Influenza Epidemiology, Vaccine Coverage and Vaccine Effectiveness in Children Admitted to Sentinel Australian Hospitals in 2017: Results from the PAEDS-FluCAN Collaboration

In 2017, Australia experienced record influenza notifications. Two surveillance programs combined to summarize the epidemiology of hospitalized influenza in children and report on vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the context of a limited nationally funded vaccination program. Methods Subjects were prospectively recruited (April–October 2017). Case patients were children aged ≤16 years admitted to 11 hospitals with an acute respiratory illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza. Controls were hospitalized with acute respiratory illness and tested negative for influenza. VE estimates were calculated using the test-negative design. Results A total of 1268 children were hospitalized with influenza: 31.5% were