Immunization Newsbriefs

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March 23, 2001

“The Japanese Experience With Vaccinating Schoolchildren Against Influenza” New England Journal of Medicine (www.nejm.org) (03/22/01) Vol.  344, No. 12, P. 889; Reichert, Thomas A.; Sugaya, Norio; Fedson, David S.; et al.

Researchers investigated the monthly rates of death from all causes and death attributed to pneumonia and influenza, as well as rates of vaccination, in the United States and Japan between 1949 and 1998.  From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, most schoolchildren in Japan were vaccinated against the flu.  The laws were relaxed in 1987, and repealed seven years later, and vaccination levels dropped significantly after that.  The authors suggest that herd immunity may have been achieved in Japan, and if that occurred, the incidence of flu and influenza-related mortality should have dropped among older individuals.  The vaccination program in Japan helped to reduce excess mortality rates in the country from up to four times those seen in the United States to values similar to ones in the United States.  Japan’s vaccination effort averted 37,000 to 49,000 deaths annually; however, after that program was ended, excess mortality rates rose.  Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that vaccinating schoolchildren against the flu offers protection and helps to lower influenza-related mortality among older persons.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.