Children with asthma and recurrent wheezing who received the intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) did not experience increased lower respiratory events (LREs) compared with children who received the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) injection, a large study has found.
James D. Nordin, MD, HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study in 4771 children aged 2 to 17 years with asthma who received one or more influenza vaccines before and after the implementation of a guideline recommending LAIV over IIV for children with asthma or recurrent wheezing.
The current recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are more cautious about the use of LAIV in children with asthma or recurrent wheezing.
"Currently, LAIV is not recommended for children 2-4 [years of age] with asthma," coauthor Elyse O. Kharbanda, MD, MPH, also of HealthPartners Institute, told Medscape Medical News. "For children 5 and older, asthma is a precaution for receiving LAIV. As far as we know there have not been any recent changes to these guidelines."
The researchers published their findings online June 10 in Vaccine.
"We believe that the findings from this study, along with those from related studies, support the safety of LAIV in children 2 [years] and older, including those with asthma or reactive airway disease," Kharbanda said.
