( he Carroll County Health Department and...)Data Show FluMist May Reduce Seasonal Influenza Burden Among,,,Children in School, Daycare Settings,Health

Increasing Vaccination Rates in Children May Help Prevent Late-Season Influenza B Outbreaks

At the PAS meeting, researchers in central Texas reported that immunizing less than one-third of children participating in influenza intervention programs appears to have reduced Medically Attended Acute Respiratory Illness (MAARI) caused by influenza type B when compared to age-specific expected rates.

In the study, nearly 29 percent of children 5 to 19 years of age were vaccinated (73 percent with FluMist; 27 percent with the flu shot) in the 2005-2006 season, in which influenza outbreaks occurred in two waves, with type A predominating early in the season, and type B in the later wave. Despite the higher pre-epidemic relative rate of MAARI in all age groups (particularly in children 5 to 17 years of age), there was a statistically reduced relative rate of MAARI in the B wave of the epidemic in two of the age groups and a suggestion of reduction in the others. There was no reduction of type A disease.

Phase 4 Study of 45,000 Reveals FluMist Well-Tolerated

Interim data were also presented at the PAS meeting from an ongoing post- marketing safety evaluation that has thus far revealed no unanticipated safety concerns in the approximately 45,000 FluMist recipients assessed to date. Neither asthma/reactive airway disease nor wheezing/shortness of breath occurred at rates that were statistically significant in any age group in the risk period compared to the control period. In the study, interim results were analyzed for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons. Analyses were conducted for all ages combined and for three separate age subgroups: 5 to 8 years; 9 to 17 years; and 18 to 49 years. Researchers analyzed rates of adverse events leading to visits to healthcare providers, emergency room use, or
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