ACIP updates adult vaccinations guidance

Live attenuated influenza virus vaccine should not be used on any patients during the 2016-2017 influenza season, according to 2017 adult Recommended Immunization Schedule released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

“Change are related to concerns regarding low effectiveness of [LAIV] (FluMist, Medlmmune) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the United States during the 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 influenza seasons,” wrote the authors of the report.

Another major change involves vaccination of adults with mild or severe egg allergy. The new guidance states that those with a mild egg allergy should receive either inactivated influenza vaccine  or recombinant influenza vaccine, while those with severe allergies should be given one of the same vaccinations but only in a health care setting, so a clinician can monitor any sign of reaction and treat the patient accordingly.

Vaccine doses should be administered based on the patient’s age; a patient with “severe” egg allergy is one who exhibits angioedema, respiratory distress, light-headedness, or recurrent emesis; requires epinephrine; or requires emergency medical care of any kind after consuming egg products.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) schedules have also been noticeably altered, with the CDC now considering all men and women through the ages 21 and 26 years, respectively, who received a two-dose series of HPV vaccinations before the age of 15 to be adequately protected. Those who took only one of those two doses still need to take another dose, while men and women who have not been vaccinated should receive a three-dose series at 0, 1-2 and 6 months.

Hepatitis B recommendations were also updated, with the CDC now advising: “Adults with chronic liver disease, including, but not limited to, hepatitis C virus infection, cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, and an alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or asparate aminotransferase (AST) level greater than twice the upper limit of normal, should receive a HepB series.”

Meningococcal vaccination guidelines also underwent several small changes pertaining to adults with anatomical or functional asplenia and human immunodeficiency virus, among other risk factors.

A number  of small changes to the schedule chart were implemented to help make the immunization schedule more “clean and streamlined,” according to the CDC.

“Physicians should pay careful attention to the details found in the footnotes,” the CDC said in a statement. “The footnotes clarify who needs what vaccine, when, and at what dose.”