Influenza Vaccine

Flu Shot Before Major Surgery Cuts Mortality Risk

Geriatric surgical patients who are vaccinated for influenza prior to major surgery have decreased risks of pneumonia and in-hospital mortality compared with unvaccinated patients, a new study showed.

For their study, the researchers assessed reimbursement claims data on 16,903 patients older than age 66 years who received the influenza vaccine prior to receiving major surgery, along with 16,903 unvaccinated matched controls. Data were obtained from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database.
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Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for postoperative pneumonia and in-hospital mortality associated with influenza vaccination were calculated via logistic regressions.

Findings showed that patients who were vaccinated prior to surgery had a decreased risk of postoperative pneumonia (OR 0.60) and in-hospital mortality (OR 0.46) compared with unvaccinated controls.

Furthermore, the researchers found that vaccinated surgical patients had a lower risk of postoperative admission to the intensive care unit (OR 0.56), shorter hospital stays, and lower medical expenditures compared with unvaccinated controls.

“Vaccinated geriatric patients who underwent surgery had lower risks of pneumonia and in-hospital mortality, compared with unvaccinated patients who underwent similar major surgeries,” the researchers concluded. “Further studies are needed to explain how preoperative influenza vaccination improves perioperative outcomes.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Liu WC, Lin CS, Yeh CC, et al. Effect of influenza vaccination against postoperative pneumonia and mortality for geriatric patients receiving major surgery: a nationwide matched study. J Infect Dis. 2018;217(5):816-826. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jix616.