Estimating the impact of childhood influenza vaccination programmes in England and Wales

There is increasing interest in routine vaccination of children against influenza. We use an age-structured model to demonstrate that the long-term incidence of influenza A could decrease by 11-21% in the overall population by vaccinating individuals aged 6 to <24 months, and by 22-38% and 65-97% through targeting those aged 6 to <60 months and 6 months to 16 years, respectively. The corresponding reductions predicted for influenza B were 25-35%, 44-69% and 85-96%, respectively. These results are sensitive to assumptions about contact patterns and several parameters, including the vaccine efficacy among those aged <24 months, require further study. Consistently high levels of vaccination coverage among pre-school children has the potential to bring benefits to both those vaccinated and the community.