Real-world influenza surveillance and vaccine effectiveness in children: a multicentre study of the Italian Federation of Primary Care Paediatricians (FIMP).

Authors

M Barretta, S Ricci, A Compagnone, R Indaco, E Napoleone, P Giorgi Rossi, F Leoni, F Nieddu, E Ferraro, M Moriondo, C Azzari, A D Avino, FIMP vaccination study group

Published in

Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Jul 11, 2026. Epub Jul 11, 2026.

Abstract

Influenza is a significant cause of morbidity among children and a significant factor in primary care consultations. While numerous studies on influenza vaccine effectiveness have been conducted, the majority of the available data comes from hospital settings; the objective of this study is to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness in children in paediatric primary care settings.
A multicentre observational study was conducted among family paediatricians working in outpatient clinics in various Italian regions during the 2024/25 influenza season. Children aged 2-7 years with influenza-like illness were enrolled and underwent rapid antigen point-of-care tests (POCT). Children who were positive on POCT underwent molecular RT-PCR tests for influenza in a centralized laboratory. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was estimated as 1-odds ratio by a test-negative case-control design and as 1-incidence rate ratio by a cohort study, in which the aggregated denominator of the children included in the beneficiary lists of the participant pediatriacians was used to compute the incidence in vaccinated and non-vaccinated.
The circulation of influenza was characterized by a clear seasonal pattern, with sustained activity of the virus throughout the period. 739 ILI cases were tested. The results showed a 79% (95%CI: 70-86) reduction of laboratory-confirmed influenza ILI, i.e vaccine efficacy (1-OR). The results were consistent when sensitivity analysis was performed for different types of influenza vaccine and when results obtained by POCT were compared to results obtained by RT-PCR confirmation. When the results were assessed by the cohort method, vaccination was associated with a marked reduction in incidence of influenza with VE 76% (1-IRR); 95%CI 67-82) and no reduction of ILI that tested negative for influenza virus.
This study shows high VE of the 24-25 influenza vaccines against symptomatic disease in healthy children, demonstrating the feasibility to perform influenza surveillance in a paediatric primary care setting in real-life conditions.

PMID:
42435855
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Jul 2026.

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