Identifying optimal priming strategies for children <2 years could substantially improve the public health benefits of influenza vaccines. Adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccines were designed to promote a better immune response among young vaccine-naïve children.

We systematically reviewed randomized trials to assess hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody response to MF59-adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV) versus nonadjuvanted IIV among children. We estimated pooled ratios of post-vaccination HAI geometric mean titer (GMT) for aIIV versus IIV and confidence intervals (CIs) using the pooled variances derived from reported CIs.

Mean age was 28 months (range, 6–72 months). Children received vaccines with either 7.5 μg (6–35 months) or 15 μg (≥36 months) hemagglutinin of each strain depending on age. Seven of eight trials administered trivalent vaccines and one used quadrivalent vaccine. Pooled post-vaccination GMT ratios against the three influenza vaccine strains were 2.5–3.5 fold higher after 2-dose-aIIV versus 2-dose-IIV among children 6–72 months, and point estimates were higher among children 6–35 months compared with older children. When comparing 1-dose-aIIV to 2-dose-IIV doses, pooled GMT ratios were not significantly different against A/H1N1 (1.0; 95% CI: 0.5–1.8; p = 0.90) and A/H3N2 viruses (1.0; 95% CI: 0.7–1.5; p = 0.81) and were significantly lower against B viruses (0.6; 95% CI: 0.4–0.8; p < 0.001) for both age groups. Notably, GMT ratios for vaccine-mismatched heterologous viruses after 2-dose-aIIV compared with 2-dose-IIV were higher against A/H1N1 (2.0; 95% CI: 1.1–3.4), A/H3N2 (2.9; 95% CI: 1.9–4.2), and B-lineage viruses (2.1; 95% CI: 1.8–2.6).

Two doses of adjuvanted IIV consistently induced better humoral immune responses against Type A and B influenza viruses compared with nonadjuvanted IIVs in young children, particularly among those 6–35 months. One adjuvanted IIV dose had a similar response to two nonadjuvanted IIV doses against Type A influenza viruses. Longer-term benefits from imprinting and cell-mediated immunity, including trials of clinical efficacy, are gaps that warrant investigation.