Administering a quadruple dose of seasonal flu vaccine may help better protect HIV-infected patients from serious illness or death from influenza.
In a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, 190 HIV-positive adults were randomly assigned to receive either a standard dose (15 mcg of antigen per strain) or a high dose (60 mcg/strain) of the influenza trivalent vaccine.
Participants were included if they were indicated for a flu vaccine and were receiving stable antiretroviral therapy as recommended by current guidelines. The researchers found that the high dose patients achieved greater immune response as measured by their levels of seroprotective antibodies at 21 to 28 days after vaccination.
Adverse event rates were similar in the two intervention groups. According to the researchers, these findings could have implications for future vaccination efforts in the HIV-positive population.