[Evaluation of Characteristics and Management of Influenza Patients in Relation to the STIKO Vaccination Recommendation During the 2017/2018 Season].

BACKGROUND Every year a large number of patients is suffering from influenza infection with often severe outcome. The influenza season 2017/2018 was characterized by a high number of cases (in Germany>346,000 laboratory-confirmed cases), but also by a high rate of hospitalizations with sometimes severe clinical outcome - also in the group of patients under 60 years. AIM The aim of the present study was to find out whether patients not fullfilling the STIKO vaccination recommendation in the 2017/18 season were suffering from a worse outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS All laboratory-confirmed influenza patients at Frankfurt University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed for disease severity with respect to the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints were defined as demographic data, length of hospital stay, previous illnesses, intensive care therapy and its duration, drug therapy, and mortality. RESULTS Fifty-one of 303 patients (16.8%) required intensive care treatments. Of these 51, 46 patients (90.2%) belonged to the group that should have been vaccinated according to the vaccination recommendations according to STIKO, 5 patients (9.8%) did not belong to this group (p=0.434). Of the 51 ICU patients, 16 (31.4%) died. All deceased were from the group with vaccination recommendation (p=0.120). CONCLUSIONS Based on these data, it appears that severe disease progression occurs in both the group of patients with and without STIKO vaccination recommendation, but deaths occur only in the group of patients with recommendation.