Cumulative risk of guillain-barré syndrome among vaccinated and unvaccinated populations during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic

C. Vellozzi, S. Iqbal, B. Stewart, J. Tokars and F. DeStefano

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 4, 696-701

Abstract: Objectives. We sought to assess risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) among influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent (pH1N1) vaccinated and unvaccinated populations at the end of the 2009 pandemic. Methods. We applied GBS surveillance data from a US population catchment area of 45 million from October 15, 2009, through May 31, 2010. GBS cases meeting Brighton Collaboration criteria were included. We calculated the incidence density ratio (IDR) among pH1N1 vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. We also estimated cumulative GBS risk using life table analysis. Additionally, we used vaccine coverage data and census population estimates to calculate denominators. Results. There were 392 GBS cases; 64 (16%) occurred after pH1N1vaccination. The vaccinated population had lower average risk (IDR = 0.83, 95% confidence interval = 0.63, 1.08) and lower cumulative risk (6.6 vs 9.2 cases per million persons, P = .012) of GBS. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that at the end of the influenza season cumulative GBS risk was less among the pH1N1vaccinated than the unvaccinated population, suggesting the benefit of vaccination as it relates to GBS. The observed potential protective effect on GBS attributed to vaccination warrants further study.

Keywords: influenza vaccine, adult; age; aged; article; female; Guillain Barre syndrome; human; influenza; Influenza virus A H1N1; life table; male; middle aged; pandemic; risk factor; statistics; United States; young adult, Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Female; Guillain-Barre Syndrome; Humans; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza Vaccines; Influenza, Human; Life Tables; Male; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Risk Factors; United States; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2013.301651_7

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301651

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