Helping patients, parents, and professionals
prevent the flu

We've provided materials to help you and your patients gain a better understanding of FluMist®. These cover the use of live, attenuated intranasal vaccine (LAIV) which may be unfamiliar to some of your patients, their parents or guardians, and even to your office staff.

For Your Patients EXPAND HIDE

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For Your Practice EXPAND HIDE

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For Your Community EXPAND HIDE

    It's no secret that school-aged children can spread influenza to other schoolchildren, family members, and the community.1 2 That's why a growing number of schools now offer seasonal flu vaccination programs.

    The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Acadamy of Pediatrics (AAP) have identified school-located influenza vaccination (SLIV) clinics as an important step in meeting the challenge of protecting more kids against flu.3 4

    Benefits of SLIV clinics

    School-based vaccinations programs can:
    • Increase vaccination rates5
    • Provide another venue to reach children who might otherwise miss a vaccination opportunity3 4
    • Support the goal of public health

    YOU CAN HELP

    Call your local school district to see how you and your staff can help support school vaccination programs if you:

    • Are Vaccines for Children (VFC)-certified
    • Are credentialed with commercial and public payers
    • Can manage the ordering, storage, and distribution of vaccines for school program clinics, and
    • Can appropriately bill to commercial/public payers and VFC

    Learn about planning and managing an SLIV clinic.

Important Safety Information

FluMist® (Influenza Vaccine Live, Intranasal) is a vaccine indicated for active immunization of individuals 2-49 years of age against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B contained in the vaccine.

FluMist is contraindicated in individuals with history of hypersensitivity to eggs, egg proteins, gentamicin, gelatin or arginine or with life-threatening reactions to previous influenza vaccinations, and in children and adolescents receiving concomitant aspirin or aspirin-containing therapy.

Do not administer FluMist to children <24 months of age due to an increased risk of hospitalization and wheezing that was observed in clinical trials. FluMist should not be administered to any individual with asthma and to children <5 years of age with recurrent wheezing unless the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk. Do not administer FluMist to individuals with severe asthma or active wheezing.

If Guillain-Barré syndrome has occurred with prior influenza vaccination, the decision to give FluMist should be based on careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks. Data supporting the safety and effectiveness of FluMist administration in immunocompromised individuals are limited. FluMist should not be administered to individuals with underlying medical conditions predisposing them to wild-type influenza infection complications unless the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk. FluMist should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

Most common adverse reactions (occurring at ≥10% in individuals receiving FluMist and at least 5% greater than in placebo) are runny nose or nasal congestion in recipients of all ages, fever >100°F in children 2-6 years of age, and sore throat in adults.

FluMist may not protect all individuals receiving the vaccine. FluMist is for intranasal administration only.

Please see accompanying complete Prescribing Information, including Patient Information [PDF PDF].

References
  1. Glezen WP, Couch RB. Interpandemic influenza in the Houston area, 1974-1976. N Engl J Med. 1978;298:587-592.
  2. Weycker D, Edelsberg J, Halloran ME, et al. Population-wide benefits of routine vaccination of children against influenza. Vaccine. 2005;23:1284-1293
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevention and control of influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on lmmunization Practices (ACIP), 2010. MMWR. 2010 Aug 6;59(RR-8):1-62.
  4. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. Policy statement. Recommendations for prevention and control of influenza in children, 2010-2011. Pediatrics. 2010;126(4):816-826.
  5. Effler PV, Chu C, He H, et.al. Statewide school-located influenza vaccination program for children 5-13 years of age, Hawaii, USA. Emerg Infect Dis 2010;16:205-211.