FROM THE PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE JOURNAL
Poor influenza vaccination rates in children with chronic diseases is primarily due to poor parental understanding of influenza risk and vaccination benefits, according to Janita Pak Chun Chau, PhD, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and associates.
Studies show that children with chronic conditions “are at a disproportionately higher risk for severe influenza-associated complications, causing increased visits to outpatient or emergency departments, longer hospital stays, and higher mortality,” the researchers said.
A total of 623 parents of children with chronic conditions in Hong Kong were included in the study. The most common chronic condition was asthma, followed by chronic respiratory disease and cardiomyopathy. Only 33% of children had received an influenza vaccination in the previous 12 months, and 57% of children had ever received one.
Just under 40% of parents indicated intent to have their children vaccinated in the next 12 months. Parents who had their children vaccinated were more aware of vaccination benefits and considered vaccination a social norm, compared with parents who had not had their children vaccinated. Television was by far the most common source of information about influenza, followed by health professionals, and newspapers and magazines.
“Development of community-based influenza vaccination programs by health care professionals targeted to promote awareness and communicate the benefits and effectiveness of the vaccines in children with chronic conditions, as well as clarifying safety issues concerning the vaccination, may be able to promote the uptake of influenza vaccination,” the investigators wrote.
Find the study in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (doi: INF.0000000000001550 ).
