A 12 year old boy presents for a routine asthma follow-up appointment during the autumn. He takes 200 μg per day of inhaled budesonide and uses his salbutamol 3–4 times per week. His mother asks if the flu vaccine will make it less likely that he will have an asthma exacerbation over the winter.

Structured clinical question

In children with asthma [patient] does influenza vaccination [intervention] reduce the number of asthma exacerbations associated with influenza [outcome]?

Search strategy and outcome

Primary sources: Medline 1966–April week 3 2006 using the OVID interface: {exp Infant/ or exp Child/ or exp Adolescent/ or exp Child, Preschool/} AND {exp Influenza Vaccines/ or {exp Vaccination/ and exp Influenza, Human/}} AND {exp Asthma/}.

PubMed and EMBASE: No further relevant …