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dc.contributor.authorBacker, J A
dc.contributor.authorvan Boven, M
dc.contributor.authorVAN DER Hoek, W
dc.contributor.authorWallinga, J
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-12T11:59:02Z
dc.date.available2019-02-12T11:59:02Z
dc.date.issued2018-10-10
dc.identifier.issn1878-0067
dc.identifier.pmid30529023
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.epidem.2018.10.003
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10029/622721
dc.description.abstractSeasonal influenza causes a high disease burden. Many influenza vaccination programmes target the elderly and persons at high risk of complications. Some countries have recommended or even implemented a paediatric vaccination programme. Such a programme is expected to reduce influenza transmission in the population, offering direct protection to the vaccinated children and indirect protection to the elderly. We study the impact of a child vaccination programme with an age- and risk-structured transmission model, calibrated to data of 11 influenza seasons in the Netherlands. The model tracks the build-up of immunes and susceptibles in each age cohort over time, and it allows for seasonal variation in vaccine match and antigenic drift. Different vaccination strategies are evaluated for three target age groups (2-3, 2-12 and 2-16 year olds) over the full range of vaccination coverages (0-100%). The results show that the paediatric vaccination programme has only a limited impact on the elderly age groups, which account for most influenza morbidity and mortality. This is due to two notable changes in infection dynamics. First, an age shift is observed: influenza infections are reduced in vaccinated children, but are increased in young adults with limited natural immunity after years of vaccination. These young adults assume the role of driving the epidemic. Second, a year with low influenza activity can be followed by a large epidemic due to build-up of susceptibles. This variation of the infection attack rate increases with increasing vaccination coverage. The increased variability in the infection attack rate implies that health care facilities should be prepared for rare but larger peaks in influenza patients. Moreover, vaccinating the group with the highest transmission potential, results in a larger dependency on a secure vaccine supply. These arguments should be taken into account in the decision to introduce mass vaccination of school-aged children against influenza.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectChildrenen_US
dc.subjectInfection attack rateen_US
dc.subjectInfluenza virusen_US
dc.subjectTransmission modelen_US
dc.subjectVaccinationen_US
dc.titleVaccinating children against influenza increases variability in epidemic size.en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.journalEpidemics 2019; 26:95-103en_US
dc.source.journaltitleEpidemics


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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States