Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines and Immunotherapy

Vaccination is the most practical means available for preventing influenza. Influenza vaccines require frequent updates to keep pace with antigenic drift of the virus, and the effectiveness, and sometimes the safety, of the vaccine can therefore vary from season to season. Three key populations that the World Health Organization recommends should be prioritized for influenza vaccination are pregnant women, children younger than 5 years of age and the elderly. This review discusses the burden of influenza and the safety and effectiveness profile of influenza vaccines recommended for these groups. keywords: influenza, vaccination, child, pregnancy, aged, safety, efficacy, effectiveness, immunogenicity, reactogenicity Received: 24 September 2018; revised manuscript accepted: 20 December 2018. Correspondence to: Sheena G. Sullivan WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Sheena.Sullivan@ influenzacentre.org Olivia Price WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Annette K. Regan School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States; School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, and Wesfamers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia 826481 TAV0010.1177/2515135519826481Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines and ImmunotherapySG Sullivan, O Price review-article2019