Kids' flu vaccine will expire after Monday, expert warns

Public health specialist Dr Aparna Keegan: 'I think parents are not getting the vaccine because the message is not there that the flu can be serious for children.' Picture: Moya Nolan

Parents have been urged to get the nasal flu vaccine for children by Monday by the HSE’s flu expert as it will not be available after that date but can still offer protection for this winter.

This follows reports last week of nearly 700 children under 14 admitted to hospital with flu so far this winter.

HSE National Immunisation Office flu lead and specialist in public health medicine Dr Aparna Keegan said on Tuesday: “It’s not too late.” 

She said: “The last available date for the nasal flu vaccine is the 23rd of January, that is the last date you can get the nasal flu vaccine.” 

This is because of the nature of the nasal flu vaccine, she said: “It always expires earlier than other flu vaccines.” 

The
nasal vaccine is available through GPs and pharmacies, as well as clinics, including at the North Main Street clinic in Cork city.

“To support additional access, we have actually set up walk-in clinics as well in community vaccination clinics which are running all the way up to Sunday,” she said.

“It’s not too late to get it,” she said.

However, vulnerable children can still get a flu vaccine delivered differently after this date.

“If the child has underlying health conditions, for example diabetes or other health conditions, they can still continue to get the flu vaccine after that but it will be the injection one,” she said.

In the 10 years between 2009 and 2019, some 4,750 children needed hospital treatment because of flu, including 183 who were admitted to intensive care.. Sadly 41 children died in that time.

“I think parents are not getting the vaccine because the message is not there that the flu can be serious for children,” Dr Keegan said.

“It can cause illness in that age group and I think people don’t realise that. Some of the message has been diluted because of the Covid restrictions, meaning there has not been much flu circulating.” 

The nasal flu vaccine has only been available in Ireland since early 2020 and to some extent has been overshadowed by the focus on Covid-vaccines.

“This flu vaccine is really safe,” Dr Keegan said. “They’ve used the children’s flu vaccine in America since 2003 and it’s been part of the UK programme since 2013. It’s been given to millions of children, so there is a really good safety profile for the vaccine.” 

The latest influenza report shows that up to January 8, cases of flu continued to rise across age groups, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

The data shows children aged under four had the second highest rate of infection by age-group, with an infection rate of 95.3 per 100,000 of population. This was higher than all groups except over-65s, who experienced the highest rate at 177.1 per 100,000 of population. 

Young children are also affected by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) but there is no vaccine for this.