The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated recommendations for the 2007-2008 flu season emphasize vaccinating health care personnel and catching up previously unvaccinated children aged 6 months to 8 years with two doses of vaccine.
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has published its updated flu vaccination recommendations for the 2007-2008 flu season in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2007;56 [RR-6]:1-40). The updates include:
▸ For health care administrators. Treat the vaccination of health care personnel as a patient safety issue and encourage all health care providers to get flu shots.
▸ For physicians. In addition to those who were not previously vaccinated, children aged 6 months to 8 years who received only one dose of flu vaccine in earlier years should receive two doses this year. Administer a second dose of the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) at least 4 weeks after the first dose. Physicians who are using the live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) for these children should give a second dose at least 6-10 weeks after the first.
The TIV may be used for any person aged 6 months and older, including those with high-risk conditions. The LAIV is approved only for healthy, nonpregnant individuals aged 5-49 years. The influenza vaccine for the 2007-2008 season contains a new strain called A/Solomon Islands/3/2006 (H1N1)-like, and two strains used in previous vaccines: A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2)-like and B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like viruses.
Vaccination coverage continues to fall short of the CDC's recommendations, and the CDC encourages physicians to be proactive about vaccinating their patients. The updated recommendations will be posted at www.cdc.gov/flu