Seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among children aged 6 months-18 years --- eight immunization information system sentinel sites, United States, 2009-10 influenza season

Abstract

Annual influenza vaccination was first recommended for children aged 6-23 months and 2-4 years by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2004 and 2006, respectively. In August 2008, ACIP expanded its seasonal influenza vaccination recommendations to also include all children aged 5-18 years no later than the 2009-10 season. To update previous estimates of seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among children aged 6 months-18 years, CDC analyzed data from the eight immunization information system (IIS) sentinel sites for the 2009-10 influenza season. Vaccination coverage with influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine is not included in this report. Average (unweighted) vaccination coverage with ≥1 seasonal influenza vaccine doses was 26.3%, a 5.5 percentage point increase from the 2008-09 season (20.8%). Increases varied by age group, ranging from almost no increase among children aged 6-23 months (55.2% during the 2008-09 season to 55.7% during the 2009-10 season) to notable increases among children aged 2--4 years (from 33.0% to 38.4%), 5-12 years (19.0% to 27.1%), and 13-18 years (10.9% to 15.3%). Full vaccination coverage was low during the 2009-10 season, ranging from 34.7% among children aged 6-23 months to 15.3% among children aged 13-18 years. These findings highlight the need to identify varied strategies and venues for delivering influenza vaccine to different age groups of children to increase vaccination coverage.