Influenza Acquisition occurring Post-Vaccination Among University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Specific Aims: Assess the incidence of influenza despite being vaccinated among pharmacy students in the 2017/2018 influenza season at the University of Arizona. Our working hypothesis is that pharmacy students who received the influenza vaccine in the 2017 year will have a lower rate of acquisition than among people who did not receive the influenza vaccine. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to first, second, and third year pharmacy students during scheduled class times to gather information on influenza acquisition, influenza symptoms, vaccine attainment, and demographic characteristics through self-reported answers. Main Results: The characteristics of pharmacy students were similar between those who acquired the flu or not. However, whether or not the pharmacy students had kids was significantly different between those who had influenza versus not ( p= 0.0146) Pharmacy students who received the vaccine had lower rates of acquiring the flu compared to the national average (p=0.0005). When comparing pharmacy students who received the vaccine and those who did not there was no difference in acquiring influenza (p= 0.854) Conclusions: The findings for this study show that pharmacy students who received the influenza vaccine had lower rates of acquiring the flu when compared to the national average of people who were not vaccinated and acquired the flu. It can be assumed that even with an efficacy as low as 40%, the vaccine still plays a great role in influenza prevention. However, pharmacy students who received the influenza vaccine in the 2017 year did not have significantly different acquisition rates of the flu when compared to the students who did not receive the influenza vaccine that year.