Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2016–17 Influenza Season
Lisa A. Grohskopf, MD; Leslie Z. Sokolow, MSc, MPH; Karen R. Broder, MD; et al.
MMWR Recomm Rep 2016;65:1–54
This report updates the 2015–16 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of seasonal influenza. Routine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged =6 months. For the 2016–17 influenza season, inactivated influenza vaccines (IIVs) will be available in both trivalent (IIV3) and quadrivalent (IIV4) formulations. Recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV) will be available in a trivalent formulation (RIV3). In light of concerns regarding poor effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the United States during the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons, for the 2016–17 season, ACIP makes the interim recommendation that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4) should not be used. Vaccine virus strains included in the 2016–17 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will be an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)–like virus, and a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus (Victoria lineage). Quadrivalent vaccines will include an additional influenza B virus strain, a B/Phuket/3073/2013–like virus (Yamagata lineage). These recommendations apply to all licensed influenza vaccines used within Food and Drug Administration–licensed indications, including those licensed after the publication date of this report. Updates and other information are available at CDC’s influenza website (http://www.cdc.gov/flu). Vaccination and health care providers should check CDC’s influenza website periodically for additional information.
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| MMWR Recommendations and Reports Vol. 65, No. RR-5 August 26, 2016 |
Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines
Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2016–17 Influenza Season
Recommendations and Reports / August 26, 2016 / 65(5);1–54
Lisa A. Grohskopf, MD1; Leslie Z. Sokolow, MSc, MPH1,2; Karen R. Broder, MD3; Sonja J. Olsen, PhD1; Ruth A. Karron, MD4; Daniel B. Jernigan, MD1; Joseph S. Bresee, MD1 (View author affiliations)
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This report updates the 2015–16 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines (Grohskopf LA, Sokolow LZ, Olsen SJ, Bresee JS, Broder KR, Karron RA. Prevention and control of influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, United States, 2015–16 influenza season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2015;64:818–25). Routine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications. For the 2016–17 influenza season, inactivated influenza vaccines (IIVs) will be available in both trivalent (IIV3) and quadrivalent (IIV4) formulations. Recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV) will be available in a trivalent formulation (RIV3). In light of concerns regarding low effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the United States during the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons, for the 2016–17 season, ACIP makes the interim recommendation that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4) should not be used. Vaccine virus strains included in the 2016–17 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will be an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)–like virus, and a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus (Victoria lineage). Quadrivalent vaccines will include an additional influenza B virus strain, a B/Phuket/3073/2013–like virus (Yamagata lineage).
Recommendations for use of different vaccine types and specific populations are discussed. A licensed, age-appropriate vaccine should be used. No preferential recommendation is made for one influenza vaccine product over another for persons for whom more than one licensed, recommended product is otherwise appropriate. This information is intended for vaccination providers, immunization program personnel, and public health personnel. Information in this report reflects discussions during public meetings of ACIP held on October 21, 2015; February 24, 2016; and June 22, 2016. These recommendations apply to all licensed influenza vaccines used within Food and Drug Administration–licensed indications, including those licensed after the publication date of this report. Updates and other information are available at CDC’s influenza website (http://www.cdc.gov/flu). Vaccination and health care providers should check CDC’s influenza website periodically for additional information.
Introduction
Influenza viruses typically circulate widely in the United States annually, from the late fall through early spring. Although most persons who become infected with influenza viruses will recover without sequelae, influenza can cause serious illness and death, particularly among older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and those with chronic medical conditions (1–3). During 31 seasons from the 1976–77 through the 2006–07 season, estimated influenza-associated deaths ranged from approximately 3,300 to 49,000 annually (4). Annual influenza vaccination is the primary means of preventing influenza and its complications. A variety of different types of influenza vaccine are available. Abbreviation conventions for the different types of vaccine have evolved over time ( Box). Routine annual influenza vaccination for all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications has been recommended by CDC and CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since 2010 (5). This report updates the 2015–16 ACIP recommendations regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines (6) and provides recommendations and guidance for vaccination providers regarding the use of influenza vaccines for the 2016–17 season.
Methods
ACIP provides annual recommendations for the prevention and control of influenza. The ACIP Influenza Work Group meets by teleconference once to twice per month throughout the year. Work Group membership includes several voting members of ACIP and representatives of ACIP Liaison Organizations.* Discussions include topics such as influenza surveillance, vaccine effectiveness and safety, vaccine coverage, program feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and vaccine supply. Presentations are requested from invited experts, and published and unpublished data are discussed.
For unchanged recommendations, literature published since release of the last ACIP influenza Recommendations and Reports in MMWR (September, 2013) (7) was reviewed. Updates to the recommendations described in in this document are of three types: 1) the vaccine viruses included in the 2016–17 seasonal influenza vaccines, 2) new vaccine licensures and approvals, and 3) an interim recommendation that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4) not be used during the 2016–17 season.
Recommendations for vaccine viruses to be included in Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccines are made by the World Health Organization (WHO), which organizes a consultation, generally in February of each year, to make recommendations for vaccine composition. Surveillance data are reviewed and candidate vaccine viruses are discussed. A summary of the WHO meeting for selection of the 2016–17 Northern Hemisphere vaccine viruses is available at http://www.who.int/influenza/vaccines/virus/recommendations/201602_recommendation.pdf?ua=1. Subsequently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has regulatory authority over vaccines in the United States, convenes a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which considers the recommendations of WHO, reviews and discusses similar data, and makes a final decision regarding vaccine virus composition for influenza vaccines licensed and marketed in the United States. A summary of the FDA VRBPAC meeting of March 4, 2016, at which composition of the 2016–17 U.S. influenza vaccines was discussed, is available athttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/BloodVaccinesandOtherBiologics/VaccinesandRelatedBiologicalProductsAdvisoryCommittee/UCM494071.pdf.
With regard to recommendations for newly licensed influenza vaccines and changes to the licensed indications for existing vaccines, ACIP relies on FDA, which has regulatory authority for review of safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness data and licensure of influenza vaccines. Regulatory information pertinent to the two recently licensed products discussed in this report may be found at http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/ucm473989.htm (for Fluad; Seqirus, Holly Springs, North Carolina) and athttp://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm502844.htm (for Flucelvax; Seqirus, Holly Springs, North Carolina).
For interim changes in the recommendation for use of LAIV4, in June 2016, ACIP reviewed newly available data concerning the effectiveness of LAIV4 for the 2015–16 season. The information reviewed comes from three unpublished observational studies. Presentations of preliminary data reviewed by the ACIP may be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/meetings-info.html. Minutes of the June ACIP meeting may be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/minutes-archive.html. ACIP will review subsequent data as they become available.
Information presented in this report reflects recommendations presented during ACIP public meetings and approved on October 21, 2015; February 24, 2016; and June 22, 2016. Meeting minutes and information on ACIP membership and conflicts of interest are available on the ACIP website (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip). Modifications were made to the ACIP recommendations during subsequent review at CDC to update and clarify wording in the document. Further updates, if needed, will be posted at CDC’s influenza website (http://www.cdc.gov/flu).
Primary Changes and Updates in the Recommendations
Routine annual influenza vaccination of all persons aged ≥6 months without contraindications continues to be recommended. No preferential recommendation is made for one influenza vaccine product over another for persons for whom more than one licensed, recommended product is otherwise appropriate. Updated information and guidance in this document includes the following:
- In light of low effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the United States during the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons, for the 2016–17 season, ACIP makes the interim recommendation that LAIV4 should not be used. Because LAIV4 is still a licensed vaccine that might be available and that some providers might elect to use, for informational purposes, reference is made to previous recommendations for its use.
- 2016–17 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will contain an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)–like virus and a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus (Victoria lineage). Quadrivalent vaccines will include an additional vaccine virus strain, a B/Phuket/3073/2013–like virus (Yamagata lineage).
- Recent new vaccine licensures are discussed:
- An MF59-adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV3), Fluad (Seqirus, Holly Springs, North Carolina), was licensed by FDA in November 2015 for persons aged ≥65 years. Regulatory information is available at http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/ucm473989.htm. aIIV3 is an acceptable alternative to other vaccines licensed for persons in this age group. ACIP and CDC do not express a preference for any particular vaccine product.
- A quadrivalent formulation of Flucelvax (cell culture-based inactivated influenza vaccine [ccIIV4], Seqirus, Holly Springs, North Carolina) was licensed by FDA in May 2016, for persons aged ≥4 years. Regulatory information is available at: http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm502844.htm. ccIIV4 is an acceptable alternative to other vaccines licensed for persons in this age group. No preference is expressed for any particular vaccine product.
- Recommendations for influenza vaccination of persons with egg allergy have been modified, including
- Removal of the recommendation that egg-allergic recipients should be observed for 30 minutes postvaccination for signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction. Providers should consider observing all patients for 15 minutes after vaccination to decrease the risk for injury should they experience syncope, per the ACIP General Recommendations on Immunization (8).
- A recommendation that persons with a history of severe allergic reaction to egg (i.e., any symptom other than hives) should be vaccinated in an inpatient or outpatient medical setting (including but not necessarily limited to hospitals, clinics, health departments, and physician offices), under the supervision of a health care provider who is able to recognize and manage severe allergic conditions.
Background and Epidemiology
Biology of Influenza
Influenza A and B are the two types of influenza viruses that cause epidemic human disease. Influenza A and B viruses are further separated into subtypes (for A viruses) and lineages (for B viruses) on the basis of antigenic differences. Influenza A viruses are categorized into subtypes on the basis of characterization of two surface antigens: hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Influenza A(H1N1) viruses, influenza A(H3N2) viruses, and influenza B viruses co-circulate globally. New influenza virus variants emerge as a result of point mutations and recombination events that occur during viral replication, resulting in frequent antigenic change (i.e., antigenic drift) (9). Immunity to surface antigens, HA and NA, reduces likelihood of infection (10,11). Antibody against one influenza virus type or subtype confers limited or no protection against another type or subtype (12). Frequent emergence of antigenic variants through antigenic drift is the virologic basis for seasonal epidemics and necessitates consideration for adjustment of vaccine viruses each season.
Larger genetic changes, or antigenic shifts, occur among influenza A viruses, less frequently than antigenic drift events. The new or substantially different influenza A virus subtypes resulting from antigenic shifts have the potential to cause pandemics when they cause human illness because they might be transmitted efficiently from human to human in a sustained manner and because there is little or no pre-existing immunity among humans (9). In April 2009, human infections with a novel influenza A(H1N1) virus caused a worldwide pandemic. This virus was antigenically distinct from human influenza A(H1N1) viruses in circulation from 1977 through spring 2009. The HA gene is related most closely to that of contemporary influenza A viruses circulating among pigs during several preceding decades. This HA gene is believed to have evolved from the avian-origin 1918 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus and is thought to have entered human and swine populations at about the same time (13,14).
Influenza B viruses are separated into two distinct genetic lineages (Yamagata and Victoria) but are not categorized into subtypes. Influenza B viruses undergo antigenic drift less rapidly than influenza A viruses (15). Influenza B viruses from both lineages have co-circulated in most influenza seasons since the 1980s (16,17). The trivalent influenza vaccines available in recent seasons have contained one influenza B virus, representing only one lineage. The proportion of circulating influenza B viruses that are of the lineage represented in the vaccine has varied. During the 10 seasons from 2001–02 through 2010–11, the predominant circulating influenza B virus lineage in the United States was represented in the trivalent vaccine in only five seasons (18). During the 11 seasons from 2004–05 through 2015–16 (the 2009 pandemic period was excluded because there was minimal influenza B activity), the more prevalent circulating B lineage was represented in the vaccine in eight seasons (CDC, unpublished data, 2016).
Burden of Influenza Illness
Although precise timing of the onset, peak, and end of influenza activity varies from one season to the next, annual epidemics of seasonal influenza typically occur in the United States between October and April. Studies that report rates of clinical outcomes without laboratory confirmation of influenza (e.g., respiratory illness requiring hospitalization during influenza season) can be difficult to interpret because of coincident circulation of other respiratory pathogens (e.g., respiratory syncytial virus) (19–21). However, increases in health care provider visits for acute febrile respiratory illness occur annually, coinciding with periods of increased influenza activity, making influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance systems valuable in understanding the seasonal and geographic occurrence of influenza each year (22).
Persons of all age groups are susceptible to influenza. Data from the Influenza Incidence Surveillance Project (IISP) covering the 2009–10 through 2012–13 seasons revealed the highest rates of outpatient visits for influenza-positive ILI occurred among children aged 2 through 17 years (23). Complications, hospitalizations, and deaths from seasonal influenza are typically greatest among persons aged ≥65 years, children aged <5 years (and particularly those aged <2 years), and persons of any age who have medical conditions that confer increased risk for complications from influenza (1–4,24–29).
In typical winter influenza seasons, increases in deaths and hospitalizations are observed during periods when influenza viruses are circulating. Although not all excess events occurring during periods when influenza viruses are circulating can be attributed to influenza, these estimates are useful for following season-to-season trends in influenza-associated outcomes. Estimates that include only outcomes attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) likely underestimate the burden of severe illnesses that are at least partly attributable to influenza because this category excludes deaths and hospitalizations caused by exacerbations of underlying cardiac and pulmonary conditions that are associated with influenza infection (30–32). Thus, some authors use the broader category of respiratory and circulatory excess events for influenza burden estimates. During seasonal influenza epidemics from 1979–1980 through 2000–2001, the estimated annual overall number of influenza-associated hospitalizations in the United States ranged from approximately 55,000 to 431,000 per annual epidemic, with a mean of 226,000 (31). Between the 1976–77 and the 2006–07 seasons, estimated annual deaths in the United States attributable to influenza ranged from 3,349 to 48,614 each season (4). A subsequent modeling analysis of population-based surveillance data for seasons following the 2009 pandemic (2010–2011 through 2012–2013), which used a multiplier method developed to correct for underdetection in hospitalizations attributable to cases for which influenza testing was not performed and for insufficient test sensitivity, estimated that influenza was associated with 114,018–633,001 hospitalizations, 18,476–96,667 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 4,866–27,810 deaths per year. Among these, an estimated 54%–70% of hospitalizations and 71%–85% of deaths occurred among adults aged ≥65 years (33).
Children
Influenza is an important cause of outpatient medical visits and hospitalizations among young children. In a population-based study conducted in three metropolitan areas (Nashville, Tennessee; Rochester, New York; and Cincinnati, Ohio) during the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, children aged <5 years with acute respiratory illness or fever caused by laboratory-confirmed influenza (LCI) accounted for 10% (2002–03) and 19% (2003–04) of medical office visits and 6% (2002–03) and 29% (2003–04) of emergency department (ED) visits (3) From these data, the rate of clinic visits for influenza was estimated to be 50 (2002–03) and 95 (2003–04) visits per 1,000 children aged <5 years, and the rate of ED visits was 6 (2002–03) and 27 (2003–04) visits per 1,000 children aged <5 years. In a retrospective cohort study of children aged <15 years over 19 seasons (1974–75 through 1992–93), an estimated average of 6–15 additional outpatient visits and 3–9 additional antibiotic courses per 100 children per season were attributed to influenza (25). During 1993–2004 in the Boston area, the rate of ED visits for respiratory illness attributed to influenza based on viral surveillance data among children aged 6 months–7 years during the winter respiratory illness season ranged from 22.1 per 1,000 children aged 6–23 months to 5.4 per 1,000 children aged 5–7 years (34). In a study conducted in a single county in Tennessee during the 2000–01 through 2010–11 seasons, estimated rates of influenza-related hospitalizations among children aged 6 through 59 months varied from 1.9 to 16 per 10,000 children per year; estimated rates of ED visits ranged from 89 to 620 per 10,000 children per year (35).
Estimated rates of influenza-associated hospitalization generally are substantially higher among infants and children aged <5 years than among older children (36–42). During 1993–2008, estimated annual rates of influenza-associated hospitalizations were 151.0 per 100,000 among children aged <1 years and 38.8 per 100,000 among children aged 1–4 years, compared with 16.8 per 100,000 among persons aged 5 through 49 years (40). Estimates of influenza-related hospitalization rates for children with high-risk medical conditions are higher than for those without such conditions (26,43,44).
In the United States, death associated with LCI among children aged <18 years has been a nationally reportable condition since October 2004 (45). Since reporting began, the annual number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths during regular influenza seasons has ranged from 37 to 171 deaths per season. A larger number of deaths were reported during the 2009 pandemic, for which 358 pediatric deaths were reported to CDC from April 15, 2009 through October 2, 2010 (46).
Younger Adults
Among healthy younger adults, illness caused by seasonal influenza is typically less severe and results less frequently in hospitalization, as compared with children aged <5 years, adults aged ≥65 years, pregnant women, or persons with chronic medical conditions. However, influenza is an important cause of outpatient medical visits and worker absenteeism among healthy adults. In one economic modeling analysis that used health insurance claims data and projections of either earnings or statistical life values, the average annual burden of seasonal influenza among adults aged 18–49 years without medical conditions that confer a higher risk for influenza complications was estimated to include approximately 5 million illnesses, 2.4 million outpatient visits, 32,000 hospitalizations, and 680 deaths (47). Studies of worker vaccination have reported lower rates of ILI (48,49), lost work time (48–51), and health care visits (49,50) in association with vaccination as compared with no vaccine or placebo.
During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic (2009[H1N1] pandemic), adults aged <65 years appeared to be at higher risk for influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths (52) as compared with typical influenza seasons. During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic period (for the period April 2009 through May 1, 2010), the cumulative rates of LCI-related hospitalization for the Emerging Infections Program (EIP; http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dpei/eip/index.html) sites were 3.0 per 10,000 persons aged 18–49 years, 3.8 per 10,000 persons aged 50–64 years, and 3.2 per 10,000 persons aged ≥65 years. During the previous three seasons, rates had ranged from 0.3–0.7 per 10.000 persons aged 18–49 years to 0.4–1.5 per 10.000 persons aged 50–64 years and 1.4–7.5 per 10.000 persons aged ≥65 years (53). Adults aged 50–64 years had the highest mortality rate during the 2009 pandemic. This group was again severely affected during the 2013–14 season when H1N1pdm09 was the predominant virus, sustaining higher hospitalization rates than in previous seasons since the pandemic (54).
Older Adults
Hospitalization rates during typical influenza seasons are highest for adults aged ≥65 years. One retrospective analysis of data from three managed-care organizations collected during 1996–1997 through 1999–2000 estimated that the risk during influenza season among persons aged ≥65 years with high-risk underlying medical conditions was 55.6 pneumonia and influenza-associated hospitalizations per 10,000 persons, compared with 18.7 per 10,000 among lower risk persons in this age group. Persons aged 50–64 years who had underlying medical conditions also were at substantially increased risk for hospitalization during influenza season compared with healthy adults aged 50–64 years (12.3 versus 1.8 per 10,000 person-periods) (28).
Deaths associated with influenza are most frequent among older adults. From the 1976–2007 seasons, an estimated yearly average of 21,098 influenza-related deaths occurred among adults aged ≥65 years, corresponding to 90% of estimated annual average deaths across all age groups (4). In comparison, the average annual mortality was estimated to be 124 deaths among persons aged <19 years and 2,385 deaths among persons aged 19–64 years. In a later modeling analysis of population-based surveillance data covering the 2010–11 through the 2012–13 seasons, an estimated 71%–85% of deaths occurred among adults aged ≥65 years (33).
Pregnant Women and Neonates
Pregnant women are vulnerable to severe symptoms and illness attributable to influenza. Physiologic changes associated with pregnancy, such as altered respiratory mechanics and changes in cell mediated immunity, might contribute to enhanced susceptibility (55). In a case-cohort study of 1,873 pregnant women conducted over the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, among 292 women with acute respiratory illnesses, those with influenza reported greater symptom severity than those with noninfluenza acute respiratory illness (56). Case reports and some observational studies suggest that pregnancy increases the risk for hospitalization and serious maternal medical complications (57–59). Most of these studies have measured changes in excess hospitalizations or outpatient visits for respiratory illness during influenza season rather than LCI. A retrospective cohort study of pregnant women conducted in Nova Scotia during 1990–2002 compared medical record data for 134,188 pregnant women to data from the same women during the year before pregnancy. During the influenza seasons, the rate ratio of hospital admissions during the third trimester compared with admissions in the year before pregnancy was 7.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.0–12.5) among women with comorbidities and 5.1 (95% CI = 3.6–7.3) among those without comorbidities (59).
Increased severity of influenza among pregnant women was reported during the pandemics of 1918–1919, 1957–1958, and 2009–2010 (60–65). Severe infections among postpartum (delivered within previous 2 weeks) women also were observed in the 2009(H1N1) pandemic (60,64). In a case series conducted during the 2009(H1N1) pandemic, 56 deaths were reported among 280 pregnant women admitted to intensive care units. Among the deaths, 36 (64%) occurred in the third trimester. Pregnant women who were treated with antivirals >4 days after symptom onset were more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (57% versus 9%; relative risk [RR]: 6.0; 95% CI = 3.5–10.6) than those treated within 2 days after symptom onset (66).
Some studies of pregnancy outcomes have suggested increased risk for pregnancy complications attributable to maternal influenza illness; others have not. A review of data from the National Inpatient Sample (a publicly available hospital discharge database; http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/nisoverview.jsp) covering the 1998–99 through the 2001–02 seasons and including over 6.2 million hospitalizations of pregnant women, reported increased risk for fetal distress, preterm labor, and cesarean delivery among those women with respiratory illness during influenza seasons, compared with women without respiratory illness (67). A study of 117,347 pregnancies in Norway during the 2009–10 pandemic noted an increased risk for fetal death among pregnant women with a clinical diagnosis of influenza (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 1.91; 95% CI = 1.07–3.41) (68). A cohort study conducted among 221 hospitals in the United Kingdom observed an increased risk for perinatal death, stillbirth, and preterm birth among women admitted with confirmed 2009(H1N1) infection (69). However, other studies of infants born to women with LCI during pregnancy have not shown higher rates of prematurity, preterm labor, low birth weight, congenital abnormalities, or lower Apgar scores compared with infants born to uninfected women (70–72). A cohort study of 58,640 pregnant women enrolled in the Tennessee Medicare Program during the 1985–86 through the 1992–93 seasons noted that pregnant women with respiratory hospitalizations during the influenza season had similar odds of preterm labor, prematurity, and low birth weight compared with pregnant women in a control group without an influenza hospitalization; modes of delivery and length of stay were also similar between the two groups (72).
Notably, influenza symptoms often include fever, which during pregnancy might be associated with neural tube defects and other adverse outcomes (73). A meta-analysis of 22 observational studies of congenital anomalies following influenza exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy noted associations with several types of congenital anomalies, including neural tube defects, hydrocephaly, heart and aortic valve defects, digestive system defects, cleft lip, and limb reduction defects. However, many of the included studies were conducted during the 1950s through 1970s, and a nonspecific definition of influenza exposure was used (any reported influenza, ILI, or fever with influenza, with or without serological or clinical confirmation) (74). Additional studies are needed to further elucidate the association between influenza and congenital anomalies and other birth outcomes.
Persons with Increased Risk for Severe Influenza Illness and Complications
In the first U.S. recommendations for annual influenza vaccination, published by the Surgeon General in 1960, persons with “chronic debilitating diseases” (particularly cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and diabetes) were cited as being among the groups contributing most to the excess deaths observed during the 1957 influenza pandemic (75). Persons with certain chronic medical conditions, in particular (but not limited to) chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, have been observed to be at increased risk for severe influenza illness. In a study of 4,756 adults hospitalized with influenza from October 2005 through April 2008, characteristics significantly associated with pneumonia included underlying chronic lung disease, asthma, and immunosuppression (76). Among patients with pneumonia, patients with a poor outcome (defined as ICU admission, need for mechanical ventilation, or death) were more likely to be affected by chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, or immunosuppression. Observational studies have noted increased likelihood of hospitalization (77–79) and death (79,80) among persons with HIV infection.
Prior to the 2009 pandemic, obesity had not been recognized as a risk factor for severe influenza illness. However, several studies during the 2009 pandemic noted a high prevalence of obesity among persons with severe illness attributable to A(H1N1)pdm09 (81–83). In a case-cohort study, among persons aged ≥20 years, hospitalization with illness attributable to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was associated with extreme obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥40) even in the absence of other risk factors for severe illness (odds ratio [OR]: 4.7; 95% CI = 1.3–17.2) (84). Death was associated with both obesity, defined as BMI ≥30 (OR: 3.1; 95% CI = 1.5–6.6) and extreme obesity (OR: 7.6; 95% CI = 2.1–27.9). A Canadian cohort study covering 12 seasons (1996–97 through 2007–08) found that persons with a BMI of 30.0–34.9 and those with a BMI ≥35 were more likely than normal-weight persons to have a respiratory hospitalization during influenza seasons (OR: 1.45; 95% CI = 1.03–2.05 for BMI 30–34.9 and OR: 2.12; 95% CI = 1.45–3.10 for BMI ≥35) (85). Conversely, a two-season study (2007–09) in the United States found no association between obesity and medically attended LCI, including both seasonal and pandemic virus circulation (86).
The 2009 pandemic also emphasized racial and ethnic disparities in the risk for influenza-related complications among adults, including higher rates of severe influenza illness among blacks and among American Indians/Alaska Natives and indigenous populations in other countries (87–92). These disparities might be attributable in part to the higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions or disparities in medical care among these racial/ethnic groups (92,93). A more recent case-control study of risk factors for death from 2009 pandemic influenza that adjusted for factors such as pre-existing medical conditions, barriers to health care access, and delayed receipt of antivirals found that American Indian/Alaska Native status was not independently associated with death (94).
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