title: Influenza vaccination in pediatric age.
abstract: To increase the protective efficacy against influenza in pediatric populations, several attempts to modify the composition or the route of administration of an inactivated influenza vaccine have been made. Adjuvants have been added, vaccines with higher antigen content have been developed and intradermal administration of inactivated influenza vaccine with a variety of devices has been considered. Such attempts to develop universal influenza vaccines will continue to be made. For some time, the knowledge that the licensed influenza vaccines induce strain-specific immunity and may have low efficacy in unexpected outbreaks of new epidemic strains has motivated the development of preparations with broader and longer-lasting protection. Ideally, children would be included early in the evaluation of the efficacy of new vaccines to avoid lengthy delays in making the protection available to this vulnerable population. Moreover, further studies to clarify definitively whether protection of infants <6 months of age can be obtained through vaccination of the pregnant woman have to be performed.
authors: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
authors: Susanna
authors: S
authors: Esposito
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Principi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines
keywords: children; influenza; influenza prevention; influenza vaccine; pediatric infectious diseases