Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in European Primary Care Pediatric Practices: 2022–2024
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the pediatric population (<18 years) attending primary care in the European Union and European Economic Area in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. METHODS: General practitioners swabbed and interviewed patients with acute respiratory tract infection. We conducted a test-negative case-control study and used logistic regression to estimate VE against any influenza and specific (sub)types, overall and by age group, and within the vaccine recommendation target group. RESULTS: Among 10 368 children in 2022/23, 3286 (32%) tested polymerase chain reaction-positive for influenza virus; among 9270 children in 2023/24, 1567 (17%) tested positive. Influenza A(H3N2) and B predominated in 2022/23, and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in 2023/24. Among the test-negative controls, 17% were part of the vaccine recommendation target group in 2022/23 and 38% in 2023/24. In 2022/23, overall VE against any influenza was 68% (95% CI: 59-76); 57% (95% CI: 26-76) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 54% (95% CI: 33-69) against influenza A(H3N2); 83% (95% CI: 74-90) against influenza B. In 2023/24, overall VE against any influenza was 71% (95% CI: 62-78); 75% (95% CI: 64-83) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 40% (95% CI: 4-64) against influenza A(H3N2); and 92% (95% CI: 63-100) against influenza B. All VE estimates varied by age and vaccine recommendation target group. CONCLUSIONS: In 2022/23 and 2023/24, more than two-thirds of vaccinated children were protected against primary care-attended influenza infection in Europe. Monitoring VE in children can help inform influenza immunization programs.
Source: PEDIATRICS
Authors: Héloïse Lucaccioni, Marine Maurel, Gloria Pérez-Gimeno, Silke Buda, Noémie Sève, Lisa Domegan, Marit de Lange, Ana Paula Rodrigues, Iván Martínez-Baz, Tove Samuelsson Hagey, Ivan Mlinarić, Gergő Túri, Mihaela Lazar, Marta García Becerril, Ralf Dürrwald, Vincent Enouf, Maureen O’Leary, Adam Meijer, Raquel Guiomar, Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín, Neus Latorre-Margalef, Maja Ilić, Isabel M. Vázquez Rincón, Annika Erdwiens, Alessandra Falchi, Adele McKenna, Mariette Hooiveld, Verónica Gómez, Jesús Castilla, Vesna Višekruna Vučina, Francisco Pozo, Sabrina Bacci, Marlena Kaczmarek, Esther Kissling
Institutions: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Robert Koch Institute, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d‘Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Health Service Executive, Health Protection Surveillance Centre, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo, Semmelweis University, Institutul Cantacuzino, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Consejería de Salud y Consumo, Junta de Andalucía, Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7149982348