Either trivalent flu vaccine safe for use in seniors

Either the trivalent adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV3) or the trivalent high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV3) is safe to use in older adults, according to a study published online Jan. 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Kenneth E. Schmader, M.D., from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues compared the safety, reactogenicity, and health-related quality-of-life effects of the aIIV3 and HD-IIV3 in 757 U.S. adults aged 65 years and older.

The researchers found that the proportion reporting moderate-to-severe injection-site pain, limiting or preventing activity, after aIIV3 (12 participants) was noninferior compared with HD-IIV3 (22 participants; difference −2.7 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, −5.8 to 0.4). Four reactions did not meet noninferiority criteria for aIIV3: moderate-to-severe injection-site tenderness, arthralgia, fatigue, and malaise. But it was inconclusive whether these reactions occurred in higher proportions of participants after aIIV3. The investigators found that no participant sought medical care for a vaccine reaction, there were no adverse events of clinical interest, and there were no serious adverse events associated with vaccination.

"From a safety standpoint, aIIV3 or HD-IIV3 is an acceptable option to prevent influenza in older adults," conclude the authors.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.