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Seniors who receive high-dose influenza vaccine experience more side effects
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Patients aged 65 years and older who received high-dose trivalent influenza vaccine experienced more side effects than those who received the standard-dose vaccine, survey data showed.
The increase in side effects did not impact those patients’ general health, however.
“Perceived side effects of influenza vaccines have historically been a major barrier preventing full-scale vaccination,” Anjum S. Kaka, MD, of the department of infectious diseases at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and colleagues wrote. “Concerns about the possibility of a higher rate of side effects with the [high-dose (HD)] vaccine when compared with [standard-dose (SD)] vaccine may represent a significant hurdle to use of this vaccine for providers and patients.”
The researchers conducted a survey on elderly patients who used walk-in influenza vaccine clinics in the Minneapolis VA Health Care System from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29, 2015 (HD, n = 547; SD, n = 541). One site was the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, and four others were community outpatient clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Minneapolis Department of Veterans Affairs “strongly encouraged” patients to receive the HD vaccine.
More than 95% of patients in both groups reported that their health was the same or better in the week after they were vaccinated, Kaka and colleagues reported. Researchers wrote that among HD vaccine recipients, 37% reported a local or systemic side effect, compared with 22% of patients who received the SD vaccine (P < .001). Most side effects were considered mild to moderate. Seven (1.3%) patients who received a HD vaccine reported severe side effects, as did three (0.6%) of recipients of the SD vaccine (P = .34). Researchers reported no significant differences in the amount of health care visits between groups, and that the increased side effects did not have a significant impact on HD recipients’ intentions of getting another vaccine in the future.
“We conclude that side effects were more common among subjects aged 65 years or older who received HD influenza vaccine as compared with SD vaccine,” Kaka and colleagues wrote. “These side effects were generally well-tolerated, were not significantly more likely to be severe and were not associated with an impairment of general health status or with increased health care utilization. … These findings should reassure patients and their providers of the safety and tolerability of the trivalent influenza vaccine.” – by Andy Polhamus
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Editor’s note: The article has been updated with the correct P value regarding the percentages of high-dose and standard-dose influenza vaccine recipients who reported severe side effects. The editors regret the error.
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