Purpose. To investigate the symptoms following influenza vaccination administered to nurses at a medical center in central Taiwan. Methods. A total of 846 nurses were selected from a medical center. A self-administered questionnaire was uesd to gather data regarding demographics, post-influenza vaccination symptoms, whether subjects suffered a common cold within six months of the influenza vaccination, and history of vaccinations. Results. A total of 87.8% of the nurses had received influenza vaccinations; of them 33.8% suffered adverse influenza symptoms. Of those who suffered adverse symptoms, 31.7% complained of swelling at the injection point and 9.4% indicated the desire to take pain relieving medication to alleviate the symptoms. A total of 3 nurses required medication and two days of rest. Sore throat was the major symptom (67.5%), followed by cough (66.1%) and runny nose (62.9%). Overall, 55.4% either took medicine or required a period of rest after having the influenza vaccination. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that development of a common cold within six months of having received an influenza vaccination correlated significantly with patients' histories of post-vaccination symptoms. Conclusions. The proportion of nurses who suffered from adverse post-influenza vaccination symptoms was relatively high. We recommend that all people undergoing influenza vaccination provide a history of previous post-vaccination symptoms and be carefully monitored after the injection.
Purpose. To investigate the symptoms following influenza vaccination administered to nurses at a medical center in central Taiwan. Methods. A total of 846 nurses were selected from a medical center. A self-administered questionnaire was uesd to gather data regarding demographics, post-influenza vaccination symptoms, whether subjects suffered a common cold within six months of the influenza vaccination, and history of vaccinations. Results. A total of 87.8% of the nurses had received influenza vaccinations; of them 33.8% suffered adverse influenza symptoms. Of those who suffered adverse symptoms, 31.7% complained of swelling at the injection point and 9.4% indicated the desire to take pain relieving medication to alleviate the symptoms. A total of 3 nurses required medication and two days of rest. Sore throat was the major symptom (67.5%), followed by cough (66.1%) and runny nose (62.9%). Overall, 55.4% either took medicine or required a period of rest after having the influenza vaccination. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that development of a common cold within six months of having received an influenza vaccination correlated significantly with patients' histories of post-vaccination symptoms. Conclusions. The proportion of nurses who suffered from adverse post-influenza vaccination symptoms was relatively high. We recommend that all people undergoing influenza vaccination provide a history of previous post-vaccination symptoms and be carefully monitored after the injection.