Vaccine Rates Unaffected by ACIP LAIV Recommendation Change

The withdrawal of the recommendation for the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIVs) by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) did not influence child influenza immunization rates during the 2016 through 2017 flu season, according to a recent study.

After the ACIP withdrew its recommendation, concern arose that children who had received a LAIV during the 2015 through 2016 season would not return for an injectable influenza vaccine (IIV).
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Using Oregon’s statewide immunization registry, the researchers investigated whether this change in recommendations influenced vaccination rates by comparing rates across the 2012 through 2013 season through 2016 through 2017 season. The researchers matched cohorts of children based on whether they received a LAIV or IIV during the 2015 through 2016 season and compared differences between IIV and LAIV cohorts with those who returned for IIV in the 2016 through 2017 season.

Overall, the rates of immunization for children aged 2 to 17 years remained unchanged between the 2015 through 2016 and 2016 through 2017 seasons.

Among children aged 3 to 10 years, those who received a previous IIV were 1.03 times more likely to return for an IIV compared with those who received a previous LAIV. Children aged 11 to 7 years who received a previous IIV were 1.08 times more likely to receive an IIV during the 2016 through 2017 season compared with those who received a previous LAIV.

“Withdrawal of the LAIV recommendation was not associated with an overall change in child influenza immunization rates across seasons,” the researchers concluded. “Children with a previous (2015–2016) IIV were slightly more likely to return during the 2016–2017 season for influenza immunization than those with a previous LAIV.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

 Robison SG, Dunn AG, Richards DL, Leman RF. Changes in influenza vaccination rates after withdrawal of live vaccine [published online October 6, 2017]. AAP. doi:10.1542/peds.2017-0516.