Shedding of live vaccine virus, comparative safety, and influenza-specific antibody responses after administration of live attenuated and inactivated trivalent influenza vaccines to HIV-infected children

HIV-infected children (N = 243), ≥5 to <18 years old, receiving stable antiretroviral therapy, were stratified by immunologic status and randomly assigned to receive intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) or intramuscular trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV). The safety profile after LAIV or TIV closely resembled the previously reported tolerability to these vaccines in children without HIV infection. Post-vaccination hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody responses and shedding of LAIV virus were also similar, regardless of immunological stratum, to antibody responses and shedding previously reported for children without HIV infection. LAIV should be further evaluated for a role in immunizing HIV-infected children.