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. 2020 Mar 17;70(7):1484-1486.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz706.

Depletion-of-susceptibles Bias in Analyses of Intra-season Waning of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness

G Thomas Ray  1 , Ned Lewis  1 , Nicola P Klein  1 , Matthew F Daley  2   3 , Marc Lipsitch  4 , Bruce Fireman  1
Affiliations

Depletion-of-susceptibles Bias in Analyses of Intra-season Waning of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness

G Thomas Ray et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Bias arises in studies of waning vaccine effectiveness when higher-risk individuals are depleted from the at-risk population at different rates between study groups. We examined how this bias arises and how to avoid it. A reanalysis of data from California confirmed a finding of intra-season waning of influenza vaccine effectiveness.

Keywords: bias; depletion of susceptibles; influenza; vaccine effectiveness; waning.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Hypothetical randomized controlled trials illustrating approaches to estimated waning of influenza vaccine effectiveness. Abbreviation: RCT, randomized controlled trial; RR, relative risk; VE, vaccine effectiveness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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