The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has developed online resources offering various approaches to increasing alarmingly low influenza vaccination rates among children with asthma.  These materials can be tailored for use within a variety of clinical settings to help support immunization efforts targeting pediatric asthma patients. 
 
NFID’s Influenza and Children with Asthma Initiative, supported by more than 15 leading medical and public health organizations, was developed to explore barriers to immunization and identify strategies toward a comprehensive approach aimed at immunizing this high-risk group.  We also encourage clinicians and health care organizations to reinforce influenza immunization messages within asthma education programs and treatment guidelines.
 
Despite long-standing recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for annual influenza vaccination of children with asthma, estimates reveal only one-third are immunized.  Influenza vaccination has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in this high-risk group.
 
We encourage you to view and download these resources for implementation within the practice. 










Goals of this NFID program are supported by the Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics; American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology; American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; American College of Emergency Physicians; American Lung Association; American Medical Association; American Pharmacists Association; American Thoracic Society; Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners; National Association of School Nurses; National Jewish Medical and Research Center; National Medical Association; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and Society for Adolescent Medicine. 
 
NFID’s Influenza and Children with Asthma initiative is made possible by an unrestricted educational grant to NFID from sanofi pasteur.