Prevention of influenza in healthy children

Abstract

Healthy children are high transmitters of influenza and can experience poor influenza outcomes. Many questions remain about the efficacy and impect of preventive measures because most existing studies report imprecise proxies of influenza incidence, do not follow subjects throughout the entire influenza season and across multiple influenza seasons, or do not control for important factors such as timing of implementation and social contact patterns. Modeling and simulation are key methodologies to answer questions regarding influenza prevention. While vaccination may be the most efficacious existing intervention, variations in circulating strains and children’s immune systems keep current vaccines from being fully protective, necessitating further clinical and economic studies and technology improvements. Hand hygiene appears to be an important adjunct but improving compliance, standardizing regimens and quantifying its impact remain challenging. Future studies should help better define the specific indications and circumstances for antiviral use and the role of nutritional supplements and nonpharmaceutical interventions.

Keywords::

• antiviral medications
• healthy children
• influenza
• influenza prevention
• nonpharmaceutical interventions
• vaccination

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Sarah M Bartsch, MPH, Coordinator and Senior Analyst of the Public Health Computational Operations Research (PHICOR) group, and Michelle Lee, Assistant Analyst in PHICOR.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This manuscript was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) grant 5U54GM088491-02 and by the CDC grant U01 IP000467. The funders had no role in the design, preparation, review or approval of the manuscript. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.