Flu (influenza) vaccine and children: what WA parents need to know - 2011

For Medical Advice
  • See your doctor or an After Hours GP
  • Call healthdirect Australia for health advice 24 hours a day on 1800 022 222
  • For emergency or life-threatening conditions, visit an Emergency Department or call triple zero (000) for an ambulance

What is Influenza (flu)?

Influenza, commonly known as flu, is a contagious disease caused by the influenza virus. It is spread by coughing, sneezing, and contact with nasal secretions. Anyone can get flu, but rates of infection and hospitalisation are highest among young children.

Symptoms of flu include:

  • fever
  • cough
  • sore throat
  • headache
  • chills
  • muscle aches
  • tiredness
  • vomiting

Flu is much more severe in infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with certain health conditions – such as heart, lung or kidney disease or a weakened immune system. Flu can cause high fever and pneumonia, and make existing medical conditions worse. Flu can also cause convulsions and diarrhoea in children.

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What is influenza (flu) vaccine?

Inactivated influenza vaccine, or the flu vaccine, contains the outside parts of the killed virus that create an immune response which can protect your child from becoming ill if s/he is exposed to live influenza viruses. Because the flu vaccine contains only killed virus particles – and not living viruses – vaccination cannot cause flu.
 
Influenza viruses are always changing. Each year scientists try to match the strains of influenza viruses in the vaccine to those most likely to cause flu illnesses that year. It takes up to two weeks for protection to develop after vaccination against flu and protection lasts about a year.

This year’s flu vaccine provides protection against three strains of influenza, including the recent pandemic influenza strain. It will not prevent illness caused by other viruses.

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Why should I consider having my child vaccinated against flu?

The National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia's peak body for developing health advice for the community, recommends annual vaccination for anyone six months of age or older who wants to reduce their chances of becoming ill with the flu.

Annual flu vaccination is strongly recommended for anyone six months of age or older with a medical condition that places them at higher risk of severe illness from flu. Children and adults with heart, lung or kidney disease or a weakened immune system, are eligible for free flu vaccine through the National Immunisation Program.

Children without underlying medical conditions who become infected with flu can also develop serious illnesses. Experience from Australia and overseas indicates that the majority of childhood flu-related hospitalisations and deaths occur among children without underlying medical conditions. In 2007, three previously healthy children in Western Australia (WA) died from complications from flu. Since then, WA has made the flu vaccine free to all children over six months and under five years. 

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Some people should not have flu vaccine

Tell your healthcare provider if your child has any severe (life-threatening) allergies.  Flu vaccine virus is grown in eggs. People with a severe egg allergy should not have flu vaccine. A severe allergy to any vaccine component is also a reason not to get the vaccine. Allergic reactions to flu vaccine are rare.

Tell your doctor or nurse if your child has ever had Guillain-Barré Syndrome (a severe illness causing weakness, also called GBS) or any other severe reaction after a dose of flu vaccine. Your child’s doctor will help you decide whether the vaccine is recommended.

People who are acutely unwell should usually wait until they recover before getting flu vaccine. Talk to your doctor or nurse about whether to reschedule the vaccination.

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What are the risks from flu vaccine?

Any medicine including a vaccine can possibly cause serious problems, such as a severe allergic reaction. However, the risk of the flu vaccine causing serious harm is extremely small.

Common, mild reactions that can occur after receiving flu vaccine include low-grade fever; aches; and soreness, redness, or swelling where the vaccine was given. If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the vaccine was given, last 1-2 days, and resolve without specific treatment.

Serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions from flu vaccine can occur, but are very rare. More than 30 years ago a swine flu vaccine used in the USA was possibly associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Since then, flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to GBS and vaccines containing the recent pandemic flu strain have not been associated with GBS.

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What about flu vaccine and febrile convulsions in children?

Last year one brand of flu vaccine was associated with high fevers and fever-related convulsions in young children. This brand of vaccine is no longer being used in Australia for vaccinating children under five years of age. The two other brands used in Australia were not associated with this problem.

Experience from North America, where young children have been vaccinated against flu routinely since 2003, indicates that febrile convulsions after flu vaccination are rare, estimated to be approximately three febrile convulsions per one hundred thousand vaccine doses given to children. By comparison, flu infection is a major cause of febrile convulsions in young children. In a recent study from Europe, flu infection accounted for 10% of all hospitalisations among children during flu season and one in five of the children admitted with flu had a febrile convulsion.

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What if my child has a reaction after flu vaccination?

Take your child to a doctor or hospital emergency department immediately if your child has signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as:

  • difficulty breathing
  • coughing
  • hoarse voice or wheezing
  • hives
  • paleness
  • losing consciousness

If your child develops a fever higher than 38.5oC following vaccination:

  • give him/her paracetamol (not aspirin) as directed, depending on his/her weight/age
  • give extra fluids
  • dress the child lightly

You should also consult your doctor if your child experiences any other unusual symptoms after vaccination, such as a high fever, convulsions, or behaviour changes. Tell your doctor what happened, the date and time it happened, and when the vaccination was given. If your doctor is not available, call healthdirect Australia (1800 022 222, 24 hours a day) where a registered nurse will provide free,fast, expert advice about health issues, and what to do next.

Vaccine safety is continually monitored. If your child has symptoms you think may be a reaction to a vaccine, tell the doctor or nurse who gave the vaccination and ask them to report the reaction to the Western Australia Vaccine Safety Surveillance (WAVSS) system. If this is difficult for you, you may report the reaction yourself at www.wavss.health.wa.gov.au or by calling the Central Immunisation Clinic on 08 9321 1312 (8.30am–4.30pm).

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How can I learn more?

Find out more about the Western Australian Vaccine Safety Surveillance System (WAVSS)

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