Not enough asthmatic kids get flu shot

Only 29 percent of U.S. children with asthma get the flu vaccine even though it is recommended to protect against serious influenza complications common with asthma, federal health officials said on Thursday.

The first national estimate of how many asthmatic children get the vaccine shows far too few do, even though they risk getting dangerous complications from flu that can land them in the hospital.

"That number is a bummer -- it's an embarrassment," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

Asthma, an inflammatory condition of the airways, can trigger attacks of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing.

The inflammation makes it more difficult for air to move in and out of the lungs. Breathing sometimes becomes so labored that asthma attacks can turn life-threatening.

The study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 29 percent of children aged 2 to 17 with asthma got flu shots during the 2004-2005 flu season, compared to 10 percent of children who do not have asthma. The
CDC recommends that all children older than 6 months who have asthma get the flu vaccine each year.

"The most surprising thing was just how low the coverage rate was, at 29 percent. We really actually would hope for 100 percent," said CDC epidemiologist Susan Brim, who led the study.

"I think a lot of parents and maybe even some physicians just aren't aware of the recommendation," Brim added, who suggested that parents make an appointment well in advance for a doctor to give their child the vaccine in the autumn.

Children with asthma face increased risk for complications from flu. Influenza viral infections can provoke asthma attacks that could require hospitalization and may predispose these children to developing pneumonia.

"Every parent of an asthmatic knows who they are, and they really do have to bring the children in to be vaccinated," added Schaffner, also the vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

The findings were based on a 2005 national survey with data on about 5,000 children, about a 10th of whom had asthma. Vaccination levels remained largely consistent for asthmatic children of all ages. For children without asthma, the most likely to have gotten the vaccine were those ages 2 to 4.