BIOTRENDS
January/February
2006 -Volume 2
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Vaccination of Children against Influenza
Shadi Farhangrazi
A couple of months ago, I saw a news clip about an organization called Families Fighting Flu. Upon learning more about them, I recognized that we needed to bring them to the attention of our readers. Families Fighting Flu is a non-profit alliance of a group of families and pediatricians who have experienced first-hand what it is like to lose a child to influenza or to have a child experience severe medical complications associated with contracting flu. The alliance was incorporated in 2005 with the mission of reducing pediatric deaths due to flu by raising awareness about the importance of getting all children vaccinated against flu. Families Fighting Flu is promoting annual universal pediatric influenza vaccination. In addition, the alliance encourages all families and individuals who have either lost a child to flu or whose child has experienced medical complications from the virus to come forward and join together through this alliance for support and to work for flu research and prevention.
We encourage our readers who have young children to learn more about complications of influenza and potential complications of the vaccine and antiviral medications and discuss the facts with their pediatricians. Below is an interview with one of the founders of Families Fighting Flu and an overview of the current recommendations by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with respect to vaccination of children against influenza. In addition, you'll find a brief list of things you and your children can do to prevent getting flu.
Interview with Joe Lastinger, secretary, treasurer, board member and one of the founders of Families Fighting Flu.
Shadi: Good Afternoon Joe, thank you for talking with us today. Joe, Please tell us about your role and position with the organization.
Joe Lastinger : I am currently the secretary and treasurer for Families Fighting Flu and a board member. Families Fighting Flu is a group of families who either have lost a child from influenza or have a child who experienced extreme or severe complications of the influenza infection. We have been together as a group for a little over a year and as a group and as parents we are working very hard to encourage universal pediatric influenza vaccination. We are also trying to spread the word to parents about the seriousness of influenza.
Shadi: Joe, you actually got a little into my second question which has to do with the main goals of the Families Fighting Flu and why you decided to start the organization.
Joe Lastinger : I can speak for myself and my wife, but I think it's probably true for other families too. When you lose a child, especially when you lose a child to influenza, it is a shock. It was a shock to us to lose our Emily. Emily was three and half. She was a beautiful, healthy little girl. When she contracted flu, we thought she was going to be sick for a little longer than a cold. We did not know what to expect. We certainly did not think that the flu could kill her. It did—in five days. So our struggle to learn more about the illness and to learn what we could do to prevent it led us down the road towards vaccination. You know we did not have Emily vaccinated and as we looked back on the things that we could have done as parents to [have] prevented her death, we came to and focused on vaccination. And I think the other families in Families Fighting Flu have done that same thing. So we are united around spreading the word on the importance of vaccination.
And also another thing: Why didn't we get her vaccinated. Because: a) we didn't know and we did not think of the flu as some thing serious and worthy of our attention. Also b) no one told us to. Her pediatrician did not recommend it and the reason the pediatrician did not recommend it was because Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ( ACIP) doesn't recommend it [the vaccine] for healthy children. Some children on the current vaccination policy receive shots or are prioritized for shots. Their pediatricians are informing those parents that they [the children] should get the vaccination. And many healthy children in different age groups like Emily, are not [vaccinated]. The parents are not getting that advice. They are not being advised by their pediatrician [that their children] should get vaccinated. So as a group of families at Families Fighting Flu we would like to really see that changed.
Shadi : Joe, Thank you for sharing your story with us. You talk about the role of pediatricians. Have you talked to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and if you have what is their suggestion?
Joe Lastinger : We have certainly spoken to the employees of the CDC. We have attended ACIP meetings, where some of the members of our group have actually addressed the ACIP.
Interestingly enough, it was first a conversation I had with an epidemiologist at the CDC which first led me to get to know another family. They were also looking for answers, trying to understand influenza, and had also reached out to CDC with clinical and medical questions. But I don't know if there was one single person who had all the answers with whom we had contact, [or who could] explain to us why it is that they did not recommend this [the vaccination] for all children.
Shadi: Joe, what do you want people to know? Obviously, by talking to us, through our website you are talking to many families around the country? What do you want the parents of young children to know?
Joe Lastinger : On our website, www.familiesfightingflu.org, we have information about flu, information and links for parents, and information on the families and their stories. We also encourage people to visit the CDC's website where they maintain a significant amount of information about the flu, its signs, symptoms and what to do plus everything you want to know as parents. You can find it on CDC's website. These are the two websites I would recommend [see links below].
Shadi: How many families and individual members do you have now?
Joe Lastinger : We have six core families now, and through some of the efforts in reaching out, we have had other families contacting us who have lost children to influenza. As people become more aware of our organization, I think we will grow. We also have extended family members like sisters, brothers and uncles who are involved. We do not have formal membership requirements in that you have to submit an application. We certainly have a lot of helping hands, but we could use more.
Shadi: So you would be interested if families across the country want to become members.
Joe Lastinger : All they need to do is to contact us. For example, just yesterday, a family from the state of Missouri , who had also seen an interview with us and had lost a child to influenza in 2003, contacted us by e-mail. We are now in the process of reaching out to them and seeing if they want to participate and if so how. The process is really simple. Just contact us. If they want to help or participate in some way, just reach out to us.
Shadi: Do you have any partner organizations or companies?
Joe Lastinger : At this point we are fairly young. We have spent this past year, focusing on the core missions which are: getting organized, attending ACIP meetings, and spreading the word to the families on universal vaccination. I think this next year we have identified some companies and organizations to reach out to. At this point we do not have formal network or partnering relationships with organizations and companies. We do however, have one sponsor. We get some funding to help out with our activities from MedImmune.
Shadi: What are your goals for this coming year and for the next couple of years?
Joe Lastinger : In the long term, the first priority is to educate parents about flu and that children are particularly vulnerable against influenza. And as parents you never know how influenza is going to affect your children. You know, with Emily, she was the epitome of health. She was vibrant, robust, ran and played and jumped, yet in five days she was taken from us. That's the power of influenza. They need to talk to their pediatricians. It is important for parents to take influenza seriously—above all, that vaccination is one of the best tools that you have to protect your kids. Secondly, we are encouraging universal vaccination for kids. Realistically, to make vaccines available to all the parents and protect the children is to have it recommended by ACIP. That sets a whole chain of events in motion from manufacturing to the pediatrician support to educational materials. Really I would say those are the two main things. Outside that, as a group, we want to be supportive of the people who contact us. So the third goal to have open channel and communications with families who want to join us. The fourth goal as we discussed is to find the right kinds of partners--whether, they are non-profit organizations or groups of physicians--and things that can help us to spread the message.
Shadi: What kind of responses have you had from the pediatricians you have talked to?
Joe Lastinger : Generally very good. We would like to have more pediatricians join us. We have had a few who have joined us and some who are considering joining. Generally the response has been very positive. In fact, if you look at our website, and read some of the comments, you see that there are some physicians who have signed our guest book with some comments on their own experiences with flu, the effect on children or vaccination. If you look at the guest book, you get a sense of the types of responses we get from the pediatricians.
Shadi: Do you have any other children?
Joe Lastinger: My wife and I have three children. We have two older boys 9 and 7 and a daughter Ally, who was born two weeks after Emily died. Emily would have been three and half years old exactly to the day.
Shadi: Joe, I am very sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story and more information about your organization, Families Fighting Flu, with us. Please send us any updates you might have in the future. We will be happy to include it in future issues of Biotrends.
http://www.familiesfightingflu.org/
What does CDC suggest?
Based on the website of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CDC recommended in 2004 that all children 6 months to 23 months old get a flu shot:
CDC states that recent studies have shown that children less than 2 years old – even healthy children – are more likely than older children to end up in the hospital if they get flu and, in some cases, they can die. Therefore, to protect their health, all children 6 months to 23 months old should be vaccinated against flu. (The flu shot is not approved for use in children less than 6 months old.)
The CDC's website also include information on t wo studies published in 2000 which showed the same results: that otherwise healthy children under 2 years old were more likely to be hospitalized for serious flu complications than older, healthy children. These studies were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Pediatrics .
The CDC also states that d uring the 2003-2004 flu season, the CDC received reports of 152 flu-related deaths among children under age 18.
• All of these children had influenza infection diagnosed by lab tests.
• Most of the children were less than 5 years old.
• Almost half of the children had an underlying medical condition, but 40 percent were previously healthy.
• Of the 135 children who died who could have been vaccinated, only 5 were “adequately” vaccinated against flu. Seventy-six children had not been vaccinated against flu at all.
According to the CDC's website, the best time to get vaccinated is October or November. Children getting a flu shot for the first time will need two doses given 30 days apart so begin the process sooner than later. The first dose primes the immune system; the second dose provides immune protection.
For more information visit: nts.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/infants.htm
In addition, CDC's website suggests some good health habits for this cold and flu season which are very important in helping prevent contracting influenza. Here is what they say:
To learn more visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm
