The recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4) is well tolerated in children aged 6 to 17 years, and provides immunogenicity comparable to that of the inactivated vaccine, according to a study published Pediatrics.
Lisa M. Dunkle, MD, and colleagues compared the safety and immunogenicity of the quadrivalent RIV4 with that of the inactivated influenza vaccine in 219 children and adolescents 6 to 17 years of age (159 9- to 17-year-olds and 60 6- to 8-year-olds). Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive RIV4 or inactivated vaccine.
The researchers found that both vaccines were well tolerated in both 6- to 8-year-olds and 9- to 17-year-olds. There were no vaccine-related adverse events in the six months of follow-up. There were comparable antibody responses to most antigens in both vaccines in the older subjects. However, low responses to the influenza B Victoria lineage in both vaccines made interpretation difficult. In younger children, immunogenicity was similar, but noninferiority comparisons could not be made due to the truncated sample size.
