Science Daily: Flu Vaccines Increase Flu Hospitalisation!

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Web address: 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."

 

Adapted from materials provided by American Thoracic Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.“The world is moving ahead but our lives have become harder.†- Nikheil, small farmer from Kohima, India.

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