Study: School-based flu vaccination feasible but reimbursement problematic
School-based flu vaccination programs may be a good vehicle for moving toward universal coverage of children, but headaches regarding billing and reimbursement issues pose big administrative challenges, says a Colorado study published in Academic Pediatrics.
The researchers evaluated vaccination clinics held in 19 elementary schools in the Denver Public Schools from September 2010 to February 2011. Parental consent was obtained by the schools, and community health workers administered the vaccines and handled third-party billing; parents did not pay any fees.
About 30% (2,784 of 9,295) of the children in the population received at least one dose of vaccine; 39% (1,079 of the 2,784) of children needed a second dose and 80% of that group did receive both.
The cost of implementing the program, minus the cost of the vaccine itself, amounted to $24.69 per vaccination. Reimbursement from various public and private sources amounted to 62% overall for the vaccine costs and 19% overall for implementation costs. As stated by the authors, "The current program demonstrated that school-based third-party billing for both vaccine and implementation costs was feasible, but problems with reimbursement will need to be solved before it can be financially solvent."
May-Jun Acad Pediatr article on reimbursement study
May 20 University of Colorado news release
Another article in the same journal by the same authors examined parental views on the concept of school-based vaccination programs. A majority supported the programs, but some said they would want to be present when the vaccination was given.
Surveys were distributed to parents of 1,000 randomly selected elementary school students. Of the 699 (70%) who responded, 81% indicated they "would be okay" with the school-based program. Reservations about the safety of the influenza vaccine and about children receiving the vaccine without their parents present were expressed and, according to the authors, would need to be addressed.
May-Jun Acad Pediatr article on parent survey
WHO sees first sparks of Southern Hemisphere flu season
Flu has ebbed to interseasonal levels in most European and east Asian countries and in North America, though some influenza B activity is still occurring, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update May 19. In the Southern Hemisphere, flu activity is slowly picking up but is still at low levels.
In tropical countries, flu activity overall was low, but a few hot spots, such as the Caribbean territories of Guadeloupe and Guyana, reported elevated activity, and in the African country of Mauritius, high levels of the 2009 H1N1 virus were reported.
Areas in the Southern Hemisphere that are starting to see flu increases include Australia, New Zealand, some of the Pacific Islands, and South America.
In a separate report the WHO said that, of positive flu specimens at national influenza labs in late April and early May, 54.6% were influenza B and 45.4% were influenza A.
Of the subtyped influenza A viruses, 31.2% were 2009 H1N1 and 68.8% were H3N2. Nearly 90% of the characterized influenza B viruses were of the Yamagata lineage, which is recommended for inclusion in trivalent flu vaccines for upcoming seasons in both hemispheres.
May 19 WHO global flu update
May 19 WHO global flu virologic report
