MedImmune's FluMist beneficial in daycare/school setting

US drugmaker MedImmune says that FluMist (influenza virus vaccine live, intranasal) in daycare and school settings may help reduce the burden of seasonal influenza. Economic analyses applied to outcomes observed in previously-completed clinical studies suggest that flu vaccination may provide a beneficial cost saving to the community at large, according to data presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held in Toronto, Canada.

Results from a previously-completed and published placebo-controlled, two-season trial involving children aged six to 36 months attending daycare centers showed that those receiving FluMist experienced significantly fewer cases of flu-like illness.

In a separate presentation at the PAS meeting, the economic impact of these clinical outcomes was assigned a potential societal cost saving. In the first year of the study, vaccination provided savings of approximately $5.47 per child, while in the second year, the projected savings increased to almost $144 per child. The economic analysis also indicated that the significantly higher savings projected in the second year of the study were due in part to the substantially higher rate of influenza infection among the study population.