Background: We actively followed a cohort of nursery school children in Suzhou, China to assess the impact of vaccination with trivalent influenza vaccine on the prevention of influenza like illness (ILI).
Methods: We enrolled children aged 36 to 72 months from 13 nursery schools in Suzhou starting two weeks after vaccination during October 2015-February 2016. Every school-day, teachers reported the names of students with ILI to study clinicians, who collected the student's nasopharyngeal swab or throat swab, either at a study clinic or the child's home. Swabs were sent to the Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention's laboratory for influenza testing by RT-PCR.
Results: In total, 3278 children were enrolled; 83 (3%) were lost to follow-up, while 3195 (vaccinated: 1492, unvaccinated: 1703) were followed for 24 weeks. During the study, 40 samples tested positive; 17 in the vaccinated (B Victoria: 12; A(H1N1)pdm09: 5) and 23 in the unvaccinated group (B Victoria: 10; B Yamagata: 2; A(H1N1)pdm09: 11). The VE estimates were: 16% overall (95%CI:-58%,56%), 48% (-47%,84%) for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, 43% (-650%,98%) for influenza B Yamagata, and -37% (-227%,42%) for influenza B Victoria. Data were analyzed by vaccinated and unvaccinated groups based on enrollees' vaccination records.
Conclusions: The VE for A(H1N1)pdm09 was moderate but not significant. Mismatching of B lineage may have compromised trivalent influenza vaccine effectiveness during the 2015-2016 influenza season among nursery school children in Suzhou, China. Additional larger studies are warranted to inform policy related to quadrivalent influenza vaccine licensure in China in the future.
Keywords: China; community cohort surveillance; influenza; nursery school children; vaccine effectiveness.