• Guillermo Mena, Irma Casas, Cristina Prat, Cristina Casañ, María Esteve, Agustín Urrutia, and Josep-Maria Mòdol.
• Servicio de Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
• Med Clin (Barc). 2020 Aug 14; 155 (3): 112-118.

ObjectivesThe objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of influenza vaccination on the prevention of influenza-related severe cases in adults treated in a third-level hospital during the 2017-2018 epidemic season.MethodologyA descriptive analysis was performed on the entire population of subjects with a laboratory-confirmed influenza test during the 2017-2018 season. A severe case was defined as a patient treated in one of the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and/or death. The effect of the vaccine on the adult population was determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsBetween epidemiological weeks 44/2017 and 19/2018, the hospital's laboratory detected 706 positive samples for influenza virus. Of the 551 confirmed patients aged 18 years or older, forty-three were admitted to one of the ICUs, and 26 died during admission. The explanatory multivariate model has shown that flu vaccination prior to or during the epidemic season was a protective factor for the development of severity [OR:0.27 (0.11-0.65, p=0.004)], adjusted by age [OR: 1.03 (1.01-1.06), p=.04], sex, type of virus (H1N1-pdm09, H3N2 or B virus), Chronic Complex Patient index or Advanced Chronic Disease index.ConclussionsInfluenza vaccination is a protective factor against the development of severity associated with influenza infection in a season when vaccination did not contain the virus with higher epidemic circulation among the population. Flu vaccination should be recommended annually following the guidelines established by the health authorities.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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