ADVERSE REACTIONS TO INFLUENZA VACCINE IN ELDERLY PEOPLE - RANDOMIZEDDOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL

Objective-To assess the frequency and type of side effects after influ enza vaccination in elderly people. Design-Randomised double blind pla cebo controlled study. Setting-15 general practices in the southern Ne therlands. Subjects-1806 patients aged 60 or older, of whom 904 receiv ed influenza vaccine and 902 placebo. Main outcome measures-Adverse re actions reported on postal questionnaire completed four weeks after va ccination. Results-210 (23%) patients given vaccine reported one or mo re adverse reactions compared with 127 (14%) given placebo. The freque ncy of local adverse reactions were 17.5% in the vaccine group and 7.3 % in the placebo group (p < 0.001). There was no difference in systemi c adverse reactions (11% v 9.4%; p=0.34). In general, men reported few er side effects than women. Conclusion-Only local side effects were mo re common in vaccinated patients and all side effects were mild.