Vaccination against 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasonal influenza in Spain: Coverage among high risk subjects, HCWs, immigrants and time trends from the 2005/2006 campaign

Influenza continues to be a very important cause of morbidity, mortality and a large number of hospitalizations each year, however the compliance with vaccine uptake is low and has barely varied over time among health care workers (HCWs) and people under 65 years of age suffering a chronic condition. Based on data from two nation-wide representative health surveys namely the 2006 Spanish National Health Survey and the 2009 European Health Interview Survey for Spain the aim of this study is to describe influenza vaccination coverage and time trends for the Spanish population as a whole and in recommended populations in four vaccination campaigns: 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010.Our results show an increasing trend (OR 1.03) in seasonal influenza vaccine coverage for the total population from 2005/2006 to 2009/2010, especially in HCWs (21.8% in 2005/2006; 31.1% in 2009/2010). Coverage in people under 60 with a chronic disease remains low and did not vary significantly during the analyzed period. Immigrants presented a significantly lower probability of having received the influenza vaccine than indigenous people in the 2008/2009 campaign.Different strategies need to be implemented in order to achieve higher coverage levels in these at-risk populations.

► Influenza continues to be a very important cause of morbidity and mortality.
► In Spain vaccination coverage is low among high-risk subjects < 60 years and HCWs.
► Trend analysis from 2005 to 2009 points a significant improvement among HCWs.
► No change is observed among high-risk subjects aged under 60 years.
► Immigrants showed a lower probability of vaccine uptake than indigenous.