Reaching children with high-risk medical conditions: The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions' 2009 H1N1 Children's Health Team communication efforts

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions' (CDC) emergency response during the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak was, in many ways, a novel endeavor. A unique aspect of this response was the establishment of a team focused on children's health to address the high number of children affected. This presentation will focus on the Children's Health Team's communication and outreach activities. Epidemiological data revealed that children, especially those with certain high-risk medical conditions, were most at risk for flu complications. Accordingly, communication efforts focused on this sub-group of children by targeting parents, clinicians, and organizations that care for children with high-risk medical conditions. Key messages included: know what children are at high-risk, develop a plan in case the child develops flu-like symptoms and the importance of vaccination for children and caregivers. Important activities included: 1) collaboration among experts at CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics to compile a list of high-risk medical conditions and determining how best to communicate the information; 2) coordination across CDC's 2009 H1N1 response teams to ensure the CDC messages included children with high-risk medical conditions as a priority population; and 3) the use of social media as a key way to reach opinion leaders concerning this population and the importance of vaccination. The messages developed and the corresponding dissemination plan to reach the gatekeepers to children will help to raise the profile of children's health during future emergency response activities and inform future work in this area.