Children with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality if they contract influenza. Thus, annual influenza vaccination, while important for all children >6 months of age, is paramount for children with underlying medical conditions. And yet we struggle to get all of these children vaccinated each year.

In this week’s Pediatrics(10.1542/peds.2020-1433), we publish a systematic review conducted by Dr. Daniel Norman et al of interventions targeted to improving influenza vaccination rates in children with underlying medical conditions. These conditions included: diabetes mellitus, asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, cystic fibrosis, cancer, solid organ transplant, inflammatory bowel disease, and sickle cell disease. There were also several studies that did not specify which medical conditions they included. 

Dr. Norman and his colleagues analyzed 35 articles in this systematic review. They found significant improvements in vaccination coverage with:

• Vaccination reminders or education for providers
• Vaccination reminders or education for parents
• Clinic process improvements (through quality improvement projects) related to vaccines

Each of these interventions individually improved vaccination coverage by ~60%. No one intervention was significantly better than the others.

Take a look at this article. The details may give you some ideas for evidence-based interventions that you can use to improve influenza vaccination coverage among these high-risk patients in your practice.