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. 2024 May;18(5):e13295.
doi: 10.1111/irv.13295.

End of 2022/23 Season Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in Primary Care in Great Britain

Heather J Whitaker  1 , Naoma Willam  2 , Simon Cottrell  3 , Rosalind Goudie  4 , Nick Andrews  5 , Josie Evans  2 , Catherine Moore  6 , Utkarsh Agrawal  4 , Katie Hassell  5 , Rory Gunson  7 , Jana Zitha  3 , Sneha Anand  4 , Praveen Sebastian-Pillai  8 , Panoraia Kalapotharakou  3 , Cecilia Okusi  4 , Katja Hoschler  8 , Gavin Jamie  4 , Beatrix Kele  8 , Mark Hamilton  2 , Anastasia Couzens  6 , Catherine Quinot  5 , Kathleen Pheasant  6 , Rachel Byford  4 , Kimberly Marsh  2 , Chris Robertson  9 , Simon de Lusignan  4   10 , Christopher Williams  3 , Maria Zambon  8 , Jim McMenamin  2 , Conall H Watson  5
Affiliations

End of 2022/23 Season Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in Primary Care in Great Britain

Heather J Whitaker et al. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2024 May.

Abstract

Background: The 2022/23 influenza season in the United Kingdom saw the return of influenza to prepandemic levels following two seasons with low influenza activity. The early season was dominated by A(H3N2), with cocirculation of A(H1N1), reaching a peak late December 2022, while influenza B circulated at low levels during the latter part of the season. From September to March 2022/23, influenza vaccines were offered, free of charge, to all aged 2-13 (and 14-15 in Scotland and Wales), adults up to 49 years of age with clinical risk conditions and adults aged 50 and above across the mainland United Kingdom.

Methods: End-of-season adjusted vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates against sentinel primary-care attendance for influenza-like illness, where influenza infection was laboratory confirmed, were calculated using the test negative design, adjusting for potential confounders.

Methods: Results In the mainland United Kingdom, end-of-season VE against all laboratory-confirmed influenza for all those > 65 years of age, most of whom received adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccines, was 30% (95% CI: -6% to 54%). VE for those aged 18-64, who largely received cell-based vaccines, was 47% (95% CI: 37%-56%). Overall VE for 2-17 year olds, predominantly receiving live attenuated vaccines, was 66% (95% CI: 53%-76%).

Conclusion: The paper provides evidence of moderate influenza VE in 2022/23.

Keywords: effectiveness; influenza; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

SdeL, within his academic role, is the director of the RCGP RSC. He has received grants through his University from AstraZeneca, GSK, Moderna, Sanofi and Seqirus for vaccine‐related research and been a member of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi and Seqirus. HW and CHW's department has received cost‐recovery payment from CSL Seqirus for analysis undertaken for regulatory review.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow diagram of swabs included in the study.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Percentage vaccination status of cases and controls by age cohort. aIIV = adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccine, IIVc = cell culture–based quadrivalent vaccine, IIVe = standard dose egg‐based quadrivalent vaccine, IIVr = recombinant quadrivalent vaccine, LAIV = live attenuated influenza vaccine.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Count of influenza positive cases and influenza negative controls by ISO week swab taken (lines) and the percentage of influenza types or subtypes among influenza positive swabs by ISO week (bars).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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