Dataset Information

The population impact of a large school-based influenza vaccination campaign.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The optimal vaccination strategy to mitigate the impact of influenza epidemics is unclear. In 2005, a countywide school-based influenza vaccination campaign was launched in Knox County, Tennessee (population 385,899). Approximately 41% and 48% of eligible county children aged 5-17 years were immunized with live attenuated influenza vaccine before the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 influenza seasons, respectively. We sought to determine the population impact of this campaign.

Methods

Laboratory-confirmed influenza data defined influenza seasons. We calculated the incidence of medically attended acute respiratory illness attributable to influenza in Knox and Knox-surrounding counties (concurrent controls) during consecutive seasons (5 precampaign and 2 campaign seasons) using negative binomial regression and rate difference methods. Age-stratified analyses compared the incidence of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations attributable to influenza.

Results

During precampaign seasons, estimated ED visit rates attributable to influenza were 12.39 (95% CI: 10.34-14.44) per 1000 Knox children aged 5-17 years and similar in Knox-surrounding counties. During the campaign seasons, annual Knox influenza-associated ED visit rates declined relative to rates in Knox-surrounding counties: rate ratios 0.55 (95% CI: 0.27-0.83) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.56-0.84) for the first and second campaign seasons, respectively. Overall, there were about 35% or 4.86 per 1000 fewer influenza-associated ED visits among Knox County children aged 5-17 years attributable to the campaign. No significant declines in Knox compared to surrounding counties were detected for influenza associated ED visits in children aged <5 years, all adults combined or selected adult age subgroups, although power for these analyses was limited. Alternate rate-difference analyses yielded consistent results.

Conclusion

Vaccination of approximately 45% of Knox school-aged children with influenza vaccine was associated with a 35% annual reduction (4.86 per 1000) in ED visit rates attributable to influenza. Higher vaccination coverage and/or larger studies would be needed to determine whether similar interventions have indirect benefits in other age groups.

SUBMITTER: Grijalva CG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3013075 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The population impact of a large school-based influenza vaccination campaign.

Grijalva Carlos G CG Zhu Yuwei Y Simonsen Lone L Mitchel Edward E Griffin Marie R MR

PloS one 20101130 11

<h4>Background</h4>The optimal vaccination strategy to mitigate the impact of influenza epidemics is unclear. In 2005, a countywide school-based influenza vaccination campaign was launched in Knox County, Tennessee (population 385,899). Approximately 41% and 48% of eligible county children aged 5-17 years were immunized with live attenuated influenza vaccine before the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 influenza seasons, respectively. We sought to determine the population impact of this campaign.<h4>Metho ...[more]

PMID: 21209872

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Project description:BackgroundSchool-based influenza vaccination campaigns could mitigate the effects of influenza epidemics. A large countywide school-based vaccination campaign was launched in Knox County, Tennessee, in 2005. Assessment of campaign effects requires identification of appropriate control populations. We hypothesized that contiguous counties would share similar pre-campaign patterns of influenza activity.MethodsWe compared the burden of influenza emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations between Knox County (Knox) and eight counties surrounding Knox (Knox-surrounding) during five consecutive pre-campaign influenza seasons (2000-01 through 2004-05). Laboratory-defined influenza seasons were used to measure the weekly incidence of medically attended acute respiratory illnesses (MAARI) attributable to influenza in school-aged children 5-17 years old (campaign target) as well as in other age groups. Seasonal rates of MAARI attributable to influenza for Knox and Knox-surrounding counties were compared using rate ratios.ResultsDuring five consecutive influenza seasons, MAARI attributable to influenza showed synchronous temporal patterns in school-aged children from Knox and Knox-surrounding counties. The average seasonal rates of ED visits attributable to influenza were 12.37 (95% CI: 10.32-14.42) and 13.14 (95% CI: 11.23-15.05) per 1000, respectively. The respective average seasonal influenza hospitalization rates for Knox and Knox-surrounding were 0.38 (95% CI: 0-0.79) and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.07-0.85) per 1000 children. Rate ratio analyses indicated no significant differences in the incidence of MAARI attributable to influenza between school-aged children from Knox and Knox-surrounding counties. Estimates for other age groups showed similar patterns.ConclusionBefore the Knox school-based influenza vaccination campaign, influenza resulted in an average of about 12 ED visits and 0.4 hospitalizations per 1000 school-aged children annually in Knox County. Since similar morbidity was observed in surrounding counties, they could serve as a control population for the assessment of the campaign effects.

Project description:BACKGROUND:School-age children are important drivers of annual influenza epidemics yet influenza vaccination coverage of this population is low despite universal publicly funded influenza vaccination in Alberta, Canada. Immunizing children at school may potentially increase vaccine uptake. As parents are a key stakeholder group for such a program, it is important to consider their concerns. PURPOSE:We explored parents' perspectives on the acceptability of adding an annual influenza immunization to the immunization program that is currently delivered in Alberta schools, and obtained suggestions for structuring such a program. PARTICIPANTS:Forty-eight parents of children aged 5-18 years participated in 9 focus groups. Participants lived in urban areas of the Alberta Health Services Calgary Zone. FINDINGS:Three major themes emerged: Advantages of school-based influenza vaccination (SBIV), Disadvantages of SBIV, and Implications for program design & delivery. Advantages were perceived to occur for different populations: children (e.g. emotional support), families (e.g. convenience), the community (e.g. benefits for school and multicultural communities), the health sector (e.g. reductions in costs due to burden of illness) and to society at large (e.g. indirect conduit of information about health services, building structure for pandemic preparedness, building healthy lifestyles). Disadvantages, however, might also occur for children (e.g. older children less likely to be immunized), families (e.g. communication challenges, perceived loss of parental control over information, choices and decisions) and the education sector (loss of instructional time). Nine second-level themes emerged within the major theme of Implications for program design & delivery: program goals/objectives, consent process, stakeholder consultation, age-appropriate program, education, communication, logistics, immunizing agent, and clinic process. CONCLUSIONS:Parents perceived advantages and disadvantages to delivering annual seasonal influenza immunizations to children at school. Their input gives a framework of issues to address in order to construct robust, acceptable programs for delivering influenza or other vaccines in schools.

Dataset Information

The population impact of a large school-based influenza vaccination campaign.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

The population impact of a large school-based influenza vaccination campaign.

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