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Relative effectiveness of high-dose versus standard-dose influenza vaccine against hospitalizations and mortality according to Charlson Comorbidity Index: a post-hoc analysis of the DANFLU-1 randomized trial

Abstract:

Purpose: The DANFLU-1 trial suggested lower incidence of hospitalizations for pneumonia and influenza, respiratory disease and all-cause mortality among older adults receiving high-dose (HD IV) versus standard-dose (SD-IV) influenza vaccine. This study assessed the relative effectiveness of HD-IV versus SD-IV according to comorbidity in elderly individuals.

Methods: This was a post-hoc analysis of the DANFLU-1 randomized controlled feasibility trial of HD-IV versus SD-IV conducted during the 2021–2022 influenza season in adults aged 65–79 years. Outcomes assessed included influenza-related, respiratory, and cardiovascular hospitalizations, and mortality. We tested for effect modification by level of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) using ICD-10 codes up to 10 years prior to randomization.

Results: Of the 12,477 randomly assigned participants (mean age 71.7±3.9 years, 47.1% female), 8,020 (64.3%) had CCI=0, 3,560 (28.5%) had CCI=1-2 and 893 (7.2%) had CCI≥3. When comparing HD-IV with SD-IV, hazard ratios of hospitalizations for pneumonia and influenza were similar across CCI groups (HR [95%CI]: 0.15 [0.03-0.68] for CCI=0, 0.36 [0.11-1.15] for CCI=1-2, 1.00 [0.25-4.00] for CCI≥3). Comparable patterns were found for hospitalizations for respiratory disease (0.46 [0.17-1.20] for CCI=0, 0.67 [0.32-1.39] for CCI=1-2, 0.66 [0.24-1.87] for CCI≥3) and all-cause mortality (0.28 [0.09-0.86] for CCI=0, 0.70 [0.30-1.63] for CCI=1-2, 0.57 [0.24-1.36] for CCI≥3). There was no statistical evidence of effect modification by CCI for any outcome.

Conclusions: The lower incidences of clinical outcomes for HD-IV compared to SD-IV were not significantly modified by CCI. The potential benefit of HD-IV versus SD-IV may therefore be applicable regardless of comorbidity burden. Further research is required to confirm these findings.

Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1007/s10096-026-05408-5

Authors


Publisher:
Springer
Journal:
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases More from this journal
Publication date:
2026-01-29
Acceptance date:
2026-01-04
DOI:
EISSN:
1435-4373
ISSN:
0934-9723


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
2356354
Local pid:
pubs:2356354
Deposit date:
2026-01-05
ARK identifier:

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