The National Institutes of Health funded study is a collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Clinic.
This week, on Wednesday and Thursday, the researchers and representatives of other health entities — including the Texas Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control — will meet in Temple concerning the flu study, said Dr. Pedro Piedra, an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.
He said Monday the meeting would focus on findings from 1997 to 2003.
From 20 to 25 percent of the eligible children in the Temple-Belton area — 18 months to 18 years — were vaccinated from 1998-2002, Piedra said. About 50 percent of the children in the age range from 5 to 18 years were vaccinated in 2003.
In three of the four vaccinating years, the findings have shown that the overall illness burden on the age group 35 and older has been decreased in the Temple-Belton area, which is attributed to vaccinating the children, Piedra said.
He said that there are two more years left in the vaccinating part of the study, plus an additional year of surveillance.
Researchers with the study would like to expand the school-based vaccination program because they believe the concept helps control the spread of influenza, Piedra said.
