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Abstract
purpose: Although concern about side effects constitutes a major deterrent to patient compliance
with recommendations for influenza vaccination, there is a paucity of data about the
frequency of adverse reactions to newer trivalent vaccines. Our aim was to determine
the frequency of adverse reactions to influenza vaccine in older, chronically ill
persons, many of whom are at high risk for influenza-related morbidity.
patients and methods: We conducted a telephone survey of 40% of the patients who were vaccinated at a
walk-in flu shot clinic. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. To determine
postvaccine symptom rates, Group I was interviewed seven days after vaccination. Group
II was interviewed 21 days after vaccination in order to control for baseline symptom
rates. Both groups were queried about fever, disability, and flu-like illness in the
week preceding the interview.
results: Of 816 patients selected, 650 (79.6%) completed the interview. The mean age of the
subjects was 63, and more than two thirds were at risk for influenza-related morbidity.
The frequencies of self-reported fever (5.3% versus 5.1%, p = 0.91) and disability
(10.4% versus 9.3%, p = 0.65) were similar in the two groups. However, a significantly
higher proportion of Group I subjects reported a flu-like illness compared to the
Group II subjects (14.2% versus 8.7%, p = 0.03). Although Group I subjects were more
likely to report flu-like illness within two days of vaccination compared to a similar
time interval for Group II subjects, there was no corresponding clustering of disability
after vaccination.
conclusion: We conclude that the overall frequency of symptoms in both groups was low; however,
the absolute risk of a flu-like illness was 5.5% higher during the first week following
influenza vaccination when compared with the third week after the injection. These
symptoms did not result in a decreased ability to perform usual daily activities.
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
September 7,
1989
Received:
May 1,
1989
Footnotes
☆This work was presented in part at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, Arlington, Virginia, April 26, 1988, and was published in abstract form (Clin Res 1988; 36: 745A).
Identification
Copyright
© 1990 Published by Elsevier Inc.
