This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Children with JIA reported no long-term adverse reaction to influenza vaccine
Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who received an influenza vaccine reported no long-term adverse reactions in a recent prospective study.
Researchers in Slovenia studied 31 children (21 girls; mean age 11 years) with stable juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who were receiving various treatments, and 14 children (10 boys; mean age 11.9 years) in a control group who were evaluated at a cardiology outpatient clinic.
All the participants received an annual influenza vaccine Begrivac 2008/2009, which contained inactivated purified surface fragments from three strains of influenza virus. After 1 month, children aged 9 years and younger who were vaccinated for the first time received a second dose.
During the next 6 months, researchers followed the patients for adverse effects. Using serial samples taken before vaccination and at 1 month and 6 months after vaccination, antibody production and antibody titers against three vaccine viruses were determined. JIA disease activity also was assessed.
Eleven children (35%) with JIA and five control children (36%) reported short-term adverse events. There were no long-term adverse events reported at the 6-month endpoint.
One month after vaccination, a disease flare was observed in four patients (13%) with JIA (two psoriatic arthritis [PsA], one enthesitis-related arthritis [ERA], and one systemic JIA [SJIA]). At 6 months, seven additional patients (23%) had a flare (one with persistent oligoarthritis [POA] had a flare after 2 months, and six children [4 POA, 1 ERA, 1 PsA] had flares after 6 months).
“Based on our data, we cannot exclude a temporal rather than causal relationship between vaccination and disease flares,” the researchers said.
At 1 month after vaccination, researchers observed the protective titers against three vaccine viruses in 21 children (68%) with JIA and 11 controls (79%). Four children with JIA, who also received anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) therapy, did not respond well to any of the viruses. At 6 months, no significant changes in the protective titers in either group were observed. The four children on anti-TNF-alpha therapy had protective titers to all three viruses at 6 months after vaccination.
“Protective antibodies against at least two vaccine viruses 6 months after vaccination were detected in all patients,” the researchers concluded.