Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines and Duration of Protection Against Hospitalisation During the 2024/25 Season in Northern Ireland, UK.

BACKGROUND

Seasonal influenza causes substantial morbidity and hospitalisation each year. We estimated influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalisation among patients in Northern Ireland (NI) during the 2024/25 influenza season.

METHODS

We used a test-negative design to estimate VE against hospitalisation. Influenza-positive cases and test-negative controls were identified through the national laboratory surveillance system and linked to hospital admission and vaccination records. VE was estimated by influenza type/subtype, age group, sex, vaccine type and time since vaccination.

RESULTS

Among 15,133 hospitalised patients, 2024 (13.4%) tested positive for influenza. Among the 2024 patients admitted with laboratory-confirmed influenza, the vast majority tested positive for influenza A (n = 1803; 89.1%), whereas 221 cases (10.9%) were influenza B. Subtyping of influenza A identified 606 A(H1) infections and 93 A(H3) infections; the remaining 1104 influenza A samples were not subtyped. VE against laboratory-confirmed influenza infection was 46.0% (95% CI: 39.7% to 51.8%), with higher VE in children aged 2-17 years (60.8%; 95% CI: 48.3% to 70.5%) than in adults aged 18-64 years (40.5%; 95% CI: 24.9% to 53.2%) and ≥ 65 years (42.3%; 95% CI: 33.2% to 50.1%). VE against influenza A across all ages was 41.4% (95% CI: 34.2% to 47.9%). Vaccination reduced the odds of hospitalisation due to influenza A(H1) by 44.3% (95% CI: 33.2% to 53.7%) and A(H3) by 49.9% (95% CI: 20.3% to 69.3%). VE against influenza B was higher at 76.4% (95% CI: 64.9% to 84.7%). For influenza A, VE was highest 2-8 weeks after vaccination at 51.9% (95% CI: 42.1% to 60.1%) and declined with time since vaccination to 44.6% (95% CI: 35.6% to 52.5%) at 9-16 weeks and 41.4% (95% CI: 15.4% to 60.1%) at ≥ 16 weeks. VE against influenza B remained high throughout the season. No statistically significant differences in VE by vaccine type were found.

CONCLUSIONS

Influenza vaccination reduced the risk of hospitalisation with laboratory-confirmed influenza during the 2024/25 season, offering meaningful protection at individual and population levels, with the greatest benefit observed in children.