Influenza Vaccination

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.

Adults who are part of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups are less likely to be vaccinated against influenza and are more likely to be hospitalized for it, according to health officials.

In a Healio video exclusive, Freddy Caldera, DO, MS, urged providers to recommend the COVID-19 booster vaccine to all patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Among patients with interstitial lung disease, those who received an influenza vaccination demonstrated a significant reduction in all-cause mortality in two of the four seasons evaluated in a recent study.

Following last year’s mild influenza season, U.S. officials are emphasizing the importance of influenza, pneumococcal and COVID-19 vaccinations as they expect a much more severe season in the weeks to come.

Influenza vaccination rates were low in younger patients with CVD despite having the opportunity to be vaccinated at no cost, researchers reported in the European Heart Journal – Quality of Care & Clinical Outcomes.

Patients on hemodialysis who received the high-dose trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine showed a stronger seroresponse than those who received other vaccines, according to data published the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Researchers in Denmark announced the successful completion of an “innovative” trial assessing effects of influenza vaccine dosages on hospitalizations using only routinely collected data.

Infants who have been exposed to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in utero should receive the rotavirus vaccine in the first 6 months of life, according to new recommendations from the American College of Rheumatology.

Influenza vaccine or placebo in patients with HF.