Benefit of Inactivated Influenza Vaccine in Infants in Iran: A Community based Randomized Control Trial

Background: Influenza in infants and young children is a major medical problem which causes excess medical visits, antibiotic prescriptions and hospitalization even in otherwise healthy children. Many of the developed countries have recommended influenza vaccination for all children (>۶month old), but the economic benefit of this strategy is not clear especially for developing countries. Objectives: To find the difference in the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) and economic cost related to it between TIV vaccinated and non-vaccinated infants in Mashhad, Iran. Methods: This was a community randomized controlled trial which was started in November ۲۰۰۵ and ended up at May ۲۰۰۶. Each of the study and control groups were composed of ۵۰۰ infants between ۶ month and ۲۰ months old who were brought for routine vaccination. The study group was given two doses of TIV; the control group received routine care without any extra intervention. Both groups were followed by monthly telephone calls (up to six months after the vaccination) and were asked about signs and symptoms of flu like illnesses and any cost related to them. SPSS ۱۱.۵ was used for statistical analysis, P

کلیدواژه ها:

Cost ، effectiveness ، Infants ، Influenza ، Iran ، Vaccine