According to a recent study, among children and adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), those with influenza-associated pneumonia have lower odds of having received an influenza vaccination. In an observational multicenter study of hospitalizations for CAP conducted from January 2010 through June 2012 at four sites in the United States, Carlos G. Grijalva, MD, and colleagues, utilized data from patients 6 months or older with laboratory-confirmed influenza infection and verified vaccination status during flu seasons.
Odds ratios were calculated, comparing the odds of vaccination between influenza-positive (case) and influenza-negative (control) patients with pneumonia, controlling for various factors, as indicated on a News Medical news report. A total of 2,767 patients hospitalized for pneumonia were eligible for the study; 5.9% had laboratory-confirmed influenza. Of 162 cases, 28 with influenza-associated pneumonia and 766 of 2,605 controls with influenza-negative pneumonia had been vaccinated.
The estimated vaccine effectiveness was 57%, which means the odds of influenza vaccination among cases hospitalized with influenza-associated pneumonia was 57% lower than among non-influenza pneumonia controls, according to News Medical. The authors of the study note that the estimated odds ratio of vaccination between cases and controls and derived vaccine effectiveness from this study could be used to inform subsequent estimations of the national number of hospitalizations for pneumonia averted by influenza vaccination.
Source: News Medical
