Reasons of deduction in triage:
the patent was vacc. versus wasn't vacc.?
What's on the road?
how is it formed, how many members, what qualification ?
Do they cooperate internationally with other European,Asian panels ?
Why don't we have such a panel for pandemic issues ?
give me a list of all influenza panels
Yet strangely this issue is rarely addressed by experts,reporters.
I don't think there is a problem to build up immunity against 6 strainst simultaneously, I once read we have enough memory-capacity for
thousands here.
Also, you don't need to take the vaccine which doesn't match -
you only pick the strains which fit, when the seasonal wave is there
and the first sequences are published.
The non-used strains go to other countries for reduced price
or are thrown away.
Also, with the cell-based production they should be able to produce
vaccine in shorter time now.
Is it forbidden to offer non-WHO vaccine strains at increased prices
for special groups ? I can't find it.
Yet strangely this issue is rarely addressed by experts,reporters.
I don't think so much for one time at year, looking the actual prices.
I don't think there is a problem to build up immunity against 6 strainst simultaneously, I once read we have enough memory-capacity for
thousands here.
We can have many memories, but the buildup for one powerful illness necessity many antibodies of one tipe and body strenght, for 3 different more, and so on. If I'm wrong, flu vacc. sci., correct me.
Also, you don't need to take the vaccine which doesn't match -
you only pick the strains which fit, when the seasonal wave is there
and the first sequences are published.
The non-used strains go to other countries for reduced price
or are thrown away.
That's ok, I don't know why so much problems with throwing that, when there are massive throwings of once commestible food.
Also, with the cell-based production they should be able to produce
vaccine in shorter time now.
This cell vacc. problem is already debated on one FT thread.
Is it forbidden to offer non-WHO vaccine strains at increased prices
for special groups ? I can't find it.
Depends on the country, but seems not so good, to buy vaccines for strains the world community of flu vacc. sci. think they will not happen.
Nor the corps produce many other strains than the WHO suggested, because of production capacities.
If it would not be forbidden to buy the vacc., than it would disapear at the market instantaneously when a pandemic start.
Buying dozens of diferent seasonal vaccines privately, and store them in a freezer, when the pandemic strain must to appear yet, seems not god policy.
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