ROUTINE AND INFLUENZA VACCINATION RATES IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA

Background: Children with asthma may be at increased risk for low immu nization rates given that they have recurrent illnesses that often res ult in acute care visits to their pediatrician, visits to the emergenc y room, admissions to the hospital, and visits to subspecialists, wher e immunizations are not routinely administered. Objectives: To assess immunization rates for routine and influenza vaccines in children with asthma and assess factors that may contribute to delay. Methods: We c onducted a cross-sectional survey of 117 children aged 6 to 48 months with onset of asthma within the first 15 months of life. Subjects were recruited from an allergy and immunology clinic at an urban, tertiary care center. Those judged to have immunization delay did not have the required 4 DTP, 3 OPV, and 1 MMR vaccine by age 24 months (4:3:1 seri es). Receipt of influenza vaccine was determined for eligible children with moderate to severe asthma. Results: Seventy-four (80%) children had up-to-date immunizations at age 24 months. Those with delay had fe wer visits to a subspecialist than those who were up-to-date (1 versus 2 visits P = .010). Twenty-two (25%) of 87 eligible subjects received influenza vaccine. Recipients were more likely to have been hospitali zed than nonrecipients (77% versus 49%, P = .022). Conclusions: Though the majority of young children with asthma were up-to-date for routin e immunizations, only 25% of children with moderate to severe asthma r eceived influenza vaccine. Greater efforts must be made by pediatricia ns and asthma subspecialists to ensure that children with moderate to severe asthma are immunized against influenza virus.