Abstract
We studied time trends in seasonal influenza vaccination and assessed associations with socioeconomic and health-related determinants in Switzerland (overall and people aged ≥65 years). We used data from the Swiss Health Surveys of 2007 and 2012. We calculated the proportion of the population (overall and those ≥65 years old) reporting influenza vaccination in the last 12 months, and performed multivariate logistic regression analyses, presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs). The average overall frequency of people reporting having been vaccinated for influenza in the previous 12 months was 15.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.7–15.7); frequency decreased from 16.4% in 2007 to 14.1% in 2012 (p <0.001). In elderly people (≥65 years) the frequency declined from 47.8 to 38.5% (p <0.001). The decline was more pronounced in both the 15 to 19 age group (aOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3–1.0) and those 65 to 75 years old (aOR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5–0.7), and in those with less education (aOR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4–0.7). Pregnant women had the lowest frequency for influenza vaccination (2.3%, 95% CI 0.6–7.9), but the frequency increased between 2007 and 2012 (aOR 4.5, 95% CI 1.0–20.5). Influenza vaccination in the last 12 months was positively associated with the ≥65 age group, living in French-speaking and urban areas, history of smoking, bad self-reported health status, health insurance for private/semiprivate hospital stays and working in healthcare professions. Influenza vaccination coverage was low overall and declined over time. To increase influenza vaccine uptake and reach the European target of 75% in people aged ≥65 years, more efforts should be put into novel intervention approaches.
Highlights
Within the last 150 years, six major influenza pandemics, in 1889, 1900, 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009, have killed millions of people [1]
The average overall frequency of people reporting having been vaccinated for influenza in the previous 12 months was 15.2% (95% confidence interval [confidence intervals (CIs)] 14.7–15.7); frequency decreased from 16.4% in 2007 to 14.1% in 2012 (p
Pregnant women had the lowest frequency for influenza vaccination (2.3%, 95% CI 0.6–7.9), but the frequency increased between 2007 and 2012
Summary
Within the last 150 years, six major influenza pandemics, in 1889, 1900, 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009, have killed millions of people [1]. Even in years when there is no pandemic, seasonal influenza epidemics represent an important public health burden across the globe [2]. Seasonal influenza epidemics cause 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness and kill from 250,000 to 500,000 persons [3], infants, the elderly and the chronically ill. A recent European report ranked influenza highest in the burden of infectious diseases, measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), after tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/ AIDS), and invasive pneumococcal diseases [6]. European recommendations set a target of a vaccination uptake of 75% among the elderly people [7]. The Netherlands achieved the highest uptake with >80% in elderly people, and the UK almost reached the target with an uptake of 74% in 2009/2010 [7]
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