Vaccine for Very Young Is Plentiful

While the national flu vaccine shortage has forced adults to line up for hours in search of shots, babies and toddlers in need should find enough vaccine to go around, according to doctors and public health officials.

Children ages 6 months to 23 months, along with senior citizens and people with impaired immune systems, are being urged to get vaccinated because they are at the highest risk of complications from the flu.

America’s vaccine supply was cut in half after British regulators suspended the license of a Chiron Corp. pharmaceutical plant in Liverpool because of manufacturing problems and possible contamination. Young children cannot take the Chiron vaccine and rely instead on a vaccine made by Aventis Pasteur, the nation’s other major flu shot supplier. Aventis Pasteur vaccine is not in short supply.

So despite concerns and confusion about potential shortages, Los Angeles County doctors said they should have enough vaccine to cover 100,000 young children, the same number who received shots last year.

Dr. Harold Maller, a Van Nuys pediatrician who has run his private practice for 38 years, said he and other doctors have more vaccine than patients who need it.

“I’ve been talking to my colleagues, and they say they’re comfortable with the supply they have,” he said. “Children in the high-risk group are getting vaccinated.”

Children ages 6 months to 23 months account for 340,000 of the county’s 2.8 million “high-risk” patients. Only 30% of those 340,000 children sought flu shots last year. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County’s public health director, said private doctors should be able to accommodate their patients. Any children who cannot find a doctor with the vaccine can seek one of 16,900 doses being distributed at county public health centers over the coming weeks.

Children also can visit special clinics scheduled for the second week of November, which will be distributing up to 35,000 flu shots recently obtained through the federal government, Fielding said.

“There will probably be enough vaccine for children, but it depends on how many come forward seeking a shot,” he said.

By contrast, officials said it is unlikely that all at-risk adults who seek flu shots will receive them because there won’t be enough doses to go around.

The vaccine shortage occurred weeks after federal health officials launched a campaign urging parents to get flu shots for their young children.

Immunizing children for influenza has garnered attention in recent years because of several studies showing that an extremely small percentage of children were receiving flu shots. Moreover, the studies found that children who didn’t get the shots were more likely to be hospitalized for complications brought on by the flu than had been previously expected.

As a result, the Centers for Disease Control recommended in April that children ages 6 months to 23 months be vaccinated, as opposed to simply encouraging the practice.

“It’s semantics, but what it means is that getting these kids vaccinated should be the standard of practice for healthcare providers,” said Curtis Allen, a spokesman for the CDC.

Because children cannot take the British-made vaccine, pediatricians had stocked up on the vaccine made by Aventis. This vaccine can be taken by either adults or children.

Children initially need only half of the adult dose of flu vaccine. However, a child receiving his first shot needs to return a month later to take another half-dose to allow his immune system to fully adjust to the medicine.

“It’s a delicate balance,” said Dr. Steven Nishibayashi, a Glendale pediatrician. “It’s better to get more kids with one shot than some kids with two shots and some with none.”

Nishibayashi said he has 75 people on a waiting list for vaccine and 200 shots left. He received 700 doses from Aventis before the national shortage was announced. He said he’s waiting to see how much he has left before he gives vaccine to children seeking a second shot.

A small percentage of children take a third type of vaccine. The medicine does not contain a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, which some parents worry causes neurological damage such as autism. Health experts say there is no proof that the ingredient is harmful.