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Pediatrics

AAP Updates Its Recommendations for Influenza Vaccination for Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new recommendations for preventing and controlling influenza during the 2021-2022 season.

Along with its continued recommendation for annual influenza vaccination for all children aged 6 months or older, the AAP also recommends:

  • Any licensed, recommended, age-appropriate vaccine available can be administered, without preference for one product or formulation over another.
  • Antiviral treatment of influenza with any licensed, recommended, age-appropriate influenza antiviral medication is recommended for children with suspected or confirmed influenza who are hospitalized, have severe or progressive disease, or have underlying conditions that increase their risk of complications of influenza.
  • Antiviral treatment may be considered for any previously healthy, symptomatic outpatient not at high risk for influenza complications, in whom an influenza diagnosis is confirmed or suspected, if treatment can be initiated within 48 hours of illness onset and for children whose siblings or household contacts either are younger than age 6 months or have a high-risk condition that predisposes them to complications of influenza.

 

“Influenza vaccination is an important intervention to protect vulnerable populations and reduce the burden of respiratory illnesses during circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which is expected to continue during the 2021–2022 influenza season,” the AAP panel wrote.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Committee on Infectious Diseases. Recommendations for prevention and control of influenza in children, 2021-2022. Pediatrics. 2021;148(4):e2021053745. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-053745