KEYWORDS:
Children, Influenza vaccination

BACKGROUND:
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends influenza vaccination for children aged ³6 months with selected medical conditions associated with increased risk of influenza complications. There is little information describing the number and characteristics of children for whom influenza vaccination is currently recommended.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To estimate the number of children with medical indications for influenza vaccination, and to assess selected characteristics for this cohort.

METHOD(S):
The 1999 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was analyzed to obtain the weighted prevalence of high-risk conditions and the distribution of sociodemographic and access to care variables among children aged 6 months to 17 years.

RESULT(S):
The 1999 NHIS included 12,552 children aged 6 months to 17 years, representing 70,240,000 children in the US population. An estimated 4,928,000 (7.0%) to 8,744,000 (12.5%) children had ³1 medical indication for influenza vaccination, with asthma defined as an episode/attack in the past 12 months versus ever having asthma, respectively. Asthma accounted for 77-88% of high-risk conditions reported. Among children with ³1 high-risk condition (asthma defined as episode/attack in the past year): 78% were aged 5-17 years; 64% were white, 20% black, 12% Hispanic and 4% other race/ethnicity; 93% had health insurance; 97% had a usual place for health care; 96% had contact with a doctor in the past year; and 16% lived below the poverty line.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
Strategies to reach children for whom influenza vaccination is recommended should target medical providers because most of these children have access to and utilize health services regularly.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To describe the size and characteristics of the US population of children with medical indications for influenza vaccination.