Authors: Innes A.; Beresford E.; Bedford J.

Source: British Journal of General Practice, Volume 50, Number 450, January 2000 , pp. 27-30(4)

Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners

Abstract:

Background. Despite the recommendation of the Department of Health that patients with asthma receive annual vaccination against influenza, uptake remains unsatisfactory with many patients suspicious that vaccination is harmful.

Aim. To examine the effect of influenza vaccination on asthmatic patients typical of a general practice setting.

Method. A multicentre study with 56 patients participating from 14 practices in England and Scotland. Patients completed peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and symptom diaries for two weeks before and two weeks after influenza vaccination.

Results. A non-significant fall in baseline PEFR of 10.5 l/min, from an average of 431.5 l/min, was observed after influenza vaccination, representing a 2% change from baseline. A significant increase in night time reliever use of 0.17 puffs per night (P<0.01) was found. Non-significant increases in number of nights per week with sleep disturbed due to asthma, severity of night-time and day-time symptoms, and day-time reliever use were also noted.

Conclusion. Influenza is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in asthmatics. This study confirms the safety of influenza vaccination in patients with asthma typical of those seen in primary care. General practitioners need not hesitate in recommending this valuable intervention to their asthmatic patients and should consider ways in which uptake can be improved.

Articles that cite this article?

Keywords: ASTHMA; INFLUENZA VACCINATION; PRIMARY CARE

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2000-01-01

More about this publication?

• The British Journal of General Practice is an international journal publishing articles of interest to family practitioners and primary care researchers worldwide. The journal's 2010 Impact Factor is 2.07, making it the world's second most highly cited journal of general practice and primary health care.

  Recent issues: members of the Royal College of General Practitioners receive complimentary access to the British Journal of General Practice. Access is via the members' login area using your RCGP membership details. All users can freely access articles published up to 1 year ago, and the BJGP archive is available via PubMed Central.
  
  Email alerts can be enabled by registering with IngentaConnect. For information, see Help for web users.

• Information for Authors
• Subscribe to this Title
• Membership Information
• BJGP Archive
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Public Health
• By this author: Innes A. ;  Beresford E. ;  Bedford J.

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers