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LAIV more effective 1 year after IIV

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BETHESDA, Md. — A study of active-duty United States service men and women suggests that the effectiveness of the live-attenuated influenza vaccine was greater among those who received the inactivated influenza vaccine during the previous influenza season.

The study, presented at the Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, examined the health records of nearly 160,000 service men and women, aged 18 to 49 years, who were stationed in the contiguous United States from Nov. 21, 2010 (at the start of influenza season) until occurrence of influenza-like illness (ILI), season end (April 16, 2011) or censoring event, whichever came first. The researchers studied 100,105 LAIV recipients and 59,233 inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) recipients for the 2010-2011 flu season. Eighty-six percent of the participants were men, 70% were aged 18 to 34 years, and 34% were regular tobacco users.

According to the researchers, the risk for ILI was slightly higher among IIV recipients (13.7%) than among LAIV recipients (12.3%), with an HR of 1.12 (95% CI, 1.09-1.16).

More importantly, LAIV relative effectiveness, compared with IIV, was greater among those vaccinated with IIV in the previous season (HR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.2-1.39) than among those vaccinated with LAIV in the previous season (HR = 1.06, 95% CI, 1-1.11), according to the research. No other significant effect modification was observed as a function of sex, age, exposure to tobacco or other baseline characteristics.

Military personnel with asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, shortness of breath, diabetes, HIV infection or pregnancy were excluded from the study. – by David Jwanier

Reference:
Caspard H, et al. Effectiveness of Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine and Inactivated Vaccines in Active Duty Members of the US Military. Presented at: Annual Conference on Vaccine Research; April 13-15, 2015; Bethesda, Maryland.

Disclosure: The study was sponsored by MedImmune. The researchers are employees of AstraZeneca or Health ResearchTx.