Safety and efficacy of live attenuated influenza vaccine in children 2-7 years of age

Abstract

Three pivotal trials supported the licensure of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) for children > or =2 years of age: 2 placebo-controlled studies each conducted over 2 seasons, and a 1-year trial comparing LAIV with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV). Analyses were conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LAIV in the subgroup of children > or =2 years of age from these trials. Efficacy was demonstrated compared with placebo in children aged 2-7 years in seasons with matched strains (69.2% [95% CI: 52.7, 80.4] and 94.6% [95% CI: 88.6, 97.5]), seasons with primarily mismatched strains (87% [95% CI: 77.0, 92.6]), and during late season epidemics (73.8% [95% CI: 40.4, 89.4]). Compared with TIV recipients, LAIV recipients aged 2-5 years had 52.5% (95% CI: 26.7, 68.7) and 54.4% (95% CI: 41.8, 64.5) fewer cases of influenza illness against matched and mismatched strains, respectively. No unusual or unexpected adverse reactions were noted. The adverse reactions most commonly associated with LAIV were runny nose/nasal congestion and low-grade fever. Hospitalizations and medically significant wheezing were increased in children 6-11 and 6-23 months of age who received LAIV, respectively, but were not increased in children 2-5 years of age.