Lane Clark & Peacock LLP

ID 375

The study’ll benefit patients by providing up to date and detailed evidence about the impact of respiratory infections in middle aged and older adults

The study aims to look at the impact of vaccine preventable respiratory infections in people aged over 50 years old. Vaccine preventable respiratory infections include influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pneumococcal disease, and COVID-19. These infections are some of the most common causes of pneumonia and other types of acute respiratory illness, and vaccines, which can reduce the chance of infection or reduce the severity of illness, are now available for all of these infections. The proposed study will be focussing specifically on adults aged over 50 years old because these types of infection are more likely to cause severe illness in older people. The study aims to describe the characteristics of people diagnosed with these infections and the trends over time in the rates of infection (we will expect to see large seasonal differences in these rates, with higher rates over the winter months). The study will describe the health outcomes of people with these infections, such as hospital admission, admission to intensive care and death. The study will also aim to describe the impact of these infections on healthcare use in the period after infection (e.g. GP check-ups, outpatient appointments) and the need for social care support such as home care or care home admission. We will also look to see how the study findings vary according to important subgroups, such as whether people had previously been vaccinated or have health conditions which make them more susceptible to infection (such as people with cancer or people who have had a previous transplant). The study will benefit patients by providing up to date and detailed evidence about the impact of these infections in middle aged and older adults. This is important in helping to better understand the potential impact of improving vaccination rates in these age groups, and how optimising vaccination could benefit patients and reduce demand on the NHS and social care services.

16/11/2023

TRE