Influenza disease and vaccination in children in Australia

Carlson, Samantha J; Blyth, Christopher C; Beard, Frank H; Hendry, Alexandra J; Cheng, Allen C; Quinn, Helen E; Leask, Julie; Macartney, Kristine

doi:10.5694/mja2.51100

Topics

Infectious diseases

Health services administration

Pediatric medicine

Influenza vaccine uptake in children has grown in response to increased awareness and progressive expansion of funding

1 Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA
2 University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
3 University of Western Australia, Perth, WA
4 National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW
5 Monash University, Melbourne, VIC

Correspondence: samantha.carlson@telethonkids.org.au

Acknowledgements:

Influenza notification rates were obtained from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System as at 18 February 2021. De‐identified data were obtained from the Australian Immunisation Register as at 31 March 2020 and analysed with approval of the Australian Government Department of Health.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The burden of vaccine preventable diseases in Australia [Cat. No. PHE 26]. Canberra: AIHW, 2019. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/49809836-8ead-4da5-81c4-352fa64df75b/aihw-phe-263.pdf.aspx?inline=true (viewed Apr 2021).
2. Li-Kim-Moy J, Yin JK, Patel C, et al. Australian vaccine preventable disease epidemiological review series: Influenza 2006 to 2015. Commun Dis Intell 2016; 40: E482–E495.
3. Sheppeard V, Gilmour R, Tobin S. Record number of influenza tests in 2019, not a “mutant flu crisis”. Med J Aust 2019; 211: 333. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2019/211/7/record-number-influenza-tests-2019-not-mutant-flu-crisis
4. Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation. Australian immunisation handbook. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2018. https://immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au (viewed Apr 2021).
5. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. Significant events in influenza vaccination practice in Australia. Sydney: NCIRS, 2020. https://www.ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-12/Influenza-history-Dec%202020.pdf (viewed Apr 2021).
6. Blyth CC, Macartney KK, McRae J, et al. Influenza epidemiology, vaccine coverage and vaccine effectiveness in children admitted to sentinel Australian hospitals in 2017: Results from the PAEDS-FluCAN collaboration. Clin Infect Dis 2019; 68: 940–948.
7. Pillsbury A, Quinn H, Cashman P, et al. Active SMS-based influenza vaccine safety surveillance in Australian children. Vaccine 2017; 35: 7101–7106.
8. Fielding JE, Levy A, Chilver MB, et al. Effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine in Australia, 2015: An epidemiological, antigenic and phylogenetic assessment. Vaccine 2016; 34: 4905–4912.
9. Blyth CC, Cheng AC, Crawford NW, et al. The impact of new universal child influenza programs in Australia: Vaccine coverage, effectiveness and disease epidemiology in hospitalised children in 2018. Vaccine 2020; 38: 2779–2787.
10. Rolfes MA, Flannery B, Chung JR, et al. Effects of influenza vaccination in the United States during the 2017–2018 influenza season. Clin Infect Dis 2019; 69: 1845–1853.
11. Armstrong P, Dowse G, Effler P, et al. Epidemiological study of severe febrile reactions in young children in Western Australia caused by a 2010 trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine. BMJ Open 2011; 1: e000016.
12. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Seasonal flu vaccine: investigation into febrile reactions in young children following 2010 seasonal trivalent influenza vaccination. Canberra: TGA, 2010. https://www.tga.gov.au/alert/seasonal-flu-vaccine-investigation-febrile-reactions-young-children-following-2010-seasonal-trivalent-influenza-vaccination (viewed Apr 2021).
13. King C, Leask J. The impact of a vaccine scare on parental views, trust and information needs: A qualitative study in Sydney, Australia. BMC Public Health 2017; 17: 106.
14. Carlson SJ, Quinn HE, Blyth CC, et al. Barriers to influenza vaccination of children hospitalised for acute respiratory illness: a cross-sectional survey. J Paediatr Child Health 2021; 57: 409–418.
15. Horvath J. Review of the management of adverse events associated with Panvax and Fluvax. Canberra: Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing; 2011. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/adverse-event-march-2011.pdf (viewed Apr 2021).
16. Beard F, Hendry A, Macartney K. Influenza vaccination uptake in Australia in 2020: impact of the COVID-19 pandemic? Commun Dis Intell 2021; 45: 1–4.
17. Law C, McGuire R, Ferson MJ, et al. Children overdue for immunisation: a question of coverage or reporting? An audit of the Australian Immunisation Register. Aust N Z J Public Health 2019; 43: 214–220.
18. Ministers Department of Health. Record flu vaccines in 2020 to protect Australians [media release]. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2020. https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/record-flu-vaccines-in-2020-to-protect-australians (viewed Apr 2021).
19. Jacobson Vann JC, Jacobson RM, Coyne-Beasley T, et al. Patient reminder and recall interventions to improve immunization rates. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2018; (1): CD003941.
20. Kang GJ, Culp RK, Abbas KM. Facilitators and barriers of parental attitudes and beliefs toward school-located influenza vaccination in the United States: systematic review. Vaccine 2017; 35: 1987–1995.
21. Frew PM, Lutz CS. Interventions to increase pediatric vaccine uptake: an overview of recent findings. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2017; 13: 2503–2511.
22. Ministers Department of Health Strengthening Australia’s immunisation program [media release]. Canberra: Ministers Department of Health; 2020. https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/strengthening-australias-immunisation-program (viewed Apr 2021).

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.