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Below is a news release on a policy statement published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

For Release: December 2, 2002, 12:01 am (ET)

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in a new policy statement encourages for the first time that healthy children aged 6-23 months should be immunized for influenza to the extent logistically and economically feasible. In addition, household contacts and out-of-home caretakers of children under the age of 2 should be vaccinated. Previously, the AAP recommended that only children who fell into certain high-risk categories receive the vaccine.

According to the policy, "It recently has become clear that healthy children younger than 24 months are at as great a risk of influenza-associated hospitalization as are previously recognized high-risk groups." The data found that the risk was higher for young children than healthy adults above the age of 50, for whom routine immunization has been recommended since 2000.

The policy recommends that pediatricians increase efforts through tracking and recall systems to ensure children traditionally considered at high-risk of severe disease receive annual influenza immunization. High-risk children and adolescents who should receive priority for influenza immunization are those with asthma, cystic fibrosis and other chronic pulmonary and cardiac diseases, as well as children with HIV infection, sickle cell anemia, and chronic renal or metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

The policy states that other individuals who should receive priority for influenza immunization include:

• Women who will be in their second or third trimester of pregnancy during influenza season.
• People who are in close contact with high-risk children, including: all health care personnel in contact with pediatric patients in hospital and outpatient settings; household contacts, including siblings and primary caregivers, of high-risk children; children who are members of households with high-risk adults, including those with symptomatic HIV infection; and home caregivers for children younger than 24 months and to adolescents in high-risk groups.

While encouraging influenza vaccine for this new age group, the AAP also stresses that children should not be immunized before they reach 6 months of age.
 

EDITOR'S NOTE: The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 57,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

© 2002 - American Academy of Pediatrics