Safe Influenza Vaccine for Hospitalized Patients

A large study suggests that patients who receive the influenza vaccine during hospitalization are not at risk of having a fever or needing additional medical or hospital visits after returning home, as opposed to hospitalized patients who are not admitted to hospital. not vaccinate.
Although most Americans are advised to be vaccinated against influenza every year, many do not routinely do so, the researchers note in the Mayo Clinic report. Doctors are often reluctant to vaccinate hospitalized patients, fearing that this will lead to complications requiring extra care or unnecessary stress.
For this study, researchers examined data on 290,149 US hospitalizations in 255,737 patients for three consecutive influenza seasons. Nearly half of the patients had been vaccinated before their arrival at the hospital and nearly 16% had been vaccinated against influenza during their stay. Twenty-seven percent never got vaccinated and the rest were vaccinated against influenza soon after leaving the hospital.
The researchers found no significant difference in the risk of fever, repeated hospitalizations, infection controls or outpatient visits during the first week after discharge among people who were vaccinated during their day of hospital and those who have done so at other times or who have never been.
"When a person is hospitalized, it means that they are in a very vulnerable health situation," said lead author Sara Tartof of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena.
"Clinicians may not want to vaccinate at the moment, fearing that it will complicate care or worsen a very sick patient," Tartof said by e-mail. "However, we did not find that to be the case."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend an annual flu shot for nearly all people 6 months and older, ideally by the end of October. But about half of Americans do not always follow this advice.
Only 28% of study patients who had not been vaccinated before entering the hospital were vaccinated during their stay. And only 26% of those who left the hospital unvaccinated received the vaccine during this season.
The study was not designed to demonstrate whether the timing of vaccination could directly affect complications such as fever or repeated hospitalizations. The study is also limited by the fact that researchers did not distinguish between planned and unplanned physician visits and hospital stays during the first week after discharge.
Nevertheless, the results should rebadure physicians and patients that it is safe to get the flu shot during a hospital stay, said Dr. Kevin Schwartz, a researcher with Public Health Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Health. University of Toronto, which did not participate in the study.
"Many studies show that the annual influenza vaccine is safe and well tolerated by most patients, even those with significant medical problems," Schwartz said via e-mail.
"Everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated every year in the fall, before the flu season, as it is the most effective tool for preventing the flu and its complications, for you and those around you, "added Schwartz. "This study is a good reminder that patients admitted to the hospital who are not vaccinated during the influenza season can be safely vaccinated before discharge."