A panel of immunization experts has voted to expand the recommendation for the nasal spray influenza vaccine FluMist to include healthy children from two to five years of age who have no history of asthma or wheezing.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine issues, voted on the new recommendation during its Oct. 24-25 meeting in Atlanta. The vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed in the nose, has previously been limited to healthy children five years of age and older and healthy adults up to age 50, the CDC said in a news release. FluMist is manufactured by MedImmune Vaccines Inc., based in Gaithersburg, Md.

“We know that vaccinating children protects them against flu,” said Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “This recommendation gives parents another option when vaccinating their children.”

Every year, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die from influenza complications. The CDC recommends that all children age 6 months to 59 months receive a vaccination to protect against influenza.

The CDC said people younger than 2 or older than 49, or those with underlying chronic health conditions, such as heart or lung disease, diabetes or kidney disease, should not receive FluMist. Instead, those individuals should receive a flu shot.

Federal officials have said they anticipate there will be enough flu vaccine produced this year to handle demand, but that millions of Americans who need flu shots are not receiving them. (See related story, CQ HealthBeat, Sept. 19, 2007).

Up to 132 million doses of flu vaccine may be available, about 10 million more than a year ago, according to CDC officials. The agency recommends annual flu shots for everyone, but the shot is especially important for children ages six months to five years, people with chronic medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes, and pregnant women. People ages 50 and older, health care workers and others who have close contact with high-risk populations also should be vaccinated, according to the CDC.