VIDEO: Parents even less concerned about flu since COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON — Pediatric influenza vaccination rates remain suboptimal compared with other childhood vaccines, and parents are even less concerned about influenza since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data reported here.

In this video, Marisa Orbea, MD, a pediatric infectious disease fellow at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, discusses results from a research project conducted from 2019 to 2022.

Citing the recent post-pandemic decline in routine childhood immunization, Orbea said that although one in 15 parents in the U.S. categorize themselves as “vaccine hesitant” toward routine immunizations, even more — one in four — reports that they are hesitant toward the influenza vaccine, specifically.

Orbea and colleagues surveyed more than 900 parents of hospitalized children on their vaccine trends and presented the results at IDWeek.

References:

Orbea M, et al. Poster 580. Presented at: IDWeek; Oct. 19-23, 2022; Washington (hybrid meeting).