It’s that time of the year again. Kids are back at school, football season is in full swing, and pediatric practices everywhere are gearing up for flu clinics. Each season brings a new strain of flu which means there are new NDC codes, new recommendations to follow, and new vaccine information sheets to print out for your patients. Not to worry — Office Practicum has you covered! 

What to Expect in 2022-23

This flu season, ensuring patients over six months of age get vaccinated is critically important to help avoid illness. Getting vaccinated against influenza also helps to support the health of the community at-large, which is vitally important as other diseases like COVID-19 continue to circulate.

This year, the flu vaccine has been updated to protect against various strains of seasonal influenza based on guidance from the WHO. Doctors should be monitoring and testing for seasonal influenza, as well as other novel viruses like avian A (H5N1) and swine viruses, because an outbreak of the highly pathogenic influenza A (avian) continues to be ongoing.

Fortunately, there are expected to be between 173.5 million and 183.5 million doses of the influenza vaccine produced for the 2022-2023 season. No delays in production have been reported, and none are expected. The flu vaccine can be administered at the same time as other live and inactivated vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

Based on reports from flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, the 2022-2023 season may be more severe than usual. The best way to guard against this is to ensure all eligible patients are vaccinated.   

Flu Resources

We’ve gathered a variety of links to independent resources that will keep you up-to-date on information that will help your practice navigate the upcoming flu season.

• Pink Book – Comprehensive information on routinely used vaccines and the diseases they prevent
• CDC Guidelines – Guidelines published by the CDC for healthcare professions that includes key information about vaccination, infection control, prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of seasonal influenza for the 2022-2023 flu season
• CDC FAQ – The CDC FAQ page for the current flu season, including a “What’s New” section to get you up-to-date quickly on things that will be different this flu season
• CDC Vaccine Price List – The CDC Vaccine Price List includes Pediatric Influenza Vaccine pricing
• CDC Current Vaccine Shortages + Delays –  Contains the latest national information about vaccine supplies and provides guidance to healthcare providers who are facing vaccine shortages or delays
• AAP Recommendations – AAP recommendations and policy statement published for the 2022-2023 flu season
• VIS – Printable Vaccine Information Statements, with translations for 30 languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, and Farsi
• VFC – A large resource library for the Vaccines for Children Program, a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children who might not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay.

By working closely with your practice staff and communicating clearly with patients and their families, you can help ensure more people are protected from this year’s flu strains. 

Every flu season is different, so we’ll always have updated resources available for you and your practice at Office Practicum.