Association of Consecutive Influenza Vaccinations and Pneumonia: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether individuals receiving influenza vaccines have a lower risk of pneumonia. A nationwide population-based case-control study was conducted using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. We enrolled 7565 patients each in pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups after diagnosis of patients with chronic pulmonary disease, and these patients were individually age and sex matched in a 1:1 ratio. Using conditional logistic regression analysis, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were estimated in patients who received influenza vaccination and those who had not previously had pneumonia. Moreover, we also analyzed the interval between vaccination and the onset of pneumonia and the number of vaccinations received by patients. This was compared with patients who never received influenza vaccination. Patients who had received influenza vaccination and had been vaccinated for two consecutive years (aOR = 0.85, confidence interval (CI) = 0.79–0.93 and aOR = 0.75, CI = 0.67–0.85, respectively) showed lower rates of pneumonia occurrence by 15–25%. In conclusion, influenza vaccination significantly reduces the occurrence of pneumonia, especially in individuals who receive vaccination in consecutive years.

Correlation Analysis of Chaige Qinlian Decoction and Acupuncture Combined Intervention on Prognosis of Children with Pneumonia

“…In this study, after implementation of acupuncture combined with Chaige Qinlian decoction in child patients with pneumonia, their recovery time of each symptom after treatment was significantly lower than that of the children who received conventional treatment, which may be the result of Chaige Qinlian decoction, in which kudzu vine root had the effects of bringing down fever and relieving muscle and promoting fluid production to sooth cough, Chinese thorowax root could alleviate depression and disperse stagnated hepatoqi and reconcile superficies and interior, and Chinese goldthread rhizome and liquorice root presented the significant sterilization and anti-inflammation effect, which could remarkably improve the clinical symptoms of child patients and actively promote the prognosis quality, with an efficacy that had been proved in treating pediatric bronchial pneumonia [ 21 ]. In current research [ 22 ], the inflammatory response stimulated by pathogens such as viruses and bacteria is considered to be the pathogenesis of pneumonia in children, leading to high expression of serum levels of proinflammatory factors such as IL-6, IL-8, and CRP in children. Modern molecular immunology believes that [ 23 ] the inflammatory response will stimulate the liver to synthesize CRP in large amounts through factors such as IL-6, so its level will be significantly higher in children with pneumonia.…”

Grasses as a refuge for Fusarium circinatum L. – evidence from South Africa

“…The data included those from previous populations of F. circinatum originating from P. patula plantation trees in the Limpopo Province (Fru et al 2019) and from P. radiata trees in the Western Cape province (Santana et al 2016). For the two sets of isolates from grass, POPGENE 1.31 (Yeh et al 1999) was used to determine the percentage and number of polymorphic loci. Gene diversity (h) (Nei, 1973) and Shannon diversity index (SI) (Sheldon 1969) were determined using POPPR in R (Kamvar et al 2014).…”