tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Pediatrics
. 2026 Apr 6:e2025072907.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2025-072907. Online ahead of print.
Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in European Primary Care Pediatric Practices: 2022-2024
Héloïse Lucaccioni[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marine Maurel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gloria Pérez-Gimeno[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Silke Buda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Noémie Sève[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lisa Domegan[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Marit de Lange[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Ana Paula Rodrigues[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Iván Martínez-Baz[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Tove Samuelsson Hagey[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ivan Mlinarić[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Gergő Túri[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Mihaela Lazar[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Marta García Becerril[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Ralf Dürrwald[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Vincent Enouf[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Maureen O'Leary[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Adam Meijer[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Raquel Guiomar[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Neus Latorre-Margalef[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Maja Ilić[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Isabel M Vázquez Rincón[SUP] 16 [/SUP], Annika Erdwiens[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alessandra Falchi[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Adele McKenna[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Mariette Hooiveld[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Verónica Gómez[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Jesús Castilla[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Vesna Višekruna Vučina[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Francisco Pozo[SUP] 2 18 [/SUP], Sabrina Bacci[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Marlena Kaczmarek[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Esther Kissling[SUP] 1 [/SUP]; European primary care VE group
Affiliations
Objectives: To estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the pediatric population (<18 years) attending primary care in the European Union and European Economic Area in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
Methods: General practitioners swabbed and interviewed patients with acute respiratory tract infection. We conducted a test-negative case-control study and used logistic regression to estimate VE against any influenza and specific (sub)types, overall and by age group, and within the vaccine recommendation target group.
Results: Among 10 368 children in 2022/23, 3286 (32%) tested polymerase chain reaction-positive for influenza virus; among 9270 children in 2023/24, 1567 (17%) tested positive. Influenza A(H3N2) and B predominated in 2022/23, and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in 2023/24. Among the test-negative controls, 17% were part of the vaccine recommendation target group in 2022/23 and 38% in 2023/24. In 2022/23, overall VE against any influenza was 68% (95% CI: 59-76); 57% (95% CI: 26-76) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 54% (95% CI: 33-69) against influenza A(H3N2); 83% (95% CI: 74-90) against influenza B. In 2023/24, overall VE against any influenza was 71% (95% CI: 62-78); 75% (95% CI: 64-83) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 40% (95% CI: 4-64) against influenza A(H3N2); and 92% (95% CI: 63-100) against influenza B. All VE estimates varied by age and vaccine recommendation target group.
Conclusions: In 2022/23 and 2023/24, more than two-thirds of vaccinated children were protected against primary care-attended influenza infection in Europe. Monitoring VE in children can help inform influenza immunization programs.
. 2026 Apr 6:e2025072907.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2025-072907. Online ahead of print.
Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in European Primary Care Pediatric Practices: 2022-2024
Héloïse Lucaccioni[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marine Maurel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gloria Pérez-Gimeno[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Silke Buda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Noémie Sève[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lisa Domegan[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Marit de Lange[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Ana Paula Rodrigues[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Iván Martínez-Baz[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Tove Samuelsson Hagey[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ivan Mlinarić[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Gergő Túri[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Mihaela Lazar[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Marta García Becerril[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Ralf Dürrwald[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Vincent Enouf[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Maureen O'Leary[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Adam Meijer[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Raquel Guiomar[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Neus Latorre-Margalef[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Maja Ilić[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Isabel M Vázquez Rincón[SUP] 16 [/SUP], Annika Erdwiens[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alessandra Falchi[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Adele McKenna[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Mariette Hooiveld[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Verónica Gómez[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Jesús Castilla[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Vesna Višekruna Vučina[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Francisco Pozo[SUP] 2 18 [/SUP], Sabrina Bacci[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Marlena Kaczmarek[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Esther Kissling[SUP] 1 [/SUP]; European primary care VE group
Affiliations
- PMID: 41936398
- DOI: 10.1542/peds.2025-072907
Objectives: To estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the pediatric population (<18 years) attending primary care in the European Union and European Economic Area in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
Methods: General practitioners swabbed and interviewed patients with acute respiratory tract infection. We conducted a test-negative case-control study and used logistic regression to estimate VE against any influenza and specific (sub)types, overall and by age group, and within the vaccine recommendation target group.
Results: Among 10 368 children in 2022/23, 3286 (32%) tested polymerase chain reaction-positive for influenza virus; among 9270 children in 2023/24, 1567 (17%) tested positive. Influenza A(H3N2) and B predominated in 2022/23, and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in 2023/24. Among the test-negative controls, 17% were part of the vaccine recommendation target group in 2022/23 and 38% in 2023/24. In 2022/23, overall VE against any influenza was 68% (95% CI: 59-76); 57% (95% CI: 26-76) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 54% (95% CI: 33-69) against influenza A(H3N2); 83% (95% CI: 74-90) against influenza B. In 2023/24, overall VE against any influenza was 71% (95% CI: 62-78); 75% (95% CI: 64-83) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09; 40% (95% CI: 4-64) against influenza A(H3N2); and 92% (95% CI: 63-100) against influenza B. All VE estimates varied by age and vaccine recommendation target group.
Conclusions: In 2022/23 and 2023/24, more than two-thirds of vaccinated children were protected against primary care-attended influenza infection in Europe. Monitoring VE in children can help inform influenza immunization programs.