Technical guidelines for the application of seasonal influenza vaccine in China (2014–2015)

Abstract

Influenza, caused by the influenza virus, is a respiratory infectious disease that can severely affect human health. Influenza viruses undergo frequent antigenic changes, thus could spread quickly. Influenza causes seasonal epidemics and outbreaks in public gatherings such as schools, kindergartens, and nursing homes. Certain populations are at risk for severe illness from influenza, including pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and people in any ages with certain chronic diseases.

Seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness against medically attended influenza illness among children aged 6–59 months, October 2011–September 2012: A matched test-negative case–control study in Suzhou, China

“…Children younger than 5 years of age have high rates of hospitalization attributable to influenza which may be similar to or greater than rates among the elderly [4][5][6][7]. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) recommend annual vaccination with influenza vaccine for young children aged 6 months to 5 years [8,9], influenza vaccination coverage among children less than 5 years of age in China has been low, varying from a low of 8.6% to a high of 26.4% between the 2009 and the 2012 influenza seasons, with no increasing trend by year [10,11]. Limited data from China Please cite this article in press as: Wang regarding seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness among young children is one of the obstacles to increasing influenza vaccine coverage in this population in China.…”

Recommendations for influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccination in elderly people in China

“…The IIVs include three types: whole‐virus vaccine, split‐virus vaccine, and subunit vaccine. The influenza vaccines currently used in China are all trivalent IIVs (TIVs) 13 …”

“…The WHO recommends that influenza vaccine components be updated annually because of the ever‐changing antigenic nature of influenza virus. To provide maximum protection for the vaccinated population, it is still recommended that recipients vaccinate again in the current influenza season, as the antibody titers in most vaccine recipients decline substantially after a year, even if the antigenic influenza vaccine components are exactly the same as those in the previous season 13 …”

“…Inoculation with IIVs is generally safe in adults 27‐30 . The most common adverse events are transient local reactions at the injection sites, such as pain, erythema, and swelling 13 . Vaccination recipients without a history of influenza vaccine antigen exposure may experience transient symptoms, such as fever, malaise, and myalgia, 31 but these do not occur frequently in adults 32 .…”

“…The common adverse effects are local and systemic reactions. The local reactions include redness and swelling, pain, bruising, and induration of the injection site 13 . Systemic effects include fever, chills, headache, sweating, myalgia, joint pain, discomfort, and fatigue 31 .…”