Influenza vaccination: What primary care physicians need to know

Dec. 4 through Dec. 10 is National Influenza Vaccination Week, an initiative to highlight the importance of the influenza vaccine and to encourage greater use of it during the months of December, January and beyond.

According to the CDC, the influenza virus is constantly evolving, so a patient getting an influenza vaccine only once in his or her life is not enough. The agency further stated that influenza activity can go on as late as the month of May, so it is not too late to dispense influenza vaccines to patients. So far this season, approximately 129.2 million doses of the influenza vaccine have been distributed to vaccination providers, according to the CDC.

To mark National Influenza Vaccination Week, Healio Family Medicine compiled some of the latest research and course offerings on the influenza vaccine. Here is what you need to know:

FDA approval expands use of FluLaval influenza vaccine

The FDA approval came after three supportive clinical studies and one pivotal phase 3 study in children aged between 6 and 35 months, according to a press release. Read more

CDC’s ACIP recommends that LAIV should not be used

The decision came after the committee learned that the live-attenuated influenza vaccine had been ineffective against influenza A(H1N1) in children aged 2 to 17 years, performed poorly in a study among active military, and there was uncertainty regarding its effectiveness against influenza A(H3N2) and B viruses. Read more

Maternal immunization confers needed infant protection against influenza, pertussis

Researchers said the best method to ensure maternal immunization uptake is for providers to deliver a strong recommendation, citing that 83% of surveyed women reported that they would take a vaccine during pregnancy if their provider recommended it. Watch video

Influenza vaccine uptake higher in children with asthma

Researchers drew the conclusion after performing a retrospective review of electronic health records of children aged 2 to 18 years at a tertiary care pediatric hospital for demographics, asthma diagnosis and influenza vaccine administration from 2010 to 2014. Read more

High-dose influenza vaccine less costly, more effective than standard dose in seniors

Researchers also found the high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine to be a cost-saving alternative to the standard dose, and provided a gain in quality-adjusted life-years. Read more

CME program focuses on influenza vaccine uptake in older adults

The course is geared towards those aged 65 and older — one of the groups most at risk for influenza. Read more

Unvaccinated adults cost US $7.1 billion

“By highlighting the tremendous financial burden that unvaccinated individuals place on the economy and the health system, we hope that our estimates will spur creative policy solutions to reduce the negative externality or spillover effect, while preserving the autonomy of patients to make more informed choices,” researchers wrote. Read more

Influenza vaccine ‘desperately’ needs improvement

The director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota said that if a pandemic similar to the 1918 influenza outbreak happened today, more people would die in just a few months than AIDS has killed in 30 years. Read more