School flu vaccine program reduces community-wide influenza
hospitalizations

Date:
August 18, 2020
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
A city-wide school influenza vaccine intervention was associated
with a decrease in influenza-associated hospitalizations for all
age groups and a decrease in school absence rates among students
in seasons with an effective influenza vaccine, according to a
new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A city-wide school influenza vaccine intervention was associated with
a decrease in influenza-associated hospitalizations for all age groups
and a decrease in school absence rates among students in seasons with
an effective influenza vaccine, according to a new study published this
week in PLOS Medicine by Jade Benjamin-Chung of University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues.


========================================================================== Seasonal influenza contributes substantially to hospitalization and
mortality, especially among infants and the elderly. Because school-aged children are responsible for the greatest proportion of community-wide influenza transmission, efforts to increase vaccination among children
are thought to have the greatest potential to prevent influenza
epidemics. In the new study, researchers looked at a school-located
influenza vaccination (SLIV) program implemented in more than 95
preschools and elementary schools in Oakland, California. They compared
rates of influenza-associated hospitalization and illness-related school absenteeism in the area with the intervention and another nearby school district with similar characteristics that had not been included in
the intervention.

At the start of the program, influenza vaccination rates were already more
than 50% among elementary school aged children, higher than the rates
seen at the outset of similar interventions. During the first two years
of the program, the vaccination efforts had little effectiveness, but
during this period, the influenza vaccine recommended for children had low effectiveness. By the third and fourth years of the program, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, when the vaccine was effective, influenza vaccination coverage
was 7 and 11% higher among students in the SLIV site. When accounting
for pre-program differences in hospitalizations in each area, in the
2016-2017 school year, this increased vaccination rate was associated
with a decrease of 17 influenza hospitalizations per 100,000 people (95%
CI decrease of 4-30, p=0.008), among all non-elementary-school-aged
people in the community. In the following school year, there were 37
fewer influenza hospitalizations per 100,000 people (95% CI decrease of
19-54, p<0.001), among non-elementary-school-aged people, including 160
fewer influenza hospitalizations per 100,000 people aged 65 and older
(95% CI decrease of 53-267, p=0.004). The increased vaccination rates
at the SLIV site was also associated with a decrease in illness-related
school absences per 100 school days during influenza season.

The authors note that school-year- and school-district-specific
differences unrelated to the SLIV intervention could have influenced
the findings, and that vaccination coverage estimates were based on
caregiver reporting.

Still, "Our findings suggest that in populations with moderately high background levels of influenza vaccination coverage, SLIV programs are associated with further increases in coverage and reduced influenza
across communities," the authors say.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jade Benjamin-Chung, Benjamin F. Arnold, Chris J. Kennedy,
Kunal Mishra,
Nolan Pokpongkiat, Anna Nguyen, Wendy Jilek, Kate Holbrook, Erica
Pan, Pam D. Kirley, Tanya Libby, Alan E. Hubbard, Arthur Reingold,
John M.

Colford. Evaluation of a city-wide school-located influenza
vaccination program in Oakland, California, with respect to
vaccination coverage, school absences, and laboratory-confirmed
influenza: A matched cohort study. PLOS Medicine, 2020; 17 (8):
e1003238 DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pmed.1003238 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200818142139.htm

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