| Peer-Reviewed

Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children

Received: 27 May 2020     Accepted: 17 June 2020     Published: 4 July 2020
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Influence often have severe consequences in the short and long term, and could cause fatal outcomes in some of the sick people. We evaluated the impact of flu vaccines on the health of children in the months following the epidemics, comparing these data with those of children who, on the other hand, caught the flu. The present study was performed between 2014/15 and 2018/19 (5 seasons), focusing on children aged between 6 months and 14 years old, and it compared two group of children, sorted according to whether they received the flu vaccine or contracted flu. We demonstrate, in a statistically significant way, that children who get vaccinated with the seasonal flu vaccine catch fewer diseases in the following months, compared to those who catch the flu, especially with respect to the feared acute otitis media and wheezing. Moreover, vaccinated children receive fewer antibiotic therapies and, consequently, they attend the office of the family pediatrician less. We conclude that flu vaccine protects any child, even if this child is healthy, and does not suffer from any preexisting pathology, during the months after vaccination.

Published in American Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23
Page(s) 253-258
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Influence, Flu Vaccination, Impact on the Health of Children

References
[1] Bourgeois FT, Valim C, Wei JC, Mc-Adam AJ, Mandl KD. Influenza and other respiratory virus-related emergency department visits among young children. Pediatrics 2006; 118 (1): e1-e8.
[2] Molinari NA, Ortega-Sanchez IR, Messonnier ML, Thompson WW, Wortley PM, Weintraub E, Bridges CB. The annual impact of seasonal influenza in the US: measuring disease burden and costs. Vaccine 2007; 25: 5086-96.
[3] Aiello AE, Coulborn RM, Perez V, Larson EL. Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health 2008; 98: 1372–81.
[4] Reed C, Chaves SS, Daily Kirley P, Emerson R, Aragon D, Hancock EB, Butler L, Baumbach J, Hollick G, Bennett NM, Laidler MR, Thomas A, Meltzer MI, Finelli L. Estimating influenza disease burden from population-based surveillance data in the United States. PLoS One 2015; 10: e0118369.
[5] COMMITTEE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Influenza in Children, 2019-2020. Pediatrics. 2019 Oct; 144 (4). pii: e20192478. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2478. Epub 2019 Sep 2.
[6] Yuen KY, Wong SSY. Human infection by avian influenza A H5N1. Hong Kong Med J 2005; 11: 189-99.
[7] Vaillant L, La Ruche G, Tarantola A et al. Epidemiology of fatal cases associated with pandemic H1N1 influenza 2009. Eurosurveillance 2009; 14: 33.
[8] Trammell RA, Toth LA. Genetic susceptibility and resistance to influenza infection and disease in humans and mice. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2008 Jul; 8 (4): 515-29. doi: 10.1586/14737159.8.4.515.
[9] Jain VK, Rivera L, Zaman K, Espos RA, Jr., Sirivichayakul C, Quiambao BP, Rivera-Medina DM, Kerdpanich P, Ceyhan M, Dinleyici EC, Cravioto A, Yunus M, Chanthavanich P, Limkittikul K, Kurugol Z, Alhan E, Caplanusi A, Durviaux S, Boutet P, Ofori-Anyinam O, Chandrasekaran V, Dbaibo G, Innis BL. Vaccine for Prevention of Mild and Moderate-to-Severe Influenza in Children. N Engl J Med 2013; 369: 2481-91.
[10] Grohskopf LA, Sokolow LZ, Broder KR, et al. Prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines. MMWR Recomm Rep 2016; 65: 1–54.
[11] Reed C, Chaves SS, Kirley PD, Emerson P, Aragon D, EB Hancock, Butler L, Baumbach J, Hollick G, Bennett NM, Laidler MR, Thomas A, Meltzer MI, Finelli L. Estimating Influenza Disease Burden from Population-Based Surveillance Data in the United States. PLoS ONE 2015 10 (3): e0118369. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118369.
[12] Tokars JI, Olsen SJ, Reed C. Seasonal Incidence of Symptomatic Influenza in the United States. CID 2018; 66 (10): 1511–8.
[13] http://www.simpios.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Carta-di-Pisa-Vaccinazione-Operatori-Sanitari.pdf.
[14] Flannery B, Reynolds SB, Blanton L, Santibanez TA, O’Halloran A, Peng-Jun Lu, Chen J, Foppa IM, Gargiullo P, Bresee J, Singleton JA, Fry AM. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness against Pediatric Deaths: 2010–2014. Pediatrics 139 (5) 2017: e20164244.
[15] Kwong JC, Buchan SA, Chung H, Campitelli MA, Schwartz KL, Crowcroft NS, Jackson ML, Karnauchow T, Katz K, McGeer AJ, McNally JD, Richardson DC, Richardson SE, Rosella LC, Simor A, Smieja M, Zahariadis G, Campigottom A, Gubbay JB. Can routinely collected laboratory and health administrative data be used to assess influenza vaccine effectiveness? Assessing the validity of the Flu and Other Respiratory Viruses Research (FOREVER) Cohort. Vaccine 37 (2019) 4392–4400.
[16] García A, Ortiz de Lejarazu R, Reina J, Callejo D, Cuervo J, Morano Larragueta R. Cost-effectiveness analysis of quadrivalent influenza vaccine in Spain. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2016 Sep; 12 (9): 2269-77. Epub 2016 May 16.
[17] https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/pdfs/pscmanual/17pscnosinfdef_current.pdf.
[18] Esposito S. La prevenzione dell’influenza in età pediatrica. RIAP 2018 (1): 27-34.
[19] Hoberman A, Greenberg DP, Paradise JL, et al. Effectiveness of inactivated influenza vaccine in preventing acute otitis media in young children: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2003; 290: 1608–16.
[20] Smits AS, Hak E, Stalman WAB, Van Essen GA, Hoes AW, Verheij JM. Clinical effectiveness of conventional influenza vaccination in asthmatic children. Epidemiol. Infect. (2002), 128, 205±211.
[21] Pebody RG, Green HK, Andrews N, Boddington NL, Zhao H, Yonova I, Ellis j, Steinberger S, Donati M, Elliot AJ, Uptake and impact of vaccination school age children against influenza during a season with circulation of drifted influenza A and B strain, England 2014/15. Euro Surveill 2015 (39): 1-11.
[22] Reichert TA, Sugaya N, Fedson DS, Glezen WP, Simonsen L, Tashiro M. The Japanese experience with vaccinating schoolchildren against influenza. N Engl J Med. 2001 Mar 22; 344 (12): 889-96.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Gaetano Bottaro, Giuseppe Bottaro, Filippo Palermo. (2020). Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children. American Journal of Pediatrics, 6(3), 253-258. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Gaetano Bottaro; Giuseppe Bottaro; Filippo Palermo. Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children. Am. J. Pediatr. 2020, 6(3), 253-258. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Gaetano Bottaro, Giuseppe Bottaro, Filippo Palermo. Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children. Am J Pediatr. 2020;6(3):253-258. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23,
      author = {Gaetano Bottaro and Giuseppe Bottaro and Filippo Palermo},
      title = {Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children},
      journal = {American Journal of Pediatrics},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {253-258},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajp.20200603.23},
      abstract = {Influence often have severe consequences in the short and long term, and could cause fatal outcomes in some of the sick people. We evaluated the impact of flu vaccines on the health of children in the months following the epidemics, comparing these data with those of children who, on the other hand, caught the flu. The present study was performed between 2014/15 and 2018/19 (5 seasons), focusing on children aged between 6 months and 14 years old, and it compared two group of children, sorted according to whether they received the flu vaccine or contracted flu. We demonstrate, in a statistically significant way, that children who get vaccinated with the seasonal flu vaccine catch fewer diseases in the following months, compared to those who catch the flu, especially with respect to the feared acute otitis media and wheezing. Moreover, vaccinated children receive fewer antibiotic therapies and, consequently, they attend the office of the family pediatrician less. We conclude that flu vaccine protects any child, even if this child is healthy, and does not suffer from any preexisting pathology, during the months after vaccination.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Flu and Flu Vaccination in Comparison, in the Evaluation of the Health Status of Children
    AU  - Gaetano Bottaro
    AU  - Giuseppe Bottaro
    AU  - Filippo Palermo
    Y1  - 2020/07/04
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23
    T2  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JF  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JO  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    SP  - 253
    EP  - 258
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-0909
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20200603.23
    AB  - Influence often have severe consequences in the short and long term, and could cause fatal outcomes in some of the sick people. We evaluated the impact of flu vaccines on the health of children in the months following the epidemics, comparing these data with those of children who, on the other hand, caught the flu. The present study was performed between 2014/15 and 2018/19 (5 seasons), focusing on children aged between 6 months and 14 years old, and it compared two group of children, sorted according to whether they received the flu vaccine or contracted flu. We demonstrate, in a statistically significant way, that children who get vaccinated with the seasonal flu vaccine catch fewer diseases in the following months, compared to those who catch the flu, especially with respect to the feared acute otitis media and wheezing. Moreover, vaccinated children receive fewer antibiotic therapies and, consequently, they attend the office of the family pediatrician less. We conclude that flu vaccine protects any child, even if this child is healthy, and does not suffer from any preexisting pathology, during the months after vaccination.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Italian National Health System, Catania Health Authority, Department of Community Medicine, Catania, Italy

  • Department of Cardiology, Policlinico–Vittorio Emanuele Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

  • Department of Medicine, Catania University, Catania, Italy

  • Sections