Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccine Evaluation in Kidney Transplant Recipients

Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccine Evaluation in Kidney Transplant Recipients(AdVEnTR)

Influenza is an important public health problem. Organ transplant patients are particularly susceptible to severe disease. Also, they shed higher quantities of virus for longer durations, leading to greater contagious potential, thereby potentially serving as nodes of spread in the community. Therefore, improved strategies to prevent influenza in this population is an important public health concern. Standard vaccination is poorly immunogenic post-transplant and new vaccine strategies are needed. Adjuvanted vaccines contain molecules that create a strong local inflammatory response and they attract immune cells to the site of injection, increasing the immunogenicity of the vaccine antigen. Recently seasonal influenza vaccines containing adjuvants have become available in Canada but have only limited information in transplant patients. This randomized trial is designed to assess the immunogenicity of an adjuvanted vaccination strategy compared to a standard vaccine for seasonal influenza in a cohort of adult organ transplant recipients.

Inclusion Criteria:

Adult kidney transplant recipients Greater than 3 months post-transplant

Exclusion Criteria:

Has already received influenza vaccination for 2012-2013 season Egg allergy Previous life-threatening reaction to influenza vaccine (i.e. Guillain Barre Syndrome) Ongoing therapy for rejection Febrile illness in the past two weeks Unable to provide informed consent Unable to comply with study protocol