Adverse effects related to paediatric influenza vaccination and its
influence on vaccination acceptability: A survey study conducted in The
Region of Murcia, Spain
Abstract
Background: During the 2022-23 season, three autonomous communities
recommended influenza vaccination for all children between 6 and 59
months. The objective is to evaluate the adverse effects associated with
the administered influenza vaccines in the Region of Murcia, as well as
their influence on the recommendation of the same to acquaintances or
repetition in future seasons. Material and methods: Cross-sectional
descriptive study with an online questionnaire sent to the parents of
vaccinated minors of 6-23 months of age receiving inactivated
intramuscular vaccine (IIV) or 24-59 months of age receiving
live-attenuated intranasal vaccine (LAIV). Results: among 4,971 surveys
received the most common adverse effect for LAIV and IIV were runny nose
(40.90%) and local pain (31.94%) respectively. Sixty percent of
adverse effects lasted ≤1 day, and around 10% lasted ≥3 days. The
interference of adverse effects with the minor’s daily life was very
infrequent (3.32%), as was the need for visiting the medical office
(2.68%). Overall, 96.44% of parents would recommend influenza
vaccination to friends and relatives after the experience. Only 3.56%
would not recommend it, while 1.68% would not vaccinate their child
against influenza again. The most frequently cited reason being adverse
effects. Conclusions: Our study shows the safety of influenza vaccines.
Despite the low impact of adverse effects, they influence some parents
in their intention to continue vaccinating or recommending it to
acquaintances, which remarks the need to reinforce the information given
to parents so that this fact does not influence.